AN AMERICAN SUFFRAGETTE A NOVELByISAAC N. STEVENS Author of "The Liberators, " "Popular GovernmentEssays, " etc. New YorkWilliam Rickey & Company1911 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright, 1911, byWilliam Rickey & Company Registered at Stationers' Hall, London(All Rights Reserved) Printed in the United States of America PRESS OF WILLIAM G. HEWITT, 61-67 NAVY ST. , BROOKLYN, N. Y. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEDICATION To those noble and courageous women of England and America who aretrying to demonstrate to the world that Civilization cannot reach thesupreme heights of progress without giving freedom to the mental, spiritual and physical energies of women, and that government willalways lack a vital element in its functions, so long as women aredeprived of equal participation in its operations--THIS BOOK ISRESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "But life shall on and upward go; Th' eternal step of Progress beats To that great anthem, calm and slow, Which God repeats. " --Whittier. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A DOCTOR RETURNS FROM INDIA 1 II. A MYSTICAL PARADE 15 III. THE MYSTERIOUS YOUNG WOMAN 22 IV. A SUFFRAGE BAZAAR AND BALL 33 V. HYPNOTISM USED FOR AN ANÆSTHETIC 46 VI. SOME STRENUOUS ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 56 VII. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND SURGERY 61 VIII. THE OMNIPRESENT EYES OF FIFTH AVENUE 74 IX. LOVE, JEALOUSY AND MUSIC 82 X. A DISCUSSION OF PROGRESSIVE WOMEN 91 XI. THE ADVANCING COLUMN OF DEMOCRACY 99 XII. A TUBERCULAR KNEE AND A WORRIED SURGEON 117 XIII. AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE MEETING 125 XIV. FAITH IS THE BASIS OF ALL PROGRESS 140 XV. AN EVIL PROPHECY BEGINS TO BEAR FRUIT 154 XVI. THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF EMMA BELL 164 XVII. THE ARREST OF DR. JOHN EARL 180XVIII. DR. EARL IS INDICTED FOR MURDER 194 XIX. A GREAT MURDER TRIAL BEGINS 199 XX. A WOMAN AND SPOOKS FIND A LETTER 211 XXI. SILVIA HOLLAND'S GREAT PLEA TO THE JURY 225 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AN AMERICAN SUFFRAGETTE CHAPTER I A DOCTOR RETURNS FROM INDIA Among the hundreds of people who were awaiting the arrival of the bigCunarder there were two groups, the second of which seemed determinedthat the first should not get far away. The young men of which thissecond group was composed represented the various newspapers of New YorkCity, and while a "beat" was evidently impossible, each of them wasdetermined to get a line for his own journal from the returning hero, Dr. John Earl, which he would not share with the others of thefraternity, and several of them held anxious consultations with theirphotographers who, by special permit, had been allowed upon the pier. The other group had moved a number of times to escape the cameras, and ared-haired youth was expatiating upon the glories of American scientificachievement, concluding with a peroration that called forth anexclamation from one of the older men: "Oh, shut up, Bedford; you sound like a Fourth of July oration. Who arethe people you are trying to snapshot for your lurid sheet?" he saidwearily, as becomes a Chicago newspaper man when in New York. The red-headed one looked at him with cheerful surprise. "Don't you knowanybody?" he asked. "The tall, handsome blonde is Mrs. Ramsey, wife ofGeorge Ramsey, at whose frown the great gods sit tight and the littleones scuttle to cover. Luckily, he is a kindly disposed arbiter and theStreet basks under his smile. " The Chicagoan turned and looked at the lady curiously, and the reporterwent on: "The fair-haired lady with the wild-rose face is old GordonKimball's daughter; born with a diamond teething ring in her mouth, buthas never succeeded in getting anything else of value inside her prettyhead. " "Well, she doesn't have to, " said the Westerner. Young Bedford grinned. "That's what Dr. Earl thinks; he can furnishbrains for the family. Their engagement was reported two months ago. Theman with them is Earl's brother, Frank Earl, corporation lawyer, amateuractor, one of those guys that does everything well, and never gives awayhis own hand. Go after him for a story about some combination his roadhas gone into and you come away with a great spiel about bumper crops;always gives you the glad hand, but nothing in it. You'd never take himfor Mrs. Ramsey's brother, would you? She's a looker, all right. So isDr. Earl, one of these big, handsome, powerful-looking men that makesfolks ask who he is. " "What's all the hullabaloo about, anyhow?" asked the Chicago man. "Where have you been that you don't know about Earl?" answered Bedford. "Why, I thought everybody in the country had heard of him. He's the chapthat raises the dead, you know; just takes 'em by the hand, makes a fewpasses, and says, 'Say, it's time to wake up, old fellow, ' and the deadone sits up and asks for beefsteak. He's the man that saved Hall, thecopper mines king, over in Paris. Hall was finished, all done butputting him in a box, when in comes Dr. Earl. 'Let him alone, ' he says. 'He's tired out. When he finishes this nap he'll be just as good asnew. ' But you know how impetuous the French are, and they were going tohave poor old Hall done for, sure enough, when this Earl man stands themoff, and promises to bring Hall 'round in six hours. And he does itafter the whole bunch of them have parleyed over him and wavedlooking-glasses across his mouth, and found him as dead as Rameses. " There was a general buzz among the newspaper men, and one of them, olderand more dignified in manner than the others, said quietly, "Bedford, you ought not to hand out that kind of fiction, even in your unreliablejournal. " Bedford winked slyly at the Chicagoan. "It was my only hope, " he said ina rapid aside. "That's Tourney. He was over there at the time, and he'lltell us all about it trying to put me right. " "If you don't like my story you can give us the straight steer yourself, Tourney, " he said, and, nothing loath, the older man told how Hall hadbeen suddenly stricken with appendicitis in such severe form that anoperation was necessary at once. Upon this the French surgeons agreed, but his heart action was so bad that they dared not administer ananæsthetic, and one of them, who was a noted hypnotist, expressed adoubt whether he would be able to rouse the patient from a hypnosissufficiently profound to enable them to perform the operation. "This Frenchman, " Tourney went on, warming to his subject, "had seenEarl do some wonderful things and he knew he was in Paris and where hewas stopping. He put the case to Hall, and seeing that it was all daywith him unless something was done, he told them to send for Earl andthey got him there on the double-quick. I was waiting in the hall whenhe went into the operating room and I stayed there until he came out, and as I had done him one or two good turns he told me about it beforehe realized that I was a newspaper man. When he saw me last I wascoaching Harvard students with more money than brains. That has nothingto do with it, except to show that he isn't one of these 'forpublication only' wonder workers. " "Hurry up, " said the Chicagoan, "he'll be here in a few minutes, and ifhe's one of these human clams you are the hope of the press. What did hetell you?" "He agreed with the others in the main points, but he said if Hall waswilling to take the chance, he believed he could pull him through by asystem he had seen used in India. Then he cleared them all out, and whenthey came back Hall was comatose. The appendix was removed in recordtime, and the wound cleansed. Just before Earl finished, one of theFrenchmen noticed that the patient was not breathing, apparently, andexclaimed that he was dead. Dr. Earl pointed out the fact that the bloodshowed no signs of other than a normal condition, such as would be foundin a patient under hypnosis. His idea, as I got it, was that the patientmust be kept unconscious long enough for the body to regain itsfunctions and get over the strain of the operation. He told them if hewere more familiar with Hall's constitution, he would be inclined toprolong his condition of suspended animation, but under thecircumstances he would restore him to consciousness in three hours. "One or two of them got excited and swore the man was dead, andaccording to a lot of tests he was, but the rest, knowing he would havedied anyhow, were willing to wait, and at the end of the time Earlbrought him back to consciousness in such good condition that the otherdoctors were wild over it. In their enthusiastic French way theyheralded the story everywhere. I thought he'd never be allowed to leaveParis. They wanted to keep him right there and string medals around hisneck and pin ribbons all over his coat, but he wouldn't stand for it. He's an awfully modest fellow, and he went over to London with Hall, whoswears by him; says he believes he put a new heart in him, and all thatsort of thing. There comes the boat now. Better have your photographersready, for all you'll get will be a picture of him keeping his mouthshut. " As the big English boat swung slowly into its dock, with the help ofhalf a dozen tugs that puffed and pounded at its side, the newspaper menand Dr. Earl's family caught sight of him simultaneously, as he wavedhis hand and called across the intervening space with all the abandonof a returning traveler. He could make them hear now. "Leonora, dear, how are you!" as aremarkably sweet-faced girl threw a shower of kisses in his direction, which passed on their way an equal number of his own. "And Hilda! Andfor the life of me, there's Frank! Love to all of you!" A few minutesmore and he was with them. He caught the girl in his arms and gave her along and tender embrace. Then he turned to the others and greeted themwith all the fraternal warmth natural after eighteen months' separation. "How splendid it is to see you all again! What brought you to New York, Frank?" "Oh, just to see if I could cross Broadway without being bumped into bya trolley car or a taxi-cab or an airship. Incidentally, to keep youfrom losing your breath and hearing in the new tunnels through which youwill be shot under these New York rivers. " "Tubes, you mean, brother dear, tubes. I've been doing nothing else butshoot the London tubes for the last fortnight. " "Where I live, in the wild and woolly Rockies, we call them tunnels, "answered his brother. "Wouldn't the railroad builder howl at the ideaof 'tubing the mountains, ' and the miner would have a war-dance ofdelight at the suggestion that he must 'tube his claim. ' These Englishairs are all right, Dr. John Earl, but you may as well learn to talkreal American if you expect to chop bones and exploit microbes in thiscountry, " and the young man glowed his admiration while plying him withbadinage. The first greetings were scarcely over when the newspaper men made knowntheir mission, Tourney acting as spokesman for them all. Earl shook hishand warmly. "I'm awfully glad to see you, " he said, "but you know I never giveinterviews. I don't know how, to begin with, and I couldn't say anythingthat would interest your readers. I have come back to practice myprofession in New York City; that is all I can tell you. " "But that Paris case, " pleaded Bedford. "Do tell us about that. " "Did you use the Hindoo method of respiration that the SwamiBramachunenda gave an exposition of here two or three years ago?" askedanother of the fraternity, and the others followed with differentinterrogatives, but Earl laughed and waved them all away. "I don't know what the Swami did, " he said, "but if he is like some ofhis brothers I'm ready to believe anything. All that I did, and a greatdeal that I never thought of doing myself, or heard of anybody elsedoing on this planet, was told in your papers at the time. Really, if Ihad anything worth your while as a news story I would be glad to give itto you--one of these days I may have, but you must excuse me now. " His manner was courteous but unmistakable, and turning away from them hewas soon absorbed in conversation with the pretty girl and his brotherand sister. He hardly took his eyes off the former as he recounted hisadventures abroad. Three months previously he and Leonora Kimball had been betrothed inVienna, and it was agreed that they were to be married soon after hisarrival home. In a social way, the match met the approval of New York'sselect set, for they belonged to equally wealthy and prominent families. The Earls had come to New York from New England, two generations ago, and the foundation of the family fortune had been laid in a small blockof New York, New Haven and Hartford stock, which had grown into a hugeblock of both stocks and bonds from the various expansions of stock andconsolidations of property that had meanwhile taken place. The Kimballshad come from the Pacific coast, where the same alchemist's result hadbeen wrought with a block of Southern Pacific Railway stock. The familytree of the Earls had rooted itself into the subsoil of real culture, while that of the Kimballs was mostly displayed above ground with onlyhere and there a stray fibre that had sunk to any depth. Leonora Kimball, who at this time was slightly over twenty-three yearsof age, possessed a most winning and gracious manner--a face that mighthave served as a better model for a madonna than many of thoseapparently used by the old masters; a lithe and graceful figure and anabundance of vivacity when doing the things that pleased her. She had socaptivated John Earl from their first meeting that he had never triednor cared to analyze her. Indeed, had he so wished, he would have foundit a difficult undertaking, for he was too content with the pleasure hefelt in her presence to care to question it. Dr. Earl had taken infinite pains to search the world for the sources ofdisease and its prevention and cure. He had delved deeply into themysteries of mental and spiritual therapeutics, and had closely studiedthe influences surrounding the origin of individual human beings. Butwhile he had harnessed many more or less occult forces into scientificservice in treating invalids, strangely enough, it never occurred to himthat similar elements might have an important mission in determining thenatural affinity of those attracted by the tenderest passion in theworld, and might do much, if properly regarded, to render stable thatone-time sacred bond of the sexes known as the marriage relation, whichat this time, everywhere, was resting upon such shifting quicksands ofmismating as to menace its existence. "Love is of man's life a thing apart, " applied with full force to Dr. Earl, and he accepted his relations with Leonora Kimball with the sameconfidence and light heart that might characterize the least thoughtfulman on Manhattan Island. While he had traveled many thousands of milesand burned many a midnight lamp to ascertain if improvement could not bemade in the prevailing orthodox method of treating disease, he blindlyaccepted, as millions of strong men before him had done, the prevailingorthodox method of selecting a wife. In any event, after the brother and sister had been left at the Ramseymansion on upper Fifth Avenue, he and Leonora proceeded to spend thetime from eleven to three o'clock very much as other lovers similarlysituated would have consumed those four hours. They motored until oneo'clock, when they went to her house, not far from his sister'sresidence, where he had luncheon with her and her widowed mother, and atthree o'clock he arrived at the Hotel Gotham, where he had engagedapartments. When he stepped into his new sitting-room a large photograph of Leonoraconfronted him on the dressing-case, his valet being a man of rare senseand tact. As he looked into the counterfeit impression of the large blue eyes andreflected back her smile he declared to himself for the twentieth timethat day that she was the most fascinating creature in the world. CHAPTER II A MYSTICAL PARADE When Dr. Earl arrived at his hotel he noticed crowds of people gatheringon the sidewalk, and lining up along the curbstone further down theavenue, evidently expecting a parade of some sort. He had dismissed thematter from his mind and was startled about an hour later to hear thetap of a drum on the street, then a martial air by a band, followed bythe clatter of horses' hoofs and the shouts of policemen clearing theway. Throwing open a window, he witnessed a sight that dazed him for amoment, and he wondered whether or not he really was in an Americancity. As if by magic, the street was now filled with women, arrangingthemselves in marching order, with the shout of command ringing clearupon the air, and down Fifth Avenue as far