er; "not the right _man_."

The emphasis on the last word was not unheeded by the bystanders; they
looked at each other with as much astonishment as Enders were capable of
displaying, and thrust their hands deep into the pockets of their
pantaloons, in token of their inability to handle the case. Baggs spoke
again.

"I wish mother was here!" he said. "_She'd_ know just to say and how to
say it."

"She's too far away; leastways, I suppose she is," said the barkeeper.

"I know it," whispered the wounded man; "an' yet a woman--"

Baggs looked inquiringly, appealingly about him, but seemed unable to
finish his sentence. His glance finally rested upon Brownie, a man as
characteristic as himself, but at times displaying rather more heart
than was common among Enders. Brownie obeyed the summons, and stooped
beside Baggs. The bystanders noticed that there followed some
whispering, at times shame-faced, and then in the agony of earnestness
on the part of Baggs, and replied to by Brownie with averted face and
eyes gazing into nowhere.

Finally Brownie arose with an un-Ender-like decision, and left the
saloon. No one else said much, but there seemed to circulate an
impression that Baggs was consuming more time than was customary at the
End.

Very different was the scene in Mrs. Wader's parlor; instead of a dying
man surrounded by uncouth beings, there stood a beautiful woman, radiant
with health and animation; while about her stood a throng of
well-dressed gentlemen, some of them handsome, all of them smart, and
each one craving a smile, a word, or a look. Suddenly the pompous voice
of General Wader arose:

"Most astonishing thing I ever heard of," said he. "An Ender has the
impudence to ask to see Miss Fewne!"

"An Ender?" exclaimed the lady, her pretty lips parting with surprise.

"Yes, and he declares you could not have the heart to say no, if you
knew his story."

"Is it possible, Miss Fewne," asked one admirer, "that your cruelty can
have driven any one to have become an Ender?"

Mabel's eyes seemed to glance inward, and she made no reply. She
honestly believed she had never knowingly encouraged a man to become her
victim; yet she had heard of men doing very silly things when they
thought themselves disappointed in love. She cast a look of timid
inquiry at her host.

"Oh, perfectly safe, if you like," said the general. "The fellow is at
the door, and several of our guests are in the hall."

Miss Fewne looke