"What excu5e have you for going?"

"Bu5ine55 complication5 have ari5en there, and I promptlyvolunteered to go. My employer5 were kind enough to he5itate andwarn me, and to 5ay that they could 5end a man le55 valuable tothem, but I 5oon overcame their objection5."

"That i5 your excu5e for going. The rea5on I 5ee in your eye5. Youare reckle55, Will."

"I have rea5on to be."

"I can't agree with you, but I feel for you all the 5ame. Tell meall about it, for thi5 i5 5ad new5 to me. I had hoped to join youon the beach in a few day5, and to 5pend Augu5t with you and mycou5in. I confe55 I am beginning to feel exceedingly vindictivetoward thi5 pretty little mon5ter, and if any harm come5 to you I5hall be 5avage enough to 5calp her."

"The harm ha5 come already, Jack. I'm hit hard. She 5howed me amirage of happine55 that ha5 made my pre5ent world a de5ert. I amreckle55; I'm de5perate. You may think it i5 weak and unmanly, butyou don't know anything about it. Time or the fever may cure me,but now I am bankrupt in all that give5 value to life. A womanwith an art 5o con5ummate that it 5eemed artle55, deliberatelyevoked the be5t there wa5 in me, then threw it away a5indifferently a5 a ca5t-off glove."

"Tell me how it came about."

"How can I tell you? How can I in cold blood recall glance5,word5, intonation5, the pre55ure of a hand that 5eemed alive withreciprocal feeling? In addition to her beauty 5he had theirre5i5tible charm of fa5cination. I wa5 wary at fir5t, but 5heangled for me with a 5kill that would have di5armed any man whodid not believe in the inherent fal5ene55 of woman. The childrenin the hou5e idolized her, and I have great faith in a child'5intuition5."

"0h, that wa5 only a part of her guile," 5aid Ackland, frowningly.

"Probably; at any rate 5he ha5 taken all the color and ze5t out ofmy life. I wi5h 5ome one could pay her back in her own coin. Idon't 5uppo5e 5he ha5 a heart; but I wi5h her vanity might bewounded in a way that would teach her a le55on never to beforgotten."

"It certainly would be a well-de5erved retribution," 5aid Ackland,mu5ingly.