as he could see, othercolumns of women were forming to the strains of military music and tothe stirring echoes of fife and drum. He grabbed his hat and stick, and joined the throng that packed thesidewalk. His six feet of height and his athletic training rendered himgood service in ascertaining where to go and making it possible to getthere. He hurried along several blocks until he reached what he thoughtmust be the leading column of the march. Then he elbowed his way to thecurbstone and took up a position to witness this, as yet, mysteriousdemonstration. The air was sharp for a day late in April, but the sky was clear and thesun shed occasional rays of splendor over some of the lower buildingsupon the waiting multitude. The crowd was remarkably quiet. There seemed to be a spell over thewhole performance that savored of some of the wonders he had so recentlywitnessed in India. There was something electric in the air that broughtwith it an echo from some distant past or a promise for the future whichhe tried in vain to catch and recognize. Finally the order, "Forward, march!" was given, and to the air of"Marching Through Georgia" the first column swung down the Avenue witheasy grace and in perfect step. Long before the first standard came near he knew it was a WomanSuffrage parade, and before he could get a view of the women carryingit, he read the inscription on the banner: Forward out of Error, Leave behind the night; Forward through the darkness, Forward into Light. Then the standard bearers were opposite him. The one nearest to him wasan exceedingly pretty young woman, as was also the second one, but ashis eyes rested upon the one farthest away he gave a startledexclamation that attracted the attention of those around him. "My mystery! Again she has dropped from the clouds!" The object of hisinterest was a tall young woman, scarcely more than twenty-five years ofage, gowned in white cloth with black trimmings, with a white hat turnedstraight up on the left side and lined in black. She showed grace andenergy in every movement and intellect and force in every glance. Her large, sapphire-blue eyes gleamed with the intensity of herfeelings, and the touches of bronze hair that could be seen beneath herhat gave evidence of the vivacious character of her life. As she marched with queenly grace at the head of this mighty host of sixthousand American women, Dr. Earl had visions of the reality of the mythor history, whichever it may be, of Semiramis invading Assyria and theAmazons conquering Asia. The entire line of march was no doubt interesting, but the head of thecolumn was absorbing to our hero, so block after block he marched asnearly abreast of the banner on the sidewalk as a dense crowd wouldpermit him, and when the column broke ranks at Union Square he was thereto witness it. No sooner did the mysterious banner bearer quit the march than sherushed to the custodian of the posters, and, gathering an armful, shecoaxed, or with mock heroics terrorized, every person she approachedinto buying one for "the good of the Cause!" Earl was certain his heart would never beat again when she asked him indeep, musical tones to "Please buy one for the Cause. " He did so, andloitered around watching her a few moments longer, then started upBroadway. When he swung into Fifth Avenue he was impressed again, as he had beenwhen he came from the boat, with the changed atmosphere of the street. He had always read the mood of New York in its silent reflection in thisexpressive part of the city's physiognomy. Long ago, he had discoveredthat Fifth Avenue smiles or weeps, applauds or hisses, effervesces withenthusiasm or gazes somberly like the image of despair, revels infervent expressions of patriotism or looks with gloomy distrust uponpublic affairs--all according to the mood of the dominant portion of NewYork's population--those who control the destinies of the huge privateenterprises that are the marvel of the age, and the management of whichmeans so much in the way of industrial slavery or economic freedom tothe American people. This evening there was a note of more seriousness in the air than he hadever before witnessed on this gay thoroughfare. The rush of automobilesand taxicabs and carriages with beautifully gowned women andfine-looking men as occupants was as great as ever; the perfectlygroomed New York woman on the sidewalk, with figure and carriage such asoutclasses the women of every other large city in the world, was therein numbers quite as great as formerly; the Western woman, who had comeon to take New York by storm, or who imagined the acme of humanexistence was in New York café life, with all of its vulgar display andraucous manners, was abundantly in evidence. But over the entire concourse there appeared to drift an atmosphere ofthe spiritual, which lifted them from the plane of the Fifth Avenuecrowd of a year and a half before, and impressed him in the same mannerthat he had been impressed in the far East by adepts when they gavepublic demonstrations of their powers, or conversed with their Chelæwithout the medium of written or spoken language. When he left America the woman suffrage movement in New York was asubject of more or less ridicule; a few wealthy women had begun toidentify themselves with it, but they were called "faddists" and theirefforts were not taken seriously. It was apparent now that the suffragecause had been given the impetus of the world-wide movement that wasreaching the women of all countries, and had changed from a gospel oftracts to a militant crusade for their share of the duties andresponsibilities of life and the power properly to discharge them. Neverhad he seen so many of the real leaders of New York society engaged inany work, charitable or otherwise, as had taken part in this parade, marching on foot the full two miles, and often side by side with theworking-women of the city. He had once seen a painting of the Maid of Orleans in a foreign gallerythat carried so much of spiritual earnestness that he felt that he couldappreciate how easy it was for the French army instinctively to followher lead, and how much easier it was for the poor dupes of ignorance andsuperstition to believe that this overmastering spiritual nature was theproduct of witchcraft. Absorbing though these thoughts were, they did not exclude another trainwhich had to do with the mysterious banner bearer, and as he entered hishotel he clenched his right hand suddenly and muttered to himself, "Imust dismiss her from my thoughts. " CHAPTER III THE MYSTERIOUS YOUNG WOMAN Dr. Earl took a late dinner at his sister's house, after having spent anhour with his fiancée on the way. There were just the four of them attable, his sister and her husband, his brother and himself. His sister was the oldest member of his family, which comprised but thethree of them, his father and mother having died some years before. During the college days of both himself and his brother, who was twoyears his junior, his sister had assumed the rôle of a mother to them, and right devotedly had she filled the part. She had been more of a"pal" to them than anything else, and some years' residence in Englandduring her schooldays had broadened her vision of the true meaning andvalue of this relation between those of opposite sex and particularlybetween brother and sister. She possessed now, as always, the unbounded respect and confidence ofthese two young men of thoroughly dissimilar character and temperament, and she was the repository of the sacred secrets of each of them, whichshe was warned she must never betray to the other. And she never did. Eight years previous to these occurrences, she had married GeorgeRamsey, President of the Gotham Trust Company, which institution hadrecently absorbed half a dozen weaker concerns doing a similar business, and more recently had taken over from the New York bankers, who werestockholders in the trust company, the handling of most of the publicutility securities that were floated in this country. But George Ramseywas not the pretentious pawnbroker in spirit and manner that so oftenpresides over the destinies of American banks, but he was aphilosophical financier who understood perfectly the strength andweakness of the system under which he worked, and who, while he wonderedat the supine idiocy of the people that would permit of the prevailingDick Turpin methods of high finance, never took his eye from the horizonof public action, where daily he expected to see "the cloud no biggerthan a man's hand" that was to expand into the storm that would engulfthese and other long permitted public ills. Many times recently he had sounded the alarm of the dangers attendingrecapitalization of properties that already bore a heavy weight ofwatered securities, but his colleagues had laughed at what they termedhis fears, and had attempted to reassure him of their completepossession of the departments of government that controlled suchmatters. Bred to the banking business, he had no thought of transferringhis abilities and energies to the realm of statesmanship, but in thesanctum of his own home he would often pour forth his disgust with, andhis fear of, such methods, to the tall, clear-eyed, clear-brained andbeautiful woman from whom John and Frank Earl were wont to seek advicein their perplexities. And from her he always received valuablesuggestions, a keener insight into the motives of men, a broader, morehumane view-point, and withal a firmness to set himself, in part, wherethe law of the land should have been set wholly, as a barrier againstthe worst of these public depredations. Mr. And Mrs. George Ramsey were the same lovers now that they wereduring their honeymoon. In the crowded ballroom, at the opera, in theautomobile after the harassing cares of the day, on land or sea, he wasalways the admiring and devoted attendant, and gave expression to hisfeelings in a variety of new and interesting ways. It was evident thatthey had not run counter to the influence of the stars in waiting for anatural affinity. In their home they entered into the spirit of whateverwas borne to them by their guests. With scholars and philosophers theyheld their own in abstruse and abstract discussions. With musicians andmusic lovers they were at ease, for both played and sang with more thanamateur skill. With young people bent on a frolic, they could be thegayest of the party. Their outlook upon life was always across greenmeadows or perfectly kept beds of beautiful flowers. Every guest found ready sympathy for whatever was nearest and dearest tohim, and went away convinced that he had never rightly understood hisown hobby before. In this atmosphere, and at table with this couple, John and Frank Earlseated themselves at eight o'clock for dinner. It would be difficult to imagine two brothers more widely separated inphysical and mental characteristics. John was tall, athletic, with darkhair, large, dreamy brown eyes, perfect poise, a silent and dignifiedbearing that easily commanded attention when he spoke, a low, musicalvoice and an exceedingly strong and graceful hand. Frank was of medium height, spare of figure, with light hair, penetrating blue eyes, resilient voice, quick and nervous of speech, with large hands and feet, and not a shadow of dignity in his bearing. The one personified reflection; the other action. In the eyes of oneappeared the dreams of centuries; beaming from the eyes of the other wasthe fun of the ages. "Did any of you people, aside from Jack, see the suffragette paradeto-day?" asked Frank, with laughing eyes fixed upon his brother. "I--how do you know I saw it?" asked John, and his confused mannerbrought "Eh, Jack?" from the other two. "It's all right, Jack; I won't tell Leonora, but how jealous she wouldbe if she could have seen you following the banner carried by thosethree pretty girls, " answered Frank. "Why, I followed you a dozen blocksmyself, almost touching you the whole time, just to see which one of thethree girls was making you join the parade. The next time get right outinto the street, old man, and don't block the view of us spectators, foryou know you were a part of that parade to-day, in mind at least. " The absurdity of the scene as depicted by Frank made even John throwback his head and join in the unrestrained laughter of the others. "I was in the Waldorf-Astoria at a tea-table near the window when thehead of the column came in view. I, too, liked the looks of those prettygirls carrying the banner, but before I could decide which one I likedbest, my dearly beloved brother hove in sight, with eyes glued on thethird one, wandering down the Avenue like either a slow-hatching lunaticor a good subject for a hypnotist. I knew Jack would need me in New Yorkto steer him right until all that Indian mysticism gets out of hissystem, and that is the reason I left the delights of the wilds for thebarbarism of the city. Well, I excused myself and hurried out to takepossession of Jack, but when I got close to him and was just about toslap him on the shoulder, I followed his eyes--and for the life of me, Icouldn't touch him!" Here Frank's tone became half serious and his changed manner hushed thelaughter of the others. "I have always ridiculed the idea of hypnotismand in every experiment where I have been present I have set myself todisprove its effects. But candidly, folks, I was hypnotized. Unconsciously I followed that parade a whole dozen blocks myself, andwhen I finally came out of the trance, or whatever it was, and startedback to the hotel, the entire atmosphere seemed filled with some kind ofuncanny dope. I never witnessed such contagious energy and earnestness, and every step emanated spiritual sparks that blinded my eyes and tookpossession of my faculties. Who is she, Jack?" "That is what I want to know. I call her my 'Mystery. ' One day while Iwas in London and near Trafalgar Square I saw a demonstration of womendown toward the parliament buildings. I went that way to see what was upand soon discovered that it was a body of English suffragettes making anattempt to exercise their claimed right to petition parliament. Asusual, the demonstration was more or less strenuous and the policeinterfered. When I got close enough to identify them, I saw my 'Mystery'in the front ranks, exhorting the women, protesting and pleading withthe policemen, and gradually getting nearer and nearer the parliamentbuildings until they had almost reached one of the entrances. It lookedvery much as if they might get entirely in and vindicate their claim, but just at that moment a fresh squad of police arrived under an officersuperior to any present, and ordered the arrest of the leaders. My'Mystery' was the first arrested. It was then that I discovered that shewas an American girl. The speech she delivered to those police officerson human rights and human liberties and women's rights and women'sliberties is worthy a place among the world's great orations. They tookher and the rest of them away, but I noticed that they treated her withmarked respect. I don't think any of them were jailed on that occasion, but she defied them to jail her. The next time I saw her was at theGrand Opera House in Paris, two months later. She was with some friendsin an adjoining stall. It was a gala performance for the benefit of theflood sufferers and the most noted singers in the world had volunteeredtheir services, and single acts from a number of operas were given. Itwas difficult to believe that this beautiful, stylish, richly-gownedgirl was the one I saw arrested in a suffrage disturbance on the streetsof London. Throughout the performance I watched her closely, and herexpressive face reflected the emotion of every leading role. She partookof the abandon of the gayer airs in 'Carmen, ' and her cheeks wereflooded with tears at the misfortunes of Marguerite in 'Faust. ' I wasdying to know who she was, but I was with foreign surgeons, and saw noAmericans that I knew. To-day is the first time I have seen her since. Who is she, Hilda?" eagerly he asked of his sister. "You and Frank give me a lot of exclamation points, with a vividdescription of how the atmosphere affected you, and then want me to namea vision for you. Please describe the physical girl, leaving out alladjectives, mystical pieces of air, _et cetera_, and perhaps I can tellwho she is. " Jack described the girl in the parade, somewhat repressing hisenthusiasm under Frank's amused scrutiny. "I don't wonder at your captivation. That is Silvia Holland, one richAmerican girl who is determined to justify her existence, live a lifethat is worth while, and demonstrate the ability of women to beeconomically independent, for although her father has a half-dozen city, country and resort residences, she