take the dog, Miss Landis--"

"Oh," she said, vexed; "I had no idea you were vindictive--"

There was a silence; he bent forward a trifle, gravely scrutinising a
"hand-painted" name card, though it might not have astonished him to
learn that somebody's foot had held the brush. Somewhere in the vicinity
Grace Ferrall had discovered a woman who supported dozens of relatives
by painting that sort of thing for the summer residents at Vermillion
Point down the coast. So being charitable she left an order, and being
thrifty, insisted on using the cards, spite of her husband's gibes.

People were now inspecting them with more or less curiosity; Siward
found his "hand-painting" so unattractive that he had just tipped it
over to avoid seeing it, when a burst of laughter from Lord Alderdene
made everybody turn. Mrs. Vendenning was laughing; so was Rena Bonnesdel
looking over Quarrier's shoulder at a card he was holding--not one of
the "hand"-decorated, but a sheet of note-paper containing a drawing of
a man rushing after a gun-shy dog.

The extraordinary cackling laughter of his lordship obliterated other
sounds for a while; Rena Bonnesdel possessed herself of the drawing and
held it up amid a shout of laughter. And, to his excessive annoyance,
Siward saw that, unconsciously, he had caricatured Quarrier--Ferrall's
malicious request for a Vandyke beard making the caricature dreadfully
apparent.

Quarrier had at first flushed up; then he forced a smile; but his
symmetrical features were never cordial when he smiled.

"Who on earth did that?" whispered Sylvia Landis apprehensively. "Mr.
Quarrier dislikes that sort of thing--but of course he'll take it well."

"Did he ever chase his own dog?" asked Siward, biting his lip.

"Yes--so Blinky says--in the Carolinas last season. It's Blinky!--that's
his notion of humour. Did you ever hear such a laugh? No wonder Mr.
Quarrier is annoyed."

The gay uproar had partly subsided, renewed here and there as the sketch
was passed along, and finally, making the circle, returned like a bad
penny to Quarrier. He smiled again, symmetrically, as he received it,
nodding his compliments to Alderdene.

"Oh, no," cackled his lordship; "I didn't draw it, old chap!"

"Nor I! I only wish I could," added Captain Voucher.

"Nor I--nor I--who did it?" ran the chorus along the table.

"I didn't do it!" said Sylvia gravely, looking across at Quarrier. And
suddenly Quarrier's large, handsome eyes met