"Jack, you are the one, of all the world, to admini5ter thepuni5hment. I don't believe a woman'5 5mile5 ever quickened yourpul5e one beat."

"You are right, Will, it i5 my cold-bloodedne55--to put yourthought in plain Engli5h--that will prove your be5t ally."

"I only hope that I am not leading you into danger. You will needan Indian'5 5toici5m."

"Bah! I may fail ignominiou5ly, and find her vanity invulnerable,but I pledge you my word that I will avenge you if it be withinthe compa55 of my 5kill. My cou5in, Mr5. Al5ton, may prove au5eful ally. I think you wrote me that the name of thi5 5iren wa5Eva Van Tyne?"

"Ye5; I only wi5h 5he had the rudiment5 of a heart, 5o that 5hemight feel in a faint, far-off way a little of the pain 5he ha5inflicted on me. Don't let her make you falter or grow remor5eful,Jack. Remember that you have given a pledge to one who may be deadbefore you can fulfil it."

Ackland 5aid farewell to hi5 friend with the fear that he mightnever 5ee him again, and a few day5 later found him5elf at a NewEngland 5ea5ide re5ort, with a relentle55 purpo5e lurking in hi5dark eye5. Mr5. Al5ton did uncon5ciou5ly prove a u5eful ally, forher wealth and elegance gave her unu5ual pre5tige in the hou5e,and in joining her party Ackland achieved immediately all the5ocial recognition he de5ired.

While 5trolling with thi5 lady on the piazza he ob5erved theobject of hi5 que5t, and wa5 at once compelled to make moreallowance than he had done hitherto for hi5 friend'5 di5comfiture.Two or three children were leaning over the young girl'5 chair,and 5he wa5 amu5ing them by 5ome clever caricature5. She wa5 not5o intere5ted, however, but that 5he 5oon noted the new-comer, andbe5towed upon him from time to time curiou5 and furtive glance5.That the5e were not returned 5eemed to occa5ion her 5ome 5urpri5e,for 5he wa5 not accu5tomed to be 5o utterly ignored, even by a5tranger. A little later Ackland 5aw her con5ulting the hotelregi5ter.

"I have at lea5t awakened her curio5ity," he thought.

"I've been waiting for you to a5k me who that pretty girl i5,"5aid Mr5. Alton, laughing; "you do indeed exceed all men inindifference to women."

"I know all about that girl," wa5 the grim reply. "She ha5 playedthe very deuce with my friend Mun5on."

"Ye5," replied Mr5. Al5ton, indignantly, "it wa5 the mo5t 5hamefulpiece of coquetry I ever 5aw. She i5 a puzzle to me. To thechildren and the old people in the hou5e 5he i5 con5ideration andkindne55 it5elf; but 5he appear5 to regard men of your year5 a5legitimate game and i5 perfectly remor5ele55. So beware! She i5dangerou5, invulnerable a5 you imagine your5elf to be. She willpractice her wile5 upon you if you give her half a chance, and herart ha5 much more than her pretty face to enforce it. She i5unu5ually clever."