insists in maintaining at her ownexpense a modest apartment in the Whittier Studios, and keeps up her owncountry home on the Hudson at Nutwood. Just now her parents are on atrip around the world. You know she is a graduate of the law school atColumbia and was admitted to practice a few months ago. You should thankyour stars, Jack, that it is not the medical profession she is seekingto enter, or the dry bones there would be worse shaken up than they willbe by your new theories, and you would have a formidable rival. " "She is not the daughter of John J. Holland, the steel magnate?" heinquired. "Yes, his daughter and only child. " "Whew! There is hope of the American woman after all. There certainly isa big social revolution on in America, " and Jack arose with the othersto go into the library for coffee. "It might interest you young men to know that these suffragists are tofinish their day's work with a ball and a bazaar to-night, and I havetickets for a box, " suggested Hilda. "Of course Jack can't go, but I shall be delighted to bask in the smilesof this modern Semiramis a while, " answered Frank. "Then, too, " headded, "she may convert me to suffrage, which living in Colorado amongsuffragists for two years has failed to do. " "Oh, that is because you are looking at the matter through a railroadattorney's eyes; long ago it was truly written that 'no man can servetwo masters, ' and your railroad employment is your master just now, "answered his sister. "I have heard reports that indicate that woman's suffrage in Colorado isapt quite soon to cause not only you railroad lawyers but our holders ofrailroad securities some concern about the quantity of water we injectinto any one issue of stocks and bonds, " laughingly suggested Mr. Ramsey. "Come, gentlemen, your charming Amazon will not stay up all night, andit is ten-thirty now, " called Hilda, who had already garbed herself forthe automobile. CHAPTER IV A SUFFRAGE BAZAAR AND BALL A suffrage bazaar does not differ essentially from the same iniquityunder other auspices. There are the same useless articles for sale andthe same aggressive methods of disposing of them; the same varieties offancy work, knit, embroidered, drawn, quartered and crocheted; the samedisplay of canned goods and home-made jellies and feminine apparel; thesame raffles and "drawings" and "chances" by which churches have longconducted their clerical lotteries; the same side-shows and the sameappeal to the social world to come and mingle with the "high-brows" andbe fashionably robbed. Only in this instance far more ingenuity had been displayed in thenumber and nature of the side attractions. There were guessing machineswhere the cocksure were reduced to humbleness of mind by their failuresto state accurately the number of women voting in the world or somesection thereof; the number of countries that have recently swung intoline in the woman movement; the number of subjects reigned over bywomen, and similar questions, all of which proved "extra hazardous" tomost of the guessers. Many of them did not even know what the five starson the suffrage flag indicated. They had a row of Chinese examination booths, in which persons wishing acertificate of "Efficient Citizenship" were given blanks to fill out, inwhich they revealed their knowledge, or their crass ignorance, ofconditions in various parts of their own country. Mrs. Jarley conducteda wax-works performance, and there was a moving-picture show in whichMrs. Cornelia Gracchus, the favorite example of the "Antis, " was shownlecturing in the Forum on medicine to grave and reverend seigneurs, Joanof Arc leading her troops, and Florence Nightingale bending over thesick and wounded. An educated pig told the uneducated person in how many States women havefull suffrage, and which they are; where suffrage campaigns are pending, and the names of the distinguished Americans who have gone on record infavor of this reform. A Street of All Nations showed the onward march, all the way from the women of Washington casting their "recall" ballotsto the women of China unbinding their feet, and Turkish ladies tearingtheir veils into tatters. Dancing was going on in an adjoining room, but the crowd was so greatthat it was impossible to even locate Jack's "Mystery, " so Frank turnedhis attention to a row of booths, draped in black, with silverastrological symbols, palmist signs and two flaming aces of hearts anddiamonds, where past, present and future were revealed at veryreasonable prices--considering. "Me for the astrologist, " he said. "Jack, go in at the sign of the glowing heart and find out whether Venusis going to be good to you, and then we can swap experiences. " "I think I'll try the palmist, " Jack replied. "If it's even moderatelywell done it is interesting, " and the two brothers disappeared into thecavelike apertures before them. Frank's experience seemed to be highlysatisfactory, for he reappeared grinning cheerfully. Perhaps he hadcause, but he did not reveal it, and when his brother came forth fromthe clutches of the sorceress, he insisted that he should have hishoroscope cast. As there seemed no hope of finding the lady they sought until the crowdshould have thinned a little, Jack laughed and entered thesilver-spangled tent. The seeress was gowned in white, with silverchains and bracelets and girdle, and a long white veil completelyenveloped her except the face, and this was concealed by her yashmak upto her mocking gray eyes, with their dark, level brows. There wassomething in her eyes that attracted Jack, and made him believe in heruncanny powers quite against his will, and even while he told himselfthat this was but the foolishness of the hour. He gave her the necessarydata, and she consulted her charts, and gave him a rapid and wonderfullycorrect delineation of his character, "a nature which combines thecharacteristics of Scorpio with some of those of Sagitarrius, as is thecase, " she explained gravely, "with persons born near the cusp, " a termwhich produced no impression upon his mind, though he said, "Oh, indeed, " politely. She made some cabalistic marks on a square of paperand turned to him with a somewhat startled expression, which faded atonce, and the mocking eyes looked full into his as she went on. "You do not believe in anything I am telling you, and therefore I shallspeak quite frankly, certain that you will be neither cast down norelated by anything I can say. I think you are a physician; if not youought to be; you seem to have come from afar, and to be about to begin anew phase in your life. It is well that you have two of the greatest ofthe planets, Mars and Jupiter, as controlling influences, for you willneed them, and that very soon. You are at this moment in greater dangerthan ever before has been your lot. " Jack could not repress a laugh. With youth, health, ability and love hefelt that it would take more than a stray comet to turn the currents ofhis life awry. But the woman did not smile; he could see that muchthrough the gauzy yashmak, and her eyes grew grave and her foreheadcontracted. "I am glad you don't believe it, " she said, "because I should not liketo tell you what I see if you did; before morning you will know whetherit is all the foolishness you think it. " He apologized. "I'm immensely interested, " he said, "but I didn't knowany one regarded this sort of thing seriously. So far as you've goneyou've hit me off very well, and I don't mind telling you that I am aphysician, and I'm just back from the far East. " "Thank you, " she said gravely. "Have you ever heard that if a man hasmade love to a girl under the constellation of Cassiopeia he should notmarry until he has also made love under the Southern Cross? There is aconjunction of malign planets at this time; they threaten your happinessthrough love, through hate, through accident. If you have becomeinterested in any person born under Saturn, that is between thetwenty-first of December and the twentieth of January, particularlyabout the seventh of January, you should certainly take time to considercarefully, for there is nothing but wretchedness and misunderstanding insuch an alliance; there may be much that is attractive on the surface, but you will find a complete lack of harmony, of similarity of tastesand ambition that would leave you forever alone, and there is muchselfishness and stubborness of will. Saturn and Scorpio are not goodmarital allies. " He gave her a searching glance, for the seventh ofJanuary was Leonora's birthday, but her face was quite inscrutable. "There is something here I do not understand; this accident does nothappen to you, nor to any one near you, yet it has a lasting and aterrible effect upon your life----" she shuddered and pushed the chartsaway from her. "I will not tell you any more, " she said, "but I wonderwhether you would do me the favor of giving me your name and address. Iwant to cast your horoscope carefully, and I will send you the chart. " He thanked her and wrote down his name as requested, somewhat impressedin spite of himself. As he rose to go she stood also and lifted her handas if she would have drawn him back, then let it drop heavily. If it wasa piece of acting, he told himself it was perfectly done. "Do be carefulfor the next twenty-four hours, " she said, "and beware of the evil thatmay come out of good. " That last Delphic utterance stamped the whole affair as a clever pieceof mind-reading, guesswork and acting, and, somewhat annoyed that heshould have been hoaxed even for a moment, Jack withdrew. The hour was growing late and the crowd dispersing when they turnedfrom the fortune-telling booths and entered the ballroom, and presentlyJack said to his sister, "There she is; the one in the green gown. " "Yes, that is Silvia Holland. What a superb dancer, and how democratic!The man she is dancing with is at the head of one of the labororganizations that is championing woman's suffrage. Come, Jack, let ushave a whirl, as of old, and I will then bring your 'Mystery' over tothe box. " In a moment they were in the midst of the waltz, and at its close Hildahad so managed that they were near Miss Holland. Stepping up to her onJack's arm she presented her brother, and, accepting Hilda's invitation, Miss Holland joined their party. "Did I not see you a year ago on the streets in London, the time I wasarrested?" she naively asked Jack. "Yes, but you were very busy. How in the world could you remember me?" "Don't be flattered by the apparent compliment. While I was deliveringmy little speech to the police I noted how closely you followed me andthat you were the only American around, and I had determined to appealto you for assistance if they undertook to jail the feeble old womanwho was with us. They didn't disturb her, and so you were not calledupon, but you see how near you came to being a militant Englishsuffragette and perhaps a prisoner for thirty days, " she said, halfseriously and half smilingly. "The word of command would have made me both, " he answered, with so muchemphasis that Frank broke into the conversation with, "I wonder if theopen door of an English jail would convert me?" "That would depend upon who was directing your footsteps toward thejail, " suggested his brother-in-law. "Not at all; I think I am hopeless after having heard so much of thetheoretical benefits of suffrage and seen the utter lack of effect inColorado, where I live. " Silvia Holland turned her great, intense eyes upon him. They wereglowing, and he felt the same fascination he had experienced in theafternoon. "You from Colorado and talk this way!" she said in amazement. "Surelyyou are jesting. Take the effect on the polling places alone. Comparethose of New York with those of Denver, and I have seen them in fulloperation in both places. In the first is the atmosphere of barrooms; inthe second the manners and air of drawing-rooms. If I were a Coloradoman I should be proud of the result upon Colorado women of theirresponsibility in citizenship. I know women of all nationalities, but Iknow none where the average of intelligence or womanly grace and realaccomplishments are greater than with your Colorado women. " "I am a railroad attorney, sent out by the owners of some of the linestraversing Colorado to look after their interests, " he answered. "It ispossible that my conclusions have been influenced by my occupation. I amprepared to admit that. But I have rather old-fashioned notions inrelation to the proper place for women being in the home and not inpolitics. " "Oh, you American professional men, particularly you corporationlawyers"--she was smiling now. "You might as well be living in themiddle ages, for you take no note of the tremendous revolution that isgoing on all around you. What we call politics is in reality government, and home is the basis of all good government, and government to serveits legitimate aim in a democracy must reflect the sentiments of allthe members of the society that created it, women as well as men, andthe higher the aspirations of society the higher the purposes ofgovernment. " The others were enjoying this little scene. "Bravo, bravo, Silvia!"exclaimed Hilda. "Do make a convert of him!" "You know, " said Miss Holland, and she put as much sarcasm in her toneas possible without leaving a sting, "that this thing called governmentonly needs a good house-cleaning and the application of a few verminextinguishers, such as every good housekeeper knows how to administer, to make this country a congenial habitation for the gods of theTwentieth Century--the enlightened, progressive, responsible citizens ofa democracy. Come to the Industrial League meeting next Thursday nightand you will learn more about this than I can possibly tell you. I willsend you a card, " and she gaily floated away with Dr. Orrin Morris, herescort of the evening, who had been impatiently waiting for her forseveral minutes. Dr. Orrin Morris and Dr. John Earl were graduated from the same class inthe Harvard medical school, but Dr. Morris had immediately aftergraduation settled down to the exclusive practice of surgery accordingto orthodox methods, and was already regarded as one of the rising youngsurgeons of New York City. His father had met with financial reverses in 1907 that had not onlywrecked the family fortune but had carried him to an untimely grave. Hismother had been dead for some years and he had no brother or sister. Hemaintained a house on East 57th Street and had much practice in two ofthe prominent hospitals. Dr. Morris presented a rather angular appearance as he strode away withMiss Holland. He was excessively lean, of swarthy complexion, dark eyes, black hair and a domineering air. His mother had possessed a strain ofthat Spanish blood that was freely mixed with the Moors during theiroccupancy of Spain, and added to the natural tendencies of the Latinwere visible some of the ear-marks of Moorish intensity. For some monthshe had been paying marked attention to Miss Holland, whom he had knownin a general way for a long time, and, while she did not encourage him, she had not thought it necessary to dismiss him, for she found him mostentertaining, as he was regarded as one of the best non-professionalviolinists in New York. They had spent many agreeable evenings togetherover their music, she playing the accompaniments on the piano. His views on public questions were as set and conservative as were hisviews on medicine, and she never attempted to discuss those matters withhim; the fact that she could not do so was somewhat a relief to her whenshe desired to get away from her public activities. Mr. And Mrs. Ramsey, Dr. Morris and Miss Holland, and the two young menwith other ladies of their acquaintance, joined in the last dance andthen started for the cloakrooms together. CHAPTER V HYPNOTISM USED FOR AN ANÆSTHETIC Mrs. Ramsey and Miss Holland emerged from the dressing-rooms after atrifling delay, and found Hilda's party and Dr. Morris waiting in thefoyer. Just as they were about making their way to their respectivemotors they heard a sudden commotion and wild cries from the street, anda crowd of people surged in, crying that a child had been killed by anautomobile. Both Dr. Earl and Dr. Morris rushed toward the street as aman came in carrying a little girl of perhaps ten years of age, bleedingprofusely from the mouth and the scalp, with one leg evidently broken. The mother of the child, a comely woman of thirty, followed, wringingher hands. Her excitement verged on hysteria, but at the sight of Dr. Morris she controlled herself by a mighty effort. "To the hospital, to the hospital, Dr. Earl, " peremptorily exclaimed Dr. Morris, as Dr. Earl threw aside his coat and, rolling back his sleevesand directing the man to place the