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      III. THE OBSTACLE 27

      IV. THE SETTING OF THE WATCH 37

      V. THE CHAPERON 47

      VI. THE PAIN-KILLER 62

      VII. THE PUZZLE 74

      VIII. THE ELASTIC BOND 86

      IX. THE PROJECT 97

      X. THE DOOR 108

      XI. THE IMPOSSIBLE 120

      XII. THE PAL 129

      XIII. HER FATE 149

      XIV. THE DARK HOUR 155

      XV. THE AWAKENING 167

      XVI. SECRETS 177

      XVII. THE VERDICT 189

      XVIII. SOMETHING LOST 198

      XIX. THE REVELATION 205

      XX. THE SEARCH 217

      XXI. ON THE BRINK 228

      XXII. OVER THE EDGE 235

      XXIII. AS GOOD AS DEAD 243

      XXIV. THE OPENING OF THE DOOR 252

      XXV. THE PRICE 264

       PART TWO

      I. COURTSHIP 281

      II. THE SELF-INVITED GUEST 287

      III. THE NEW LIFE 297

      IV. THE PHANTOM 305

      V. THE EVERLASTING CHAIN 317

      VI. CHRISTMAS MORNING 327

      VII. THE WILDERNESS OF NASTY POSSIBILITIES 340

      VIII. THE SOUL OF A HERO 350

      IX. THE MAN WITH THE GUN 357

      X. A TALK IN THE OPEN 367

      XI. THE FAITHFUL WOUND OF A FRIEND 376

      XII. A LETTER FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 390

      XIII. A WOMAN'S PREJUDICE 403

      XIV. SMOKE FROM THE FIRE 414

      XV. THE SPREADING OF THE FLAME 426

      XVI. THE GAP 437

      XVII. THE EASIEST COURSE 452

      XVIII. ONE MAN'S LOSS 462

      XIX. A FIGHT WITHOUT A FINISH 472

      XX. THE POWER OF THE ENEMY 487

      XXI. THE GATHERING STORM 503

      XXII. THE REPRIEVE 510

      XXIII. THE GIFT OF THE RAJAH 518

      XXIV. THE BIG, BIG GAME OF LIFE 528

      XXV. MEMORIES THAT HURT 537

      XXVI. A FOOL'S ERRAND 548

      XXVII. LOVE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE 556

      XXVIII. A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN 570

      XXIX. THE MAN'S POINT OF VIEW 578

      XXX. THE LINE OF RETREAT 588

      PART I

       Table of Contents

      CHAPTER I

      THE LESSON

      "Then he's such a prig!" said Olga.

      "You should never use a word you can't define," observed Nick, from the depths of the hammock in which his meagre person reposed at length.

      She made a face at him, and gave the hammock a vicious twitch which caused him to rock with some violence for several seconds. As he was wont pathetically to remark, everyone bullied him because he was small and possessed only one arm, having shed the other by inadvertence somewhere on the borders of the Indian Empire.

      Certainly Olga—his half-brother's eldest child—treated him with scant respect, though she never allowed anyone else to be other than polite to him in her hearing. But then she and Nick had been pals from the beginning of things, and this surely entitled her to a certain licence in her dealings with him. Nick, too, was such a darling; he never minded anything.

      Having duly punished him for snubbing her, she returned with serenity to the work upon her lap.

      "You see," she remarked thoughtfully, "the worst of it is he really is a bit of a genius. And one can't sit on genius—with comfort. It sort of flames out where you least expect it."

      "Highly unpleasant, I should think," agreed Nick.

      "Yes; and he has such a disgusting fashion of behaving as if—as if one were miles beneath his notice," proceeded Olga. "And I'm not a chicken, you know, Nick, I'm twenty."

      "A vast age!" said Nick.

      For which remark she gave him another jerk which set him swinging like a pendulum.

      "Well, I've got a little sense anyhow," she remarked.

      "But not much," said Nick. "Or you would know that that sort of treatment after muffins for tea is calculated to produce indigestion in a very acute form, peculiarly distressing to the beholder."

      "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot the muffins." Olga laid a restraining hand upon the hammock. "But do you like him, Nick? Honestly now!"

      "My dear child, I never like anyone till I've seen him at his worst.

       Drawing-room manners never attract me."

      "But this man hasn't got any manners at all," objected Olga. "And he's so horribly satirical. It's like having a stinging-nettle in the house. I believe—just because he's clever in his own line—that he's been spoilt. As if everybody couldn't do something!"

      "Ah! That's the point," said Nick sententiously. "Everybody can, but it isn't everybody who does. Now this young man apparently knows how to make the most of his opportunities. He plays a rattling hand at bridge, by the way."

      "I wonder if he cheats," said Olga. "I'm sure he's quite unscrupulous."

      Nick turned his head, and surveyed her from under his restless eyelids. "I begin to think you must be falling in love with the young man," he observed.

      "Don't be absurd, Nick!" Olga did not even trouble to look up. She was stitching with neat rapidity.

      "I'm not. That's just how my wife fell in love with me. I assure you it often begins that way." Nick shook his head wisely. "I should take steps to be nice to him if I were you, before the mischief spreads."

      Olga tossed her head. She was slightly flushed. "I shall never make a fool of myself over any man, Nick," she said. "I'm quite determined on that point."

      "Dear, dear!" said Nick. "How old did you say you were?"

      "I am woman enough to know my own mind," said Olga.

      "Heaven forbid!" said Nick. "You wouldn't be a woman at all if you did that."

      "I don't think you are a good judge on that subject, Nick," remarked his niece judiciously. "In fact, even Dr. Wyndham knows better than that. I assure you the antipathy is quite mutual. He regards everyone who isn't desperately ill as superfluous and uninteresting. He was absolutely disappointed the other day because, when I slipped on the stairs, I didn't break any bones."

      "What a fiend!" said Nick.

      "And yet Dad likes him," said Olga. "I can't understand it. The poor people like him too in a way. Isn't it odd? They seem to have such faith in him."

      "I believe Jim has faith in him," remarked Nick. "He wouldn't turn

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