yes? Can a man look at you the way he does and be bad?"

"I have seen Mallow dozens of times. I know him to be a scoundrel of
sorts; but I doubt if bald sunlight could make him blink. Liars have
first to overcome the flickering and wavering of the eyes."

"He said that."

"Who, Warrington?" puzzled.

"He said almost the same thing. Would he say that if he were a liar?"

"I haven't accused him of being that. Indeed, he struck me as a
truthful young man. But he confessed to me that ten years ago he
robbed his employer of eight thousand dollars. By the way, what is the
name of the firm your father founded?"

"The Andes Construction Company. Do you think we could find him
something to do there?" eagerly. "He builds bridges."

"I shouldn't advise that. But we have gone astray. You ought not to
see him again."

"I have made up my mind not to."

"Then pardon me for all this pother. I know what is in your heart,
Elsa. You want to help the poor devil back to what he was; but he'll
have to do that by himself."

"It is a hateful world!" Elsa appealed to the wife.

"It is, Elsa, dear. But James is right."

"You'll get your balance," said the guardian, "when you reach home.
When's the wedding?"

"I'm not sure that I'm going to be married." Elsa twirled the sunshade
again. "I really wish I had stayed at home. I seem all topsy-turvy.
I could have screamed when I saw the man standing on the ledge above
the boat that night. No; I do not believe I shall marry. Fancy
marrying a man and knowing that his ghost was at the same time
wandering about the earth!" She rose and the sunshade described a
half-circle as she spoke. "Oh, bother with it all! Dinner at eight,
in the big dining-room."

"Yes. But the introductions will be made on the cafe-veranda. These
people out here have gone mad over cock-tails. And look your best,
Elsa. I want them to see a real American girl to-night. I'll have
some roses sent up to you."

Elsa had not the heart to tell him that all interest in his dinner had
suddenly gone from her mind; that even the confusion of the colonel no
longer appealed to her bitter malice. She knew that she was going to
be bored and miserable. Well, she had promised. She would put on her
best gown; she would talk and laugh and jest because she had done these
things many times when her heart was not in the play of it.

When she was gone, the consul-general's wife said: "Poor girl!"

Her hu