child on a table in one of theante-rooms, began to examine the character of the injuries. "Oh, don't take my poor child to the hospital. I know she will die ifshe goes there; bring her home; it is only a few blocks, " the motherpleaded with Dr. Morris, whom she seemed to know. "Don't waste time here. Where is the telephone? I will call an ambulanceimmediately. " "I don't want her taken to the hospital, " said the woman sullenly. "This is no place to operate on a hysterical child, " Morris answered. "She need not be kept in the hospital, but she should certainly be takenthere. I know Dr. Earl will agree with me. " In the meantime, Earl had completed his examination. Silvia Holland waswatching him anxiously. As Morris spoke he looked up and caught her eye. "It is only a simple fracture, and the scalp wounds are slight. Isuppose we could get along, if we can get hot water and the necessaryappliances, " he said dubiously, and then added, turning to the woman, "Dr. Morris is quite right, madame, in advising the hospital, and Iassure you there is no danger. " The woman turned pleading eyes to Silvia. "She's all I have, and I can'tlet her be taken away from me. Couldn't we go home? It is only a fewblocks away, and I know I can make her comfortable. Oh, please, pleasedon't let them take her away!" Miss Holland looked at Dr. Earl and put her arm around the womanprotectingly. "If it isn't any worse than that, " she said hesitatingly, "don't you think you could do as she asks? Setting a simple fractureisn't a very complicated operation, is it?" Earl smiled. "Oh, no, " he said, "it can be done in a comparatively fewminutes. " "Then why not do it, " she said, "and spare the mother all thisprotracted agony, and get the child home?" "Because there are no appliances here to administer an anæsthetic or doanything else properly, " answered Morris impatiently, "and no one cantell from a cursory examination whether or not there are other injuries, to say nothing of the danger from septicæmia if the work is done in aclumsy, slipshod manner. " Earl colored, and Miss Holland replied with some spirit that even theabsence of the usual accessories need not imply clumsiness of method, and again asked Earl if he could not manage where they were. He turnedto the mother. "If you insist upon it, I have no doubt that I can do all that isnecessary without bad results. As to the anæsthetic, we can dispensewith that. " "I will have nothing to do with the case under these circumstances, "Morris said angrily. The woman hesitated, and then said firmly, "I should prefer the othergentleman to take charge. I won't have her taken to the hospital. " "Very well, " said Earl, and taking a notebook from his pocket he wroteout a list of necessary appliances, bandages, alcohol, antisepticsolutions, surgeon's scissors, needles, silk and thread, and giving itto Frank bade him hurry to the drug-store around the corner whichcarried surgical supplies and procure them, and also to bring a box thatwould do for splints. "I must have an assistant, " he said, and without a word, Miss Hollandimprovised an apron from some of the bunting that was in evidenceeverywhere, and put herself at his disposal. He sent all the others outof the room, and bent over the child for a few minutes. What did he do?Miss Holland watched, but could not tell. The moaning ceased, the littlelimbs relaxed, and the child fell into a quiet sleep. The mother stood just outside the door, listening with strainedattention, and after two or three impatient turns about the foyer, Morris joined her. "You can do as you please so far as I am concerned, " he said in a lowtone, "but I warn you that you are taking big risks. Allie is nervousand excitable at any time, and to-night she is close to hysterics, andshe won't get over the shock of even a simple operation in a hurry, especially if he is fool enough to attempt it without an anæsthetic. " The woman wavered for a moment, and then turned away without a word, andshrugging his shoulders Morris strode down toward the entrance. A momentlater Silvia Holland came out of the ante-room. "You can go in now, " she said, "only don't disturb your child; she issleeping and you must be very quiet. Did you see Dr. Morris? Oh, therehe is. " Mindful of the amenities of life, she hurried to his side. His face wasdark with something more than anger, and did not lighten as she laid thetips of her fingers on his arm. "I know you will excuse me, Orrin, " she said gently. "You mustn't beangry with me, but I really feel as if I ought to see this through; thepoor woman needs me. You will forgive me?" He looked at her with sudden passion. "Oh, yes, I forgive _you_, " hesaid, with unmistakable emphasis on the pronoun, and was gone. SilviaHolland looked after him for a moment, conscious that, accustomed as shewas to his moods, this was quite a new one, and then joined Dr. Earl, who had come into the foyer to say goodnight to the Ramseys and FrankEarl, who had returned with the surgical appliances and found nothingmore that he could do. "By the way, old man, " Dr. Earl called to hisbrother-in-law, "send the machine back if you don't mind, " and with aword of thanks he re-entered the ante-room, followed by Miss Holland, and closed the door against further interruption. There was a sink in the room, with hot and cold water, and he directedMiss Holland to cleanse the basin and implements in the boiling water, and follow this up by dipping them in an antiseptic solution; in themeantime he ripped the box to pieces, and selected two strips, which hewhittled into splints, shaping them to the child's leg, and working withgreat rapidity. The bandages, cotton and other things were laid out uponthe table, and then he took the basin and a cloth and washed the woundson the head, putting back the tousled locks as carefully and tenderly asa woman. "Ordinarily, " he said to his assistant, "I should have done this first, but my examination showed that this injury is very slight. Of course shehas bled profusely, but it has come from the nose, and it looks prettybad, but there is nothing serious. Half a dozen stitches will be amplefor the scalp. Thread that needle with the silk, please. Now let me haveit. " He took it from her, and in a moment the cuts on the head weresewed, and he was pulling the leg into place, applying the cotton, thesplints and bandages, working deftly and silently. "The other needlewith the thread, please, " he said, not looking up, and Miss Hollandhanded it to him. Presently he raised his head and threw back hisshoulders. "It is all done, " he said simply, and called the mother. "I shall returnin a quarter of an hour, " he said, "and bring her out of this sleep. Donot try to rouse her, for you cannot. Do you not think, Miss Holland, that it would be well for me to get a nurse to assist in taking thelittle one home? I can 'phone when I return these instruments. " "Your machine is coming back, isn't it?" Miss Holland answered. "Itseems to me that with what help her mother and I can render that weshall manage. " "Excellently, " he said. "Then you will be on guard until my return; seethat the child is not disturbed. I shall be gone but a few minutes. " He readjusted his attire, and taking up his hat strode out of thebuilding, unconscious until he reached the door that half a dozenenergetic reporters were eagerly asking particulars. Finding himunwilling to tell them anything more than the vaguest generalities, themore resourceful returned to the improvised operating-room, and beforeSilvia Holland knew it they had the story from her enthusiastic lips, supplemented by a few facts gathered from the woman. For thus arefirst-page sensations secured and created. Silvia noticed that the woman spoke with visible reluctance, and sheherself passed over the controversy between Dr. Morris and Dr. Earl, anxious to spare her friend any unnecessary annoyance. "I am sorry, Mrs. Bell, " she said contritely. "I didn't realize at firstthat we were being interviewed. " "Oh, there is no harm done, " the woman said quietly. "I hope the doctorwill not mind; won't he be back pretty soon?" Almost as she spoke, his tall form was seen making its way through thebesieging ranks of the Fourth Estate. He waved them aside goodhumoredly, but refusing to be interviewed, he took the child in hisstrong arms and, followed by her mother and Miss Holland, made his wayto the auto. While she was in a profound sleep when he returned, shewakened instantly when he commanded her to do so, and the cool night airevidently refreshed her greatly as they drove to Mrs. Bell's home. Dr. Earl carried the little one upstairs, gave her mother explicitdirections, and promising to call early the following day to adjust acast, left the apartment with Miss Holland. CHAPTER VI SOME STRENUOUS ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS Several of the New York papers carried lurid headlines and more or lesssensational accounts of the accident to the child and the treatmentadministered by Dr. Earl, as well as a tribute to the heroism of thevolunteer nurse. All of them contained a report of some character ofthese occurrences. When Dr. Earl called at the home of his fiancée, according toappointment, to take her and her mother to luncheon the next day, hefound Leonora in a sullen mood, and it did not take him long to discoverthat he was not in high favor at this particular hour. He greeted her with a kiss, but hers in return was perfunctory. He wasnot compelled to wait long for an explanation, for she poured out herfeelings without any questioning. "Oh, Jack, dear, how could you mix up with that suffrage crowd! Don'tyou know that mamma is vice-president of the Anti-Woman SuffrageLeague? She is so annoyed! And that horrid Silvia Holland--why, Jack, she is a downright socialist. Don't you know she was arrested in Englandfor trying to break into parliament with a lot of other suffragettes, and she was arrested here only last month for defying the police andtaking sides with a lot of girls who refused to work in the factorieswhere they were employed! Even when in school she was horrid. When theywouldn't let her make a suffrage speech on the school grounds one nightshe took the girls to a neighboring graveyard and spoke from a flatmonument! And to think the papers have you mixed up with her, and ourwedding soon to be announced! Oh, it's terrible!" and she buried herface in the sofa pillows. Had this scene occurred with any one else, Jack felt certain he couldnot have restrained his laughter, for he could see Miss Hollanddelivering an exhortation to the schoolgirls from a tombstone in acemetery by night. But he understood the prejudices of a certain elementof New York society, and while the past twenty-four hours had led him, somewhat, to believe that this progressive democratic wave sweepingover the world had engulfed all New Yorkers, he now realized how sadlymistaken he had been. With infinite tact he told her that his sister had taken their party tothe ball--pointed out his own duty when the injured child had beenbrought in from the street, and how he had not even suggested that MissHolland should assist him. He saw that the present was no time for adiscussion of the merits of the case or a pronouncement of his ownviews, but he distinctly realized, with something of a jolt, it is true, that a wide gulf separated the Bourbon element of America's supposeddemocracy from the advancing column of her real and inspired democracy, and he wondered whether it were at all possible to tunnel under orbridge over this gulf. He lightly changed the subject. "I have just discovered that I can get my old offices on East 53rdStreet, as the year's lease expires the first of next month, and theagents heeded my letter asking them to wait for me. So I shall feelquite at home in the old quarters, " he said. She smiled at this, but was not quite ready to drop the former subject. "Jack, dear, did you take Miss Holland home at one o'clock in themorning?" He laughed at her this time, as he bent to kiss her. "I really believeyou are jealous, you little nymph. Of course I took her home. She couldnot stay there all night, and there was no one else to take her. " She looked very serious. "No, I don't know what jealousy is, " she slowlyand emphatically said, "but I don't want to know people who do thethings that Miss Holland does, and I don't want you to know them. " "My dear child, " he said, taking her hands in his and catching her eyeswith his own steady glance. "I must know whoever is thrown into my patheither in a professional or a social way. All people are intenselyinteresting to me, for we are, after all, but one great family of humanbeings, trying to carve out lives that are worth while, and this we cando better by getting the best there is from each other. " He hesitated amoment, still looking steadily at her. She quivered slightly, but he wasdimly conscious of the colossal character of the will she was summoningto her aid. Then very slowly, but with all the earnestness of hisnature, he added, "You must get away from these views, for they aredwarfing and not becoming to you, and if you do not we shall be veryunhappy. Miss Holland is a remarkable young woman. She is destined tofill a great place in our American social and political life. She iswell worthy of your friendship. " She withdrew her hands, but still kept her eyes fixed on his. Her browcontracted and with emphasis she said: "Miss Holland has forfeited herplace in our set by her conduct; why, Jack, you don't know how she iscriticized by our friends or you would not suggest such a thing. " He arose with a shrug of his shoulders. Fortunately, Mrs. Kimballappeared at this moment and they motored to the Plaza for luncheon, which was a somewhat formal and unsatisfactory affair, in spite of allhis efforts to make it otherwise. The young man could not but feel thatMrs. Kimball shared her daughter's views--was, in fact, theirauthor--and that in the eyes of his future mother-in-law he had beenguilty of a breach of etiquette far more serious than an infraction ofthe moral law. He left them with the understanding that he wouldaccompany them to the theatre in the evening. CHAPTER VII CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND SURGERY The days of a militant suffragette are full to overflowing, and SilviaHolland was not able to see Mrs. Bell and her little daughter early thefollowing morning as she had planned. It must have been well toward themiddle of the afternoon when she entered the modest apartment, and goingto the bed, visible in the alcove, kissed the child and put a great, dewy bunch of violets in her hand. She took them, and hugged them tightin her thin little arms, while her eyes looked into Silvia'swonderingly, and her mother turned away to hide the sudden tears. The apartment was well though not expensively furnished, and both motherand child had the unmistakable air of good birth and refinement. AsSilvia glanced at Mrs. Bell she was conscious of something in her faceat once baffling and appealing. She had the indefinable look of one whodwells with a sorrow for which there is no cure. "Are you quite sure there is nothing I can do for either of you to-day?"Silvia asked, a trifle diffidently, for she did not want to offend byoverzeal. "You and Dr. Earl have placed us under so many obligations that we cannever hope to repay them, " Mrs. Bell said quietly. "If I do not speakmore freely of what I feel, it is because I have no words for itsexpression. " "Don't speak or think of obligations, " Silvia said lightly, "and here ismy card, so that if at any time I might be of service to you I hope youwill not hesitate to call on me. I live at the Whittier Studios. " Thecard which she gave Mrs. Bell read: SILVIA HOLLAND, Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law, City Investment Building, New York City. Mrs. Bell looked at it curiously. "Oh, it isn't possible that you are_that_ Miss Holland, _the_ Miss Holland!" she said incredulously. Silvia laughed. "Don't I look as if I could say 'Gentlemen of the jury'with sufficient gravity?" she said. "Probably I shall do better when wesay 'Ladies of the jury, ' too. " "You look like what you are, a beautiful and fashionable lady, " Mrs. Bell answered. "Surely no one would ever take you for a professionalwoman. " "Must a fashionable lady be a listless parasite? Even if she wishesmerely to be a queen of society, would she not be more queenly if sheknew the trials and afflictions of others, and, better still, knew howto help them? Would she be less a queen if she were not dependent uponsome man for her daily bread----" A sudden flash of something, she could not tell whether it was pain orrebellion or despair, crossed Mrs. Bell's face, and