Meredith Nicholson

“ Given a choice in the matter, Burton would not have chosen Saybrook as his benefactor. He had been led by his uncle to believe that a distant kinsman in California had supplied the funds for his education.
“It occurs to me,” Saybrook resumed, “that you and I may be of assistance to each other. I too have made many people unhappy by being cynical and harsh. I sought a fortune, gained it, and found my hands full but my heart empty! I learned all too late that the world is full of romance, that sentiment enters very largely into all human affairs. ”

“ Poor Tommy! He knew it all and was so happy in the thought of getting me out of it!”
“Miss Shipley has been kind to you?” suggested Burton. “You seem the best of of friends.”
The girl was silent for a moment, then she answered brokenly:
“It was Tommy who changed all that! He interested her at once; she fell madly in love with him. She knew perfectly well why he kept coming back. But I have no right to say that she knows any more of what happened that night than I do. They had a game of cards, which was the usual program. Frances came to the bungalow at midnight. ”

“ Burton walked to the door and knocked. There was an instant's silence; then the door was thrown open, and Miss Shipley stood smiling on the threshold.
“How unkind of us to shut ourselves up! But we thought you went home with Alice. We were about to indulge in a little whist. Please take my place—I'm really glad to quit!”
They had not been playing; Burton saw Ledyard furtively seize a pack of cards and begin shuffling them, while Wands slipped into a chair and feigned absorption in his cards. ”

“ Burton's face expressed his scornful rejection of the idea before his lips uttered an emphatic no.
“Ah!” cried Saybrook. “You shall know love! Love shall make you suffer. You shall know adventure, and adventure shall make you strong, brave, self-sacrificing! ”

“ You are leading a dull, morbid existence, brooding over sordidness and misery—even exulting in it at times. What I propose, Burton, is to make you my agent as the promoter of romance, the helper of those whose affairs go badly. The thought of adventure in the old romantic sense is abhorrent to you ”

“ ALICE'S intimation that jealousy might have been a contributing factor in Porter's disappearance had greatly roused Burton; but Frances' serenity, the impression she gave of a well-bred, cultivated woman, did not encourage the feeling that she had connived at the destruction of a man who had passed her by to give his love to another woman. Whatever annoyance Burton's appearance at the Lodge had caused her, she appeared to have overcome it. ”

“ If Shepherd had not so frankly confessed his part in Saybrook's scheme, Burton would have believed the whole matter prearranged even to a rehearsal of this conversation.
When Ledyard became engrossed in the performance of a dancer who was just then the talk of the town, Alice met Burton's gaze with a smile that suggested relief. She had fully wakened all his powers of discernment and analysis, but he was not prepared for her first words:
“I know very few people, Mr. Burton; I have no friends, men or women. I am very greatly in need of help.” ”

“ Burton, befuddled by the rapidity with which he was being passed from one hand to another, murmured a faint acquiescence. At the end of the act Farnam rose and shook hands with the Ledyards, talked to them a moment and presented Burton.
“You ought to be acquainted—similar tastes and all that,” he said easily. “This is Burton, the writer.”
“Mr. Burton is not more welcome for being famous,” said Ledyard pleasantly. “Alice and I finished 'Wreckage' just before we came to town—a book of power, undeniably. It's clear, Mr. Burton, that you know life!” ”

“ Miss Shipley was tall, fair and somewhat older than Alice, Burton judged, with a wealth of brown hair, and blue-gray eyes. He was wondering as to his position in the Ledyard ménage when, as though to set his mind at rest, she remarked easily:
“To chaperon a girl in a lonely place like this is a sinecure, and often when Alice runs away, she doesn't take me along.” ”

“ But my dear boy, we are surrounded by romance; the newspapers are full of it; the houses all around us are full of it. The slums you describe with so much bitterness are full of it. Let me ask you this: have you ever been in love? ”

“ As he reached the bungalow, Alice came out on the veranda, followed by another young woman, and waved her hand.
“So you've been taking the air! We thought of course, you'd hide yourself till luncheon. Miss Shipley, Mr. Burton. I'd forgotten to explain that I have a shack of my own, where Miss Shipley and I live like hermits when we like. You see, we make a great noise with our piano, and Father built the built the bungalow for me two years ago, so I can make all the row I want without fear of disturbing anyone.” ”

