darling? Life wasn't worth having till I knew you. I
won't say a word against Beth. She has her good points, as you know,
and I believe she means well; but she's spoilt my life, and my career
too. I'm one that requires a lot of sympathy; but she never shows me
any. She thinks of nobody but herself. Her own mother always said so.
And after all I've done for her too! If only you knew! But of course I
can't blow my own trumpet. They're all alike in that family, though.
Her mother used to keep me playing cards till I was ruined. And Beth
has no gratitude, and you can't trust her. She comes of a lying lot,
and I'm of the same mind as my old father, who used to say he'd rather
have a thief any day than a liar. You can watch a thief, but you can't
watch a liar."

"Still, Dan," Bertha murmured, "I somehow think you ought to stick to
her."

"So I would," said Dan. "No one can accuse me of not sticking to my
duty. I'm an honourable man. It was she who cast me off. I'm nothing
to her. And I should have been broken-hearted but for you, Bertha, I
should indeed." Dan's fine eyes filled with tears, which Bertha
tenderly wiped away.

"Of course it makes a great difference her having cast _you_ off,"
Bertha conceded, after a little interlude.

"It makes _all_ the difference," Dan rejoined. "She set me at liberty,
and you are free too; so who have we to consider but ourselves? I admire
a woman who has the pluck to be free!" he added enthusiastically.

"Then why don't you encourage Beth more to go her own way?" Bertha
reasonably demanded. "She's always yearning for a career."

Dan hesitated. "Because I've been a fool, I think," he said at last.
"I'll encourage her now, though. It would be a great blessing to us if
she could get started as a writer. I see that now. She'd think of
nothing else. And it would be a blessing to her too," he added
feelingly.

"That's what I like about you, Dan," Bertha observed. "You always make
every allowance for her, and consider her interests, although she has
treated you badly."

Dan pressed her hand to his lips. "I'll do what I can for her, you may
be sure," he said, quite melted by his own magnanimity. "I wish I
could do more. But she's been extravagant, and my means are dreadfully
crippled."

"Then why do you buy me such handsome presents, you naughty man?"
Bertha playfully demanded, holding up her arm with the bracelet on it.

"I must have a holiday sometimes," he rejoined. "Besides, I hap