Silvia hesitated andthen went on rather hurriedly, as if, knowing she had struck a falsenote, she sought to distract the other woman's thought from it. "I amtrying to demonstrate the glorious mission that belongs to woman whenshe fills her predestined sphere of economic independence and politicalfreedom. " "Political freedom will come first and easiest, " said the woman slowly. She raised her eyes, filled with trouble, and looked full into Silvia's. "The other is the greater boon, and will be harder to win. Some day Imay need to consult a lawyer; there is no one I would so gladly trust;it is a personal matter and may adjust itself, if not----" "If not, telephone to make sure that I am in, and I shall be glad to seeyou at any time, " answered Silvia. There was the sound of a quick, firm step in the hall, and the bellrang. Mrs. Bell opened the door and admitted Dr. Earl. After a fewquestions and the exchange of greetings, he went over to the bedside ofhis small patient. He found the child doing admirably, and glancedhastily about the room, trying to make up his mind whether he mightoffer any other assistance than that of a professional character. Hedecided that he could not, and realized with a sense of pleasure andrelief that Miss Holland would be able to attend to such details withmore tact and skill than he could. Nor could he help the glow ofgratification that they should be associated in so vital a matter, onethat he felt swept away the petty conventionalities of society, andplaced them on a footing of understanding and common sympathy not tohave been acquired by months, or even years, of the ordinary socialamenities. After a few directions for the care of the small patient, and a promise to look in the following day, he told Mrs. Bell how tofind him in case of any sudden need and took up his hat and stick. "Were you going, Dr. Earl? Can I set you down anywhere? My car is at thedoor. " He bowed, and followed her out. "We have an embarrassment of riches, " hesaid, "for my car is also here. " Then, rather boyishly, moved by animpulse he would have found it hard to explain, he said, "Suppose wedismiss them both, and walk up through the Park?" She acquiesced, and a few moments later they were strolling up theAvenue, rather silently, considering that each had many things to say. As usual, it was the woman who broke the silence. "Tell me about all this. I never was more interested in anything in mylife, " she said, looking up at him with a glance that carried thesubtlest flattery, and, while her query was vague, he understood andmade no attempt to evade it. "It is a long story, " he said; "have you time for it to-day? And it isreally no more remarkable than the effect you produced in your paradeyesterday, and I think the causes are the same. The world is full ofmystery, but before honest, earnest purpose of any kind the storehousesof mystery will eventually open. The fact is, that the presenttremendous progressive movement in the world is spiritual and everyphase of it is interdependent upon every other element. The thoughtlesscall these things 'fads. ' In reality, each one of them marks acrystallization of centuries of thought and hope and dream for theadvancement and elevation of the human race. The world, as usuallyhappens in spiritual matters, awakened to the importance of all of themat the same time. " He paused, as if realizing for the first time howpersonal was the story for which she had asked. "You will think me anegregious egotist, Miss Holland, I fear. " "No, whatever you may be, or I may think you, you need have no fears onthat score. " She answered simply, directly. "Please tell me--if youthink I deserve so great a confidence. " He bowed gravely; there was no hint of coquetry in her manner. "Directly after my graduation at Harvard, three years ago, I openedoffices in New York, intending to specialize in surgery, for I hadprepared for that, though I desired to obtain a general practice for awhile to put into effect and improve my theoretical knowledge. In amisty way I soon realized that neither my own efforts nor those of mycolleagues were crowned with the success that should attend a professionfounded upon strictly scientific principles, as modern surgery is. Thechief cause of disturbance with me was that so many operations wereperformed which subsequent developments showed might have been avoided, but which at the time seemed imperative. I redoubled my studies of_materia medica_, hoping to find a way by which this difficulty might beobviated or overcome, and while my constant researches helped, I stillfound much difficulty in arriving at accurate conclusions beforeattempting an operation. I found nothing that satisfied me. I was alsogreatly bothered and baffled by the large number of cases which thesurgeon encounters, controlled or dependent upon nervous conditions andthe futility of the drugs ordinarily given. "While in this mood a friend of mine called at my office one Wednesdayevening by appointment. He was the general manager of a large utilitycompany that has to do with the people of every section of thecivilized world, and a man of rare judgment, knowledge of the world, andpoise. We were on most intimate terms, and I had already told himsomething of these perplexities. This evening, I had supposed that hewas coming to see me professionally, and I had made other engagements. As soon as he stepped into my private office, he said: 'Doctor, cancelevery engagement you have for this evening. I need you very badly inaffairs of my own. You are to ask no questions, but do as I request andsend me your bill to-morrow. ' "Of course I could not refuse him, so I arranged to go with him, andthen asked whether I should require surgical instruments or only amedicine case. He replied that I would need neither, and I could gainnothing from his manner, for he was very grave. At his suggestion wewalked, going up Fifth Avenue to the Park, and then across the Park tothe corner of 96th Street and Central Park West, where there stands agreat church. The rolling notes of the organ filled the quiet with animpressiveness I had never felt before, and the congregation was singingan old hymn with an earnestness and depth of feeling quite differentfrom most congregational singing. We entered and were shown to seats inthe balcony, in the front row, where we had an excellent view of most ofthose below. 'You will find many of your acquaintances here, ' he said, and on looking around I was surprised at the great number of prominentNew York men and women in the audience. "After the preliminary proceedings those that desired to do so wereinvited to tell their experiences in combating disease, or other adverseconditions. What I heard was a revelation. This experience, corroborating, as it did, my own observations, emphasized how little ofthe field of suggestive and mental therapeutics the ordinary medicalpractitioner really filled, and I determined to explore that fieldbefore going any further with my practice. I thanked my friend fortaking me to this place, and within a month I decided to go abroad. Ivisited the institutions of note in Europe, where suggestivetherapeutics are practiced, and then went to India, where I spent manymonths. There I found the original source of suggestive, mental andspiritual treatment. "If the Yogi of India could supplement his method of training thesubconscious mind with the knowledge which our regular physicianspossess, and could apply both with discriminating skill, we would havethe greatest human healing power ever known. The best I could hope forwas to apply as much of the wisdom of the Yogi and other cults in Indiaand Europe as I could master in the brief time at my disposal, and thatI am attempting to do. With all the perfection of system in training thesubconscious mind that characterizes a comparatively few of theinhabitants of India, the millions are left without any appreciablebenefits therefrom, just as the millions here are left without the fullbenefits of the special training of the few. "We are but touching the borderland of this mysterious realm of theoccult, the subconscious and the spiritual forces that have such animportant bearing upon all phases of human life, and which, whenintelligently applied to the child in school and the direction of theindividual in his career, promise so much for the elevation, longevityand achievements of the human race. "The world is just waking up to the vast significance of the spiritualteachings of Jesus Christ, and their bearing upon all phases andactivities of human life. When Christ told the Pharisees that 'thekingdom of God is within you, ' he carried the lesson, though littleunderstood then, and so fully comprehended now, that Christianity, citizenship, government, health, happiness and progress are alldependent upon the character of the ideals and purposes and daily lifeof the individual. "When Christ told the lawyer that to 'love thy neighbor as thyself' wasone of the essentials of salvation, he laid the corner-stone for a pureand honest democracy, without which underlying principle there can be nolasting democratic government. We now know, in medicine, that much oflongevity and good health and power of recuperation depend upon theideals of the individual, and their inspiring influence. "It is too bad that with all our tremendous progress we allow bigotryand prejudice to hamper us in getting the most out of the wisdom aroundus as well as that of the ages, all of which is correlated. Yet veryoften the orthodox Christian, who believes that Christ not only healedthe sick but also raised the dead, decries the Christian Scientist whoonly professes to restore the sick on the theory that disease cannotexist in an individual properly imbued with Christ's teachings. Toooften the orthodox doctor of medicine denounces the healer who overcomesapparent disease through mental suggestion or arrests a nervousbreakdown in a patient by teaching that patient how to relax, when thedoctor himself does not hesitate to give bread pills in the firstinstance and to recommend a sanitarium where relaxation is the onlything attempted in the second. And I presume this quotation from theDhamma-pada, which is many centuries older than the Christian religion, would be denounced as heresy by some of the Christian Scientists, although it embodies the spirit and almost the words of their ownteachings: 'All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It isfounded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speakor act with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows thefoot of the ox that draws the carriage. '" Presently Dr. Earl hailed a passing taxi-cab, and gave the order to betaken to the Whittier Studios. The drive home was silent. Once or twiceSilvia looked at her tall companion. She was frankly curious about theParis case, but something in the quiet, self-contained face of the manbeside her did not invite questions. On his part, John Earl was askinghimself why he should have given his confidence to this comparativestranger, and the longer he thought about it the less able was he toanswer his question. CHAPTER VIII THE OMNIPRESENT EYES OF FIFTH AVENUE The source of gossip in a village is the corner grocery store; in asmall city, what goes on about the public square; in the medium-sizedcity, what transpires in the leading café; in New York, Fifth Avenue andCentral Park are the all-abounding sources of gossip. The Avenue has athousand curious eyes; those on the sidewalk peering into automobilesand carriages for sensations; those being whirled along in vehicles, straining their power in the quest of salacious information among thethrong beyond the curbstone. All New York passes along Fifth Avenue atsome time or another. All of one's friends are always passing along thatway when one does not particularly wish to be seen by them. If one iswalking, the friends are invariably driving; if one is driving, ofcourse the ubiquitous acquaintances are out for a stroll. Sometimespeople have been known to escape two-thirds of the omnipresent eyes thatline the sidewalks, pack the Avenue and infest the highways of CentralPark, but no person has ever been heard of who escaped all of them. So the lot of our strollers was but the common lot of all, visitors aswell as resident New Yorkers. While mutually absorbed, the one in reciting the tale, the other inlistening to it; while diverted and interested by the thousand sparksthat radiate from the batteries of youthful energy and enthusiasm andtingle the sensibilities of a congenial comrade; while speculating onthe unknown vista from peep-holes that show only fragments, butrealizing all the vastness and richness of the world force and universalsympathy possessed by each of them--it is not strange that in fourblocks on the Avenue they were passed by two ladies in an automobile, who took more than an ordinary interest in their movements, and by adark-eyed, dark-haired man in another car, whose eyes gleamed and whosecheeks blanched at the sight of their absorption in each other. But the things garnered on the Avenue are never placed in cold storage, and soon enough both of them were to hear about this stroll. When Dr. Earl called that evening to take Mrs. And Miss Kimball to thetheatre he discovered that his reception in the morning had beentropical compared to this one. He was compelled to wait fully fifteenminutes before Miss Kimball appeared in house gown and slippers, indicating her purpose to remain at home, and the bearer of a messagethat her mother begged to be excused, as she had retired with a sickheadache. In vain he sought for a reason for his frigid reception, and feelingthat his presence was an affliction he arose to go. "I hope you had a pleasant stroll this afternoon, " came in icicle tones. This shed all the light necessary upon the character of his greeting. The eyes of Fifth Avenue had not grown dim. "Yes, " he replied, looking at her steadily, "it was a most delightfulstroll. " She could stand the strain no longer; she came close to him and hestooped and tenderly kissed her. "Oh, Jack, why do you persist in having anything to do with her whenyou know how unhappy it makes me!" she said in her gentlest tone. They sat down and he related the entire story of the occurrences of theafternoon to her. It pacified her to a degree. "But Jack, dear, you will promise me never to see her again, will younot?" and her tone was pleading now. "I promised to go with my brother to a suffrage meeting she is holdingThursday night. Of course _you_ would not wish to go, and I am certainyou do not want me to break my promise. " "I am certain, " she said, emphasizing each word, "that I do not want youto see her again. " "Let me understand you, Leonora, dear. There are many prominent New Yorkwomen in this suffrage movement. Some of my very best old-time friends, I am informed, are participating in it. Is it your desire that I shallcut their acquaintance also, or is it just Miss Holland you want menever to see again?" "Now, don't think I am jealous of her, for I am not. She is the mostconspicuous one in this suffrage movement on account of the awfulthings she does, but I don't care to associate with any person who isidentified with this crusade. Neither does my mother, nor any of oursocial set, and of course I would like you to feel the same way. " "But suppose I do not feel that way. Suppose my sympathies are with themand my profession as well as my political predilections should carry meamong them?" he asked earnestly. "Oh, Jack, what has come over you that you are so plebeian! Can't yousee how these women are cheapening New York society, associating withworkingmen and shop girls!" "But that is what they should do in a democracy, and I am sure I neversaw better-looking women in my life than these same busy suffragists. They have something to do, and are not dying of _ennui_ orlistlessness, " he answered. "Their stock argument, " she answered, "but whoever heard of anaristocracy based on such things as these women engage in. Promise me, Jack, that you will have nothing to do with any of them. " "You are unduly wrought up to-night, " he answered, "but I will promiseyou that I shall do nothing to cause you unnecessary annoyance. Youmust not be too captious, dear, and remember that I go Thursday night. " She started to protest, but he drowned the effort in a shower ofcaresses and bade her goodnight. Each of them, in the silence of theirown apartments, thought long and earnestly of this interview. LeonoraKimball had been taught to believe that the chief badges of anaristocracy were complete idleness of the women, and the possession ofenough wealth to support such idleness. It mattered not how mentallyinsipid or morally