“ You have penetration, insight, wisdom of a sort, but your experience of life has been gained from books; your trouble is that you approach the study of society with preconceived ideas. You find what you are looking for. And a man who has never known love still gropes in darkness, grossly ignorant and unfit to write for the instruction of others.”
Burton shrugged his shoulders impatiently. Saybrook was ridiculous; what he proposed was absurd. He felt, strongly impelled to fling his napkin in his singular host's face and leave the house ”

“ Ledyard sprang to his feet, staring wildly, and then with a groan toppled backward and fell heavily to the floor.
“None of that!” cried Porter, leveling a revolver at Fairfield, whose hand flashed to the pocket of his dinner-coat. Burton pointed his automatic at Wands, who had fallen back against the wall and stood there gaping.
“Guns on the table, gentlemen, Burton ordered. “And Miss Shipley,” he admonished, as he saw the girl retreating slowly toward a door at the rear, “will you be kind enough to remain where you are? Thank you!” ”

“ Farnam addressed Ledyard directly, referring to some earlier meeting. Burton turned quickly, hearing the girl's voice.
“You think,” she said, smiling gravely, “that no one can really be sure of—life?”
The pause before she uttered the last word, the cageyness with which she waited for his reply, checked the the answer half formed on his lips. e
“I suppose we may never be sure of the things we covet most,” he answered. “There's gays the vanishing goal to keep us going.”
“The people in your novels don't keep going—they die, or kill themselves,” she laughed. ”

“ They reconnoitered the living-room from the veranda windows and found it empty. Burton opened the door, and they stood inside listening.
“Stand here,” whispered Porter, “and watch the billiard-room door. They're probably in the gaming-room back of it.”
He moved with deliberate certainty to the front door. In a moment he was back, followed by three men, big, bearded fellows, who stationed themselves as he directed.
“I'll go in first,” Burton suggested “I am a guest here, and they can hardly shoot me for looking up my host.” ”

“ He asks people to his place-from time to time—men of substance and some social standing, usually. It's been said that these house-parties are an excuse for gambling on a big scale, by men who are good losers. From what we have been able to karn, the conventions are strictly observed at Lost Trail Lodge.”
“You think, then, that Porter is dead?” asked Burton.
Shepherd frowned and gazed into his wineglass as though seeking the answer there. His quiet reply caused Burton to start.
“That's for you to find out! Saybrook suggested you as Specially qualified for the job. ”

“ You came under my eye just twenty years ago when one of my agents persuaded me for a time that you were quite possibly the child of that marriage. I know your history perfectly. You were orphaned in infancy; the uncle who took charge of you was a man of small means; and as you had interested me, I became, we will say, your benefactor. ”

“ Carved in the paneling over a wide fireplace were these words in old English letters:
Nothing Venture—Nothing Have
“That's my motto,” explained Saybrook, following Burton's glance of interest, 'and I commend it to you.”
The butler served the dinner with a deliberation encouraged by his master's manner.
“You may remove Bill for the present, Bangs,” said Saybrook, indicating a parrot that was attempting to participate in the conversation. “Bill Bones usually talks to me, and he doesn't understand just how you come to be here,” he explained with a smile as the bird retired chattering. ”

“ Illustration: “Frances has gone,” she said. “It was necessary to confer about those men who are coming. They're coming, you know, for their share of the spoils!”
It had been tn Burton's mind to ask Shepherd about Saybrook, but now that they were left to themselves Shepherd seemed deeply preoccupied. He turned in seat that he might the more easily watch the Ledyards. The name had wakened some chord in Burton's memory, and he started when Shepherd suddenly remarked in a low tone:
“You knew Tommy Porter—he was in a class below ours, a fine fellow, the very best sort ”

“ He gazed at Burton quizzically, and the gaze was so prolonged that Burton dropped his eyes.
"Let us be frank with each other,” said Saybrook. “Men in your profession often do not prosper. Reputation, fame even—yes ”