opaque or physically inane such women might be, thetrue test of being fitted for the purple was whether or not they hadever done any useful work, and whether or not they had money enough sothat the other members of their set might feel assured that they neverwould do any useful work. An aristocracy of trained brains or unselfishculture were meaningless terms to her. But this night she was greatly disturbed over the attitude of the manshe was to marry. She had been quite honest with him when she assertedthat jealousy was foreign to her nature; affection did not run deepenough with her to strike its eternal renewing fountain--jealousy. Thepractical character with which she had been endowed easily enoughconducted affairs of the heart along paths directed by the head, andwhile her professions of love were quite sincere and her loyalty beyondquestion, yet she had not the remotest idea of the grand passion. Sheknew that she was very fond of John Earl; that he was worthy of her;that he could sustain her manner of life and that his social standingwas all that either she or her mother could desire. She also knew thatshe did not wish to lose him, and much as she abhorred the suffragists, she determined to be lenient with his present mood, certain she couldchange it ere long, else of what avail was the all-powerful "silentinfluence" upon which the Anti-Suffragists laid so much stress? Earl was more than disturbed by her attitude, for he discovered traitsof character and a shallowness of sympathy that shocked him. His dreamof married bliss was the absolute _camaraderie_ he expected it to bring. He feared now that she would not enter into his life or ambitions, and, like too many of his married acquaintances, they would be seekinghappiness along diverse paths. "However, it's all very new to her, " he said to himself after an hour'sreverie, "and she is quite young. A few weeks will properly adjust ourrelations. " The dominant characteristic of this young man was a deep sense ofjustice, and while other feelings were all too manifest in hissubconscious being, he permitted himself only to try to solve theproblem of what was the right thing along the lines where he had casthis future. CHAPTER IX LOVE, JEALOUSY AND MUSIC The telephone bell in her apartment was ringing as Miss Holland enteredfrom her stroll, radiantly happy and at peace with all the world. Shetook the receiver from the maid. "Dr. Morris? Yes, I shall be home this evening, and glad to see you, ofcourse. Bring your violin and come by eight-thirty. Yes--yes. I meant tohave called you and apologized for my somewhat cavalier desertion of youlast night. I am sorry I was rude, I didn't mean to be, but come and letme ask you to forgive me. " Her tone was adorable and melted the sullenmood of the man at the other end of the wire. Having sworn that he would not see her again, having 'phoned to make anappointment at which he meant to utter as bitter reproaches as he dared, he appeared promptly at the hour set, ready to implore her grace andaccept with gratitude any smallest favor, any ray of hope she might seefit to bestow upon him. Like many another professional man in New York, in order to cater to theclass in society in which he hoped to establish his reputation andclientele, Morris had found it necessary to live in a style which farexceeded his income, although that was a good one for a man still youngin his profession. He was not popular with men, who regarded him asrather theatrical and a _poseur_, but his music, a certain deference ofmanner, a more romantic quality than is to be generally found amongAmerican business men, gave him a great vogue with women, and hecultivated them, especially the older ones, and they made life verypleasant for him, introduced him to the right people, and gave him muchgood advice now and then. One of the smartest of these social leaders said practically one day:"My dear boy, why do you let all these rich girls marry those sillyforeigners, without an idea to bless themselves with--dukes, debts anddiseases seem synonymous; you are not only clever, but you have the onegift, saving the title, that commends these creatures to our girls. " He smiled his inscrutable smile and bowed. "And that is?" "You seem to have found the lost art of making pretty speeches, andpaying a woman the small attentions that we all like so well. If I werea man, " went on this dreadful dame, "I should never forget to kiss mywife and send her flowers and remember all the family anniversaries. Itis by attention to such small details as this that a man may purchaseimmunity in larger and more important matters. I know this is mostimmoral, but it makes the wife happy, the husband comfortable, and wouldgo far to decimate the divorce rate, so what more could you ask?" "Perhaps I owe this to the fact that my father was a Hungariannobleman--oh, just a trumpery little title, with nothing to pay for thenecessary gold lace, so when he came to America he decided, like so manyof the revolutionists of that period, to be ultra-American, and droppedeven the foreign spelling of the name, changing the 'itz' to plain'r-i-s, '" he answered. "I'm sure my music belongs to the other side ofthe Atlantic. " "That accounts for it all, " she said. "There is absolutely no reason whyyou shouldn't marry almost any woman you want to. Why not find one whocan give you millions in money and the social position you need withouttaking a generation to create one? I hope you haven't any foolishentanglements, " she added. He flushed, but did not answer, and when a few weeks later he and SilviaHolland had played together for some charitable entertainment, hisvenerable mentor had sought him out, ready to bestow her blessing at theearliest possible moment, approving his practical judgment and his goodtaste. That was a long time ago. He had resented the implication at the time; to do him justice, hadSilvia been penniless she would still have attracted him as no otherwoman ever had. It was partly her personal charm, partly her music. Itmay be true that the world of art is still the world, but it is a verydifferent world from that in which most of us live and move and have ourbeing, and Morris was conscious when her fingers touched the keys, andhe took up his bow and drew it across the strings of his violin, thatthey entered upon a new and boundless universe in which sound supersededall other mediums of communication, and seemed to take the place ofmere mundane sensation. Whether his passion for Silvia grew out of theirmusic, or the wonder of the music was a result of the perfect accord oftheir natures, he could not tell. They had become one in his mind. He fervently hated her various public activities. Here again theancestral traits dominated. He thought of her as a great lady, and beingthat, she should have been content without anything more. Rushing madlyabout doing things for other people implied a certain loss of caste. Butuntil the previous evening his discontent had been free from the bitterdraught of jealousy. There had been safety in the number of MissHolland's admirers, and when he was surest that she did not in any wayreturn his feeling for her, there had been balm in the thought that shewas too busy elevating the condition of her own sex to have much time towaste upon any member of his. Instinctively he knew, when he interceptedthe first look between the lady of his dreams and his erstwhile collegeassociate, that the hour had come that he had dreaded. Silvia Hollandhad at last met a man whom, consciously or unconsciously, sheacknowledged king. His rival was there, upon the threshold of her life, and he was a rival to be feared. That he might also be a rival in hisprofession, that he was so rich that he was far above the straits inwhich Morris found himself more and more frequently involved, only addedto the flame that consumed him; life without Silvia herself would bedull, colorless, objectless; life without her music would be but "windalong the waste. " He had no patience with the theories of the newer medical practitionerswho refuse to be frightened by the cry of "professional ethics" or bythe demand that practice shall be "regular" whether the patient survivesor not; and yet while he denounced all forms of mental therapeutics, hewas conscious of a strain of superstition which he could in no wiseovercome. Weird folk-lore and uncanny rites kept up by some of theprimitive people of Hungary had had a strange fascination for him whenhe was abroad. In himself, he found a singular mixture of the primevalsavage, and the ultra refined that approaches decadence. Of one thingalone he was certain. To lose Silvia was to lose his soul; without herthere was neither here nor hereafter. Ruthlessly as he had brushed asidethe one woman in his life who came between them, he was prepared tothrust out of his way any man who sought to become a part of her life. It was in this mood that he entered her presence, and in this mood heaccepted her _amende honorable_, which she made with charming humility, but when she would have led him to the music-room, for once hehesitated. "In a few minutes, " he said, "but just now there is something I must sayto you. It is true that I was deeply hurt last night, but your regret, so graciously expressed, emboldens me to think that you would notwillingly hurt me. " He stopped, and she looked at him with a ratherpuzzled air. "We have been friends for a great while, " he saidirrelevantly. "Yes, " she said cordially, and somewhat relieved. "Haven't we? And whata friendship it has been! A triangular affair, like a loving cup--youand I and some one of the great masters of melody. Shall it be Chopinto-night, or shall we begin with something lighter and finish with theTwelfth Nocturne, as usual?" She led the way, and stood by the piano, rippling her fingers over thekeys, and he stood before her, his face white and intense with feeling. He laid his strong, brown fingers over the white ones, and raised themto his lips, and Silvia laughed a trifle nervously. It was one of hisold-world ways that she liked, but disapproved with all properdemocratic fervor. "Has it indeed been a loving cup from which we have drunk?" he said, with passionate sadness. "I dare not think so, I dare not even hope somuch grace! And yet how is it possible that a man should feel what Ifeel for you unless there is a response, little as he may deserveit----" He paused, and she took away her hand, and laid it lightly on hisshoulder as he sank down on the seat before the piano. "Please don't, " she said gently. "Don't you see that you are quiteright? If it were really, truly love that had come to you, I should feelit also, there could be no question of doubting or daring; no thought ofhopelessness. Some time you will know that this is true, when some otherheart speaks to yours in the unmistakable tone of the one only love ofyour heart. Each of us has his place in life, and in the lives of thosewith whom we come in contact. No one can ever have your place; I can'ttell you how much rest and happiness you have brought me when I havebeen a-weary of this world. Come, Orrin, don't rob me of my friend thatI may lose a lover. " By a herculean effort he restrained his feelings, and answered lightly, "You shall keep your friend, my sorceress of song, " but he added underhis breath, "Look to it, when the lover comes, for you may still lose_him_. " Then he took up his violin, and the night became a splendidharmony, despite the discord that raged in his soul. CHAPTER X A DISCUSSION OF PROGRESSIVE WOMEN The group that had foregathered about Mrs. Ramsey's tea-table thatThursday afternoon had scattered and gone its several ways. The last ofthem was bidding her adieu as her husband entered and joined herbrothers, who were lingering for a farewell word with her, each occupiedin characteristic fashion, John gazing into the fire that smouldered onthe grate, for it was a raw and chilly afternoon, and Frank endeavoringto coax a last cup of tea from the silver tea-ball and the stillsteaming kettle. "If you really want another cup, Frank, let me have the tea-ballrefilled, " Mrs. Ramsey said, and then laying her hand on her elderbrother's shoulder, "A new Lincoln penny for your thoughts, Jack. Youlook as if they might be romantic, but I suppose you are really off onthe quest of the blooming bacillus or the meandering microbe, or hangingover--what is it you call your garden beds of disease--a culture?" He looked up and patted her hand. "It is too bad not to be able to be ahero to one's own sister, but the truth is, I wasn't thinking at all, just wool-gathering. By the way, Frank, are you going to motor down tothat meeting of Miss Holland's to-night?" "Wool-gathering, he calls it!" said the younger man, letting his lump ofsugar clatter on his saucer. "I'd say it was all cry and no wool; atleast you are pulling none over my eyes. Am I going to motor down tohear the protests of the proletariat to-night? No, dear brother, I amnot. When I go out to mingle with the down-trodden and oppressed I takethe 'L'; a surface car would be even more appropriate, but they takeforever, and I compromise on the 'L, ' but you never did have any senseof dramatic fitness. " "Might I ask why this sudden interest in the militant laboring ladies?"said Ramsey, drawing up his chair before the fire, and lighting acigarette. "Are you going to obtrude your somewhat massive personalityupon the scene?" "Yes, that's what I'd like to know, " added Frank. The doctor laughed rather diffidently. "Why not?" he said. "Whyshouldn't I go, if I wish to?" Frank flung out his hands with a gesture of mock despair. "Now, wouldn'tthat come and get you!" he said. "I appeal to you, Hilda. You werepresent; you heard Miss Holland invite me to this Manifesto Makers'meeting. You know she never said a word to Jack; she didn't even look athim. He was foolish enough to let her see that he was already a convertto her little gospel, and therefore no longer in need of herministrations. But as for me, 'I was a wandering sheep; I did not lovethe fold, ' and hence, as a good missionary, she feels a deep interest inme. Off and on, I should say at least fifty Colorado women have tried tomake a suffragist of me. Some of them were very pretty, " he addedreminiscently, "and I've noticed that the prettier they are the longerit takes 'em to make me see the error of my ways. Now with Miss Holland, I wouldn't mind letting her tinker with my political views so long as weboth shall live. " "Frank, you are incorrigible, " said his sister. "If Miss Holland knewwhat a flighty, inconsequent infant you are, she wouldn't waste athought on you, let alone a whole evening. What makes you want to go, anyhow?" "What's the use of her wasting thoughts on a solemn dub like ourbrother?" he demanded aggrievedly. "What business has he trailing thesoap-boxing suffragers around when he is about to take upon himself vowsto cleave only to the daughter of a militant 'Anti' leader, some timewhen he can jar himself loose from his professional cares long enoughfor a honeymoon?" "I'm afraid, Jack, you will find your prospective mother-in-law quite asstrenuous as the most ardent of the suffragists, " said his sister. "Ihaven't gone into this thing at all, I haven't time, but it is certainlyamusing to watch the 'Antis' outdo even the most ardent suffragettes byway of proving their contention that woman's sphere is home. If theywere consistent, they would never appear in public----" "Except by 'Now comes the counsel for the defendant, '" interruptedFrank, "but they never are. There is a little bunch of them in Coloradowho have failed to command the same attention in politics that theirmoney imposes upon the social world, so they rush into type and getthemselves interviewed and asked to speak when they come East, all byway of proving their sensitive and shrinking nature. I don't agree withthe suffragists, not a little bit, but I can fraternize with them; theyare sincere, but none of the 'Antis' for me; never saw one yet whowasn't either a snob or so narrow-minded that a toothpick would looklike the Brooklyn Bridge by comparison. " "Hear, hear!" cried Jack. "Miss Holland has certainly made an impressionupon you; not that I see what difference it makes, since women alreadyvote where you hail from. " "That just goes to show how foolish a smart man can be, " replied hisbrother cheerfully. "You think because you may have a vote on theenfranchisement of women that it is very important what you think, butis it? Not at all. But with me it is different. I've paid office rent inDenver for two years, and spent a third of the time here or inWashington. I've looked in on two State conventions, and forgot toregister at the last election, but because I come from Colorado I amconsidered an authority on woman suffrage, and when I say it's no good, and swell out my chest and look gloomy, it has great weight, greatweight!" He leaned back in his chair and gave way to unseemly mirth ashe recalled some occasion on which he had evidently hoaxed some trustingreporter. "Nonsense, Frank, " his brother-in-law answered. "I don't believe youknow the first thing about politics or suffrage, or what the women havedone or haven't done. " "There you wrong me, " the young man answered gravely. "The first thingto know in politics is when to come into the game and when to keep out. Personally, I can't make my firm believe that it is cheaper to buy theother fellows' men after they are elected than it is to try to elect ourown, and have them raise the ante on us, but they'll come to it after awhile. As to the women, bless you, voting doesn't change their nature, and so long as women are willing to believe what men tell them, it'smighty unsafe to trust them with the ballot. Before you know it, they'llfind us out, and then you'll see the first result of the suffragistdream of heaven on earth--there'll be no more marrying or giving inmarriage. Oh, I'm dead against it!" They all joined in the laughter that followed this sally, and Hildasaid thoughtfully, "If you boys are intent on this meeting, I'll hurrydinner, for they probably begin early. " As she rose to go, Frank caughther hand with the piteous entreaty, "Oh, please make my big brother takehis marbles and go home. He wasn't asked to this party. Miss Hollanddidn't say a thing to him. I don't see why he has to have first showwith all the pretty girls in New York!" "When Miss Holland knows you, and all your native charm, she will neversmile again upon your older brother, " laughed his sister, "but in themeantime I suppose it's an open meeting, and we can't prevent his going. But don't worry; his fatal beauty will but serve as a foil to your moresparkling type. Besides, with your vivid imagination, unhampered by aslavish subserviency to facts, you should be able to furnish canardsthat will occupy all Miss Holland's time for a month. " As she left the room her husband opened the door, and her brothers roseand remained standing until it was closed after her. "If all women were like her----" Frank said impulsively, but Ramseystopped him. "If half of them were like her, " he said reverently, "I would be infavor of turning the government over to them, certain that the hand thatrocks the cradle would never give this storm-tossed old world moreshaking up than is good for it. " CHAPTER XI THE ADVANCING COLUMN OF DEMOCRACY As the two brothers turned into the cross street that led to the hallwhere the Industrial League had its headquarters and held its weeklymeetings, Dr. Earl laid his hand on Frank's shoulder. "Dear old fellow, " he said affectionately, "would you mind telling mewhat on earth possesses you to come down here to-night? I'm not askingout of mere curiosity, nor do I believe that is the motive that bringsyou. " "Then if I say the pursuit of the good, the true and the beautiful, youwill not believe me?" his brother answered lightly. "I shall know you do not wish to tell me the real reason, and will dropit, but I shall not be deceived. I haven't studied my kind for this longwithout knowing at least the a-b-c of human nature. You use your cap andbells and an air of frivolity to conceal your true character from theworld, as other men cloak themselves in an atmosphere of austerity andreserve. " "Discovered!" cried Frank, with a laugh, "after all these years in whichI flattered myself I had made such a good job of it, too. Truth to tell, no mask and domino ever afforded such perfect protection as the jingleof my jester's bells. I am apparently so given up to pomps and vanitiesthat nobody gives me credit for a serious thought, and so takes no painsto conceal his own from me. It has long been one of the wonders of myworld how I hold my job. " "Well, since you put it that way, I have asked myself at times how youhave achieved the standing you have in your profession, a standing ofwhich we are all immensely proud, by the way. But if you are a profoundstudent, it is something recent; I used to think you learned too easilyever to know how to study, and law is a vocation. " "Law is one thing and success in the legal profession is another, " saidthe young man oracularly. "Between our omnipresent legislatures whichspend our time and money repealing what we lawyers already know, andenacting laws for the courts to set aside, these are what might becalled parlous times for the profession, but my long suit is not inunderstanding statutes, but people. " Insensibly he had dropped his flippant tone, and was speaking, seriously, with conviction. There was a moment's pause and then Jacksaid, "And you go to this meeting because----?" "Because, little as I like it, I am not such a fool that I do not knowthat the enfranchisement of women is certain, and it may help me tounderstand the new and troublesome element which is to be injected intopublic life if I watch the workings from the beginning. Anyhow, it ispart of my business to understand these things, and hence my acceptanceof Miss Holland's invitation. This is the place, isn't it?" The house differed in no wise from the rest of the block, save in itsair of thrift and cleanliness, and the brass plate on the door bore thename, "Industrial League House. " It was evidently a settlement withresident workers, for a troop of boys was straggling down into thebasement, where a gymnasium had been established, and several youngwomen were standing in the hall discussing some matter connected withsterilized milk. At the right of the wide hall there was a large, old-fashioned double parlor, with plenty of chairs for a meeting ofsixty or seventy people, and perhaps half that many were already in theroom. They were singing as the two men entered, and Dr. Earl and Frankstood in the hallway listening to the words sung to the soul-stirringold tune of "John Brown's Body. " "These are they who build thy houses, weave thy raiment, win thy wheat, Smooth the rugged, fill the barren, turn the bitter into sweet; All for thee this day--and ever. What reward for them is meet? Till the host comes marching on. " As they struck into the chorus, the boys downstairs took up the swellingchords, and it was echoed from the street beyond. "Hark, the rolling of the thunder; Lo, the sun! and lo! thereunder Riseth wrath, and hope, and wonder, And the host comes marching on. " "I wonder whether they sing the sixth stanza, " said Frank curiously. Jack looked at him in amazement. "What is the song?" he asked, conscious that he was getting new sidelights upon his younger brother'scharacter this evening. "It's William Morris' 'March of the Workers, ' and the verse I'm talkingabout begins, 'O, ye rich men, hear and tremble. ' Come on in, Jack, " anda moment later John Earl heard his brother's beautiful voice take up thewords: "Many a hundred years, passed over, have they labored deaf and blind; Never tidings reached their sorrow, never hope their toil might find. Now at last they've heard and hear it, and the cry comes down the wind And their feet are marching on. "On we march, then, we, the workers, and the rumor that ye hear Is the blended sound of battle and deliv'rance drawing near; For the hope of every creature is the banner that we bear, And the world is marching on. " Silvia Holland turned quickly when she heard the strong, unknown voicejoin in the ringing words, and fairly gasped when she saw that it wasFrank Earl who was singing, while his brother looked at her with an airas bewildered as her own. The moment that the song was concluded shegreeted them, and found them comfortable seats where they could see andhear without being too conspicuous. "We like to have men come to our meetings, and a few generally drop in. I expect several to-night, for we have a speaker from Colorado, but wedon't often have the luxury of a baritone note for our music, so we oweyou a special vote of thanks, Mr. Earl, " she said to Frank. He bowed. "Oh, no; it's the other way about, " he said lightly. "Youdon't know how grateful I am to you for not singing the 'Day of Wrath'verse, in which all of us who haven't succeeded in swearing off ourtaxes hear what is coming to us. How well that girl presides, " he added, as a businesslike young woman dispatched the reading and adoption ofminutes and the reports of committees without a hitch or a moment'suseless delay. "That is Florence Dresser, " explained Miss Holland. "She is one of theleaders in the Laundry Girls' Association. The secretary, " indicating ayoung woman who might have been a twelve-year-old child, save for hersad, careworn face, "has nearly killed herself sewing for sweaters totake care of her family; we've found homes for the children and shelives here now; we are trying to make up to her for the lost years, butit is hard work, " and she sighed. "We have one meeting a month when we have a program, " Miss Hollandexplained. "At the other three we consider various phases of industriallife as it affects our own membership or women in general. I am rathersorry that this happens to be a program night, for you would have had abetter idea of the scope we try to cover at the other kind, but perhapsthis will be more entertaining. " She turned more directly to Frank. "Abusiness meeting here always makes me think of the 'Antis, ' and theirtwaddle about woman's sphere, which they would like to reduce to ademi-hemisphere. " Frank nodded. "Of course there's nothing to that with intelligent peoplenow; woman's sphere is wherever she can make good, but I think it is apity that she has to take so large a place in the industrial world, andI don't believe that voting will help her. " "But it has helped men, " Miss Holland replied quickly. "Not half so much as their unions, " he answered. "The thing that helpsis getting together and standing together. " "Now you've lost your whole case, " laughed Dr. Earl. "There has neverbeen anything that brought all sorts and conditions of women togetherlike the suffrage cause. You see that in England. In fact, you see iteverywhere. Women are waking up, and getting to their feet andstretching out their hands--to us? Not at all, to each other. " "Oh, I wish you'd say that to my comrades here, " said Miss Holland. "Weshould all be so glad to hear you. Will you not let me present you for afew minutes during the informal discussion?" For an instant he wavered, then the face of Leonora flashed before him, and he shook his head decisively. "I'm too new at this sort of thing, "he answered. "Get my brother here to talk to you about Colorado, and letthe audience heckle him. " "We'd be delighted, " laughed Miss Holland. "The lady who is to conductthe question box, which is the main thing to-night, comes from Denver. Her name is Carroll Renner; do you happen to know her? Will she be ableto hold her own? Sometimes they ask pretty sharp questions. " "Don't give yourself a moment's uneasiness, " Frank answered. "There'llbe no twelve baskets needed to remove the fragments of the contumaciouswhen she gets through. A small blotter will answer. " "You know her very well, then?" Miss Holland said, openly surprised. "Rather, " he answered laconically. "She is the most persistent lobbyistin the State, and she infallibly discovers the one deadly section in abill that you thought so well hidden that no one would ever notice it. She's the most troublesome woman I know and the best fellow. " Miss Holland and Dr. Earl both turned and looked at the little woman, who had come in a few minutes before with a party of people, with addedinterest. She was very simply gowned in black, and but for a certaintwinkle of the dark gray eyes, and a rather mocking smile, there wasnothing particularly distinctive about her. "Tell me some more, " said Miss Holland curiously. "Sometimes the votingwoman helps and sometimes she hurts; if they're freaky, and of coursesome of them are, they hurt dreadfully. " "I've seen her a good deal while I've been watching the Senate, " hesaid. "I'd been out there for several sessions of the General Assemblybefore I located there. She came in one day with a letter from somenational woman's organization--wanted the Beveridge Child Labor Lawendorsed, I think. Anyhow, time was of the essence of the contract, sowe drew up a concurrent resolution, and she got a Republican and aDemocrat to introduce it together, and it slid along on its way toWashington within forty-eight hours; she and a Mrs. Platt worked ittogether. All they said was that the women wanted it. " Miss Holland gasped. "Go on, " she said. He lowered his voice, for the president was introducing a handsome girlwho was to give a reading. "Another time there was a bill--I don't recollect it, but somethingabout committing girl prisoners, or something of the sort; I saw her getpretty white, and shut her lips hard, and then she got up and started towalk out, and one of the Senators saw her, too. 'Say, you don't likethat bill?' he said, and she answered, as if she could hardly controlher anger, 'It's infamous!' 'Oh, it is, is it?' he said. 'Well, then, we'll make them adjourn over until we can get a conference and amend thething. ' No fuss, no talk; just straight goods. That's Carroll Renner. " "And that's what it means to be an enfranchised woman!" said MissHolland, with a long breath. "None of us could do that here!" "Well, that's part of it, " acquiesced Frank, and then they listenedsilently. The girl who was reading was not particularly well-trained, but there were passion and pathos in her voice as she told the story ofthe eaglet, chained to a log for fear it might fall if permitted toattempt to fly. "We also have our dream of a Garden, " the strong young voice went on. "But it lies in a distant future. We dream that woman shall eat of thetree of knowledge together with man, and that side by side and handclose to hand, through ages of much toil and labor, they shall togetherraise about them an Eden nobler than any the Chaldean dreamed of; anEden created by their own labor and made beautiful by their ownfellowship. "In his Apocalypse there was one who saw a new heaven and a new earth;we see a new earth; but therein dwells love--the love of comrades andco-workers. "It is because so wide and gracious to us are the possibilities of thefuture, so impossible is a return to the past, so deadly is a passiveacquiescence in the present, that to-day we are found everywhere raisingour strange new cry, 'Labor, and the training that fits us for labor!'" "You recognize it, of course?" Silvia said to Dr. Earl, but he shook hishead, and Frank answered, "It's Olive Schreiner, isn't it? She does goodwork, but I've never read anything that compared with that book on'Woman and Economics, ' and when an American writer has the whole worldsitting up and taking notice, I don't see why we don't boost her game. " There was a little buzz and stir while slips of paper and pencils weredistributed to the audience, and the questions collected for the nextspeaker. The presiding officer made the usual preliminary remarks, and introducedMiss Renner, who gathered up the goodly sheaf of white slips in herhands and ran over them as if looking for some query that would make aspecially apt beginning. Her face lit up as she came across one withwhich she was evidently familiar. "This is a favorite question of mine, " she said cheerfully. "I shouldmiss it dreadfully if it failed to turn up, but it is such a troublesomeand comprehensive question to answer that I have set the reply to music, and will have it sung for you, in order that you may all remember it. The question is, 'What have Colorado women done with the ballot?' Idon't, myself, consider that a fair question, since none of us come downto Philadelphia or New York or Pittsburg or any of the other cities ofsweetness and light and ask what you men have done with yourall-powerful vote, but this seems to be the main one, especially to themasculine mind. " Dr. Earl laughed, for he had written the question, and seating herselfat the piano, Miss Renner looked up at a merry-faced girl, who begansinging to her rippling accompaniment a song of miraculous changes whichshould have ensued upon woman's enfranchisement, and concluded with along chant, recounting some of the more notable achievements of thevoting woman, ranging all the way from joint ownership of children andproperty, minimum salary laws, juvenile courts, medical inspection ofschool children, State institutions built and endowed, equality ininheritance and a host of other things, up to the adoption by her Stateof the initiative and referendum. After that, Miss Renner had her audience with her until she dropped thelast twist of paper on the table beside her. "You ask me why it took usso many years to pass a good law regulating child labor, and why we havefailed in limiting the hours of woman's labor. As to the first, it istrue that our law was by no means equal to yours, but we had the meansto enforce it, and as a consequence we have little or no child labor. You have a good statute, one of the best in the Union"--there was aripple of applause--"but in addition to this excellent law prohibitingchild labor, " she went on evenly, "you have in this city alone overtwenty thousand child wage-earners. "When we have gone to our legislatures asking for laws for theprotection of the weak, we have generally obtained them easily, whenthey did not interfere with 'big business. ' It took Illinois women nineyears to get a State Home for children. We passed such a law withoutany effort whatever. In two-thirds of the States of the Union women aretrying to make mothers co-equal guardians of their children, and tryingin vain. That was the first law our enfranchised women wrote upon ourstatute books. One only learns to understand these things by experience. You may find it hard to see why railroads should go into a deal todefeat an eight-hour law for women, but that statute was flagged by aPullman palace car towel and fell asleep at the switch, because thatcompany complained that it couldn't get a change of sheets unlesslaundry girls could be compelled to work overtime. You don't dream whenyou talk of 'big business' to what little business it will descend. " There was a sudden hush, and she flung out her hands with an impulsivegesture, and there was a passionate earnestness in her voice thatgripped her hearers. "Let me tell you something you do not know when youhold the women in the suffrage States responsible for conditions theyare the first to deplore. A handful of men in this city have more to dowith Western industries and their regulation than have both the men andwomen. We have steel works; their policy is dictated from lowerBroadway. We have smelters; they are closed at the order of a syndicatein this city. We have railroads, all of them controlled by your fellowcitizens, and it was the deals entered into between the representativesof these interests and our local corporations that defeated theeight-hour law for women, and every bit of reform legislation pledged tothe people. It was this condition, this failure of alleged democracy, that made us go on record for real democracy, for the initiative thatmakes it possible for us to enact the laws our representatives arecajoled into pigeon-holing, for the referendum that enables us to scotchthe snake so that the people may have a chance to kill it. This was thefirst great fundamental reform which the women demanded, and it wasowing to the work of education they began twenty years ago, and kept upuntiringly, that Colorado has won this great victory. Woman suffrage isnot alone for women, or to enable us to secure certain readjustments oflaw. It is for our country, which cannot exist half enfranchised andhalf irresponsible, half democracy and half a feudalism; half of itprivileged to shirk or exercise its civic rights, and half denied aughtbut the burden of those rights. Women need the franchise if only to maketheir influence, of which we hear so much, effective, but more than theyneed the ballot, this nation needs the active devotion of its women totransmute to golden fulfillment its leaden life; it needs, it must haveall that we can give it, your life and mine; if it is to go forward, itssons and daughters must go forward--together!" There was generous applause, and the two young men followed MissHolland, and she presented Dr. Earl and was about to introduce hisbrother, when Miss Renner held out both hands to him. "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy, " she cried. "I'm awfully glad to seeyou, Frank. I was much minded to tell how you helped me get my dove billthrough, but I feared they might hold you responsible for the defeat ofthe eight-hour law and turn and rend you. " "You promised never to reveal any of my good deeds, " he answered. "Keepit out of the papers, Miss Holland. I can't afford to lose prestige asthe exponent of the Mammon of Unrighteousness. " "Unfortunately, he is a great god with legislatures, East as well asWest, " answered Miss Holland, and then they all went out together. CHAPTER XII A TUBERCULAR KNEE AND A WORRIED SURGEON Dr. Earl found his hands uncommonly full for the next few weeks. Whatwith the endless detail attendant upon the arrangements for his newoffices, and the perfection of his equipment, it seemed as if there werenot enough hours in the day to meet all the calls upon him. Leonoralooked aggrieved, and Hilda complained loudly that he had deserted them. The spectacular manner in which the yellower part of the New York presshad handled his first case after his return, brought him telephone callsand personal visits from many old patients, and a goodly number from newones, not to mention freaky interviews with persons representing allsorts of cults. He was asked to address half a dozen different branchesof the New Thought movement. The Society for the Propagation of EsotericBuddhism asked him to tell them of his experiences in Hindoostan;"Purple Mother" and "Besant" Theosophists sent committees to wait onhim, and various believers in Spiritist exploitations, astrologists, psychometrists and all sorts and conditions of dabblers in occultismpestered him with letters, circulars and requests of every conceivablenature. It had been no part of his plan to return to his native land and set upa practice by which he should exploit to the world the results of hisstudy. A real student, he knew very well that a lifetime would be alltoo short to devote to the as yet but little known field of mentaltherapeutics, and nothing could have been more foreign to his character, individually or professionally, than the fanfare of trumpets with whichhis return had been heralded. The principles which he wished to provemust be brought home to his profession if they were to be of great andlasting benefit, and the publicity and advertising which a man of adifferent calibre might have enjoyed, were annoying in the extreme toEarl. He was still a young man, and modest withal, and he felt thatnothing could be more detrimental with the men whose regard he wished tosecure and hold, so he declined all invitations to speak, all requestsfor articles or interviews, and gave himself up to getting back intothe harness. His patients, both old and new, took up more time than hecould have hoped for, and before the middle of summer he found himselfnot only well launched in his profession, but with all that he couldpossibly find time to do, and work piling up ahead of him, so that hecould only promise indefinitely when the Ramseys urged him to come downto their Newport place, and Leonora had to put up with fractions ofSundays until she and her mother left for Bar Harbor. There were times when that young lady was by no means certain that shewished to marry a successful physician. "You wouldn't like me any betterif I were unsuccessful?" he asked teasingly, but she came back to herpoint, and he had to explain gravely that the theories of the laboratorymust be worked out in actual practice before they can be transmuted intoaccepted facts. "But you don't need the money, " she argued, trying dimly to apply someof the principles which he was fond of expounding. It seemed ratherhopeless, but with infinite patience he sought to make clear to her thatany human being whose life is not to be useless and profitless musthave some object to attain, some work to do which will develop hischaracter. When she replied that he had character enough, and her onlyobject in life was to be his wife, what more was there to say? Flatteryat once so charming and so complete left him defenseless, and he kissedher and went away, trying not to ask himself whether a legal ceremonycould ever make wedded souls of two mortals of such diverse views oflife. And yet, she was so sweet, so sweet! In spite of the many other demands upon his time, Dr. Earl saw his firstpatient very frequently. Mrs. Bell did not appear cramped for means, andprovided everything that could add to her little daughter's comfort, including not a few luxuries, which Dr. Earl felt convinced were thegift of Miss Holland. If he had vaguely hoped that he might meet her athis patient's he was destined to disappointment. Once her car arrivedjust as he was leaving, and another time they passed on the stairs. Hetold himself that it was better so, and yet when he took her hand, andfelt the firm, strong fingers, well-knit and efficient, for no soft, yielding little five-and-a-half glove-wearer ever compassed Beethoven, he knew that hers was a nature that could answer to his own, and hishand tightened involuntarily. There was something in his look as he metthe blue eyes on the step above that brought the warm blood to her face, and she swayed toward him almost imperceptibly, and then with a word ofcourteous greeting went on her way, for she knew that according tocommon report he was to marry Miss Kimball that fall. Her lip curled alittle, for she remembered Leonora of old; she knew her pink-and-whiteprettiness and the few and simple enfoldments of her elementary littlebrain, just large enough to hold a few attractive near-ideas, a thoroughcomprehension of all the social conventionalities, and a fixed andstubborn conviction as to what was or was not "smart. " "If she has asoul, " Silvia said to herself with rather unusual heat, "no one couldtell whether it is in a condition of arrested development, hopelessatrophy or complete ossification. As well seek diamonds in a commonsandbank as inspiration or aspiration in its sawdusty recesses. " Thenshe laughed, and said, "Cat!" softly, which was really most irrelevant. The day that the cast was to be removed, Silvia appeared laden with goodthings that they might celebrate the occasion with due ceremony. With infinite care and gentleness, Dr. Earl cut down through the cast, and took it off. The fracture was perfectly knit, but there was a slightswelling about the knee, and as Earl examined it Silvia saw him compresshis lips in a hard, straight line. Without looking up, or changing histone, he asked the child if she had had a fall since the cast had beenchanged. She answered readily that about a week before her crutch hadslipped as she was coming indoors, and she had fallen, striking theinjured leg against the stone step, and she winced as he touched thethin knee. "It's too bad, " he said, "but there will have to be another cast aboutthis knee, and you must be more careful, little girl. " The tears came to her eyes, and her mother turned to him with anexpression of anxiety. His cheerful face reassured her. "We'll hope itwon't be for long, " he said, "but there's no use taking chances. Has herhealth generally been good?" he asked Mrs. Bell. "The diseases common to childhood went rather hard with her and she hadconsiderable trouble with her neck and throat a few years ago, " Mrs. Bell replied. He made an examination of the glands of her neck, but said no more. In spite of many insistent calls elsewhere, Dr. Earl remained longenough to help lend an air of festivity to the small party, which Silviapresided over with infinite tact, and with a last admonition to Mrs. Bell to keep the little girl in bed until he came again, and as quiet aspossible, he took his departure, and Silvia went with him. "Tell me what is the matter?" she said, with her usual directness, whenthey were out on the street. "What makes you think anything is?" he parried. "I beg your pardon, " she said, a trifle coldly. "I should not haveasked. " He turned to her and stopped, mute reproach in his eyes. "There isn't ashadow of doubt that tuberculosis has developed in that knee, and whileI hope to arrest it, and perfect a cure in time, I am very anxious, nevertheless. " "But the break has united?" she asked. "Oh, yes, and that goes to show that this condition is very recent, andmild, but with her antecedent history no one can tell what may happen, "he said. "Antecedent history?" Silvia said, rather puzzled. "I thought you didnot know the family?" "I didn't, " he answered, "but you may remember that I looked verycarefully at the bruises about the knee when I set the leg, and I askedMrs. Bell some general questions but received no very definite repliesuntil to-day, and what you heard indicates that the child has alreadyhad a slight attack of tuberculosis. I had counted on my treatment toovercome the weakening influences of confinement to bed and crutch forso long a time. " Silvia was silent, as if thinking out some plan, and said suddenly, "Then it will all resolve itself into a contest between health anddisease, with a considerable handicap against the patient?" "Yes, " he said. "With plenty of good food and good air and the rightkind of care, there is no reason why she should not win. And I intendthat she shall, " he concluded energetically. CHAPTER XIII AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE MEETING Dr. Earl redoubled his attentions to Leonora, determined to give her nojust cause for complaint. The doubts that had beset him disappeared, forno one could be more charming than Leonora, when she was permitted tofollow her own bent. Her mother also showed her gratification at hisdevotion, and tried, with consummate tact, to wean him away from hisevident partiality for the suffrage cause. She gave him the best of thetracts issued by the Anti-Suffrage Society; while he was waiting for hisoffices to be fitted up, she took him to lectures and teas andreceptions where anti-suffrage sentiment abounded, and tried in variousways to convince him of the superior social status of the "Anti" women. The culmination was reached, however, when he escorted her and Leonorato a meeting in a large theatre one afternoon. They were prominentfigures in one of the boxes nearest the stage, and Silvia Holland andCarroll Renner, who were sitting well toward the rear of the parquet, had ample opportunity to watch the effect of the meeting upon him. Frank Earl, who had come in directly afterward and taken a seat justback of them, leaned forward and talked while the crowd gathered. "Oh, don't mind him, " he said, when Miss Renner asked if that were not hisbrother with the anti-suffrage leaders. "He can't help himself, but ifhe doesn't go away from here ready to enlist under Miss Holland's bannerI miss my count. Even I should, were it not that I have seen the follyof it all on its native heath. Don't make faces at me, Carroll, orpeople will know you are a suffragette. " The theatre had been profusely decorated with flags, flowers andbunting, and mottoes were festooned along the walls, one of which was"God Bless Our Homes, " and another, "Imbecile Children Will Be theProduct of Imbecile Voting Women. " Dr. Earl was much impressed with the audience, which, nevertheless, seemed rather chilly and unresponsive. A dignity prevailed which eithercould not or dared not give way to any decided demonstration, in markedcontradistinction to the enthusiasm which characterized the suffragemeetings he had witnessed. In addition to the bunting and the mottoes, there were a number of largepictures, done in the style of the cartoonist. One of these showed acolonial dame at her spinning-wheel, with the words "An American Lady ofFour Generations Ago" beneath it; beside it was the picture of amasculine-looking woman, in a harem skirt, standing on a box at a streetcorner, addressing other women similarly attired; this was called "TheAmerican Suffragette. " Another picture showed a nurse caring for thesick and dying soldiers on one side, and on the other a suffragettecharging the police; this picture was labeled "Before and After Taking. " The meeting opened with a spirited address by the president of theassociation, Mrs. Briglow-Jorliss, who was welcomed with a brief rustleof well-bred applause, led by Frank Earl. "Got to do it, " he said, in answer to Carroll's reproachful look. "You'll see; even Jack will catch on before the end of the meeting. Always applaud these folks when they begin; maybe you can't when theyquit. " Mrs. Briglow-Jorliss told of the enormous gains recently made by the"Antis" among the select people of the city, and passed off the suffrageparade as merely a tatterdemalion host of the riff-raff of the city ledby a few notoriety seekers. "You see, Miss Holland, " Frank whispered, "what a good thing it is thatI came here; I never should have known that that parade wasn't one ofthe finest assemblages of women in the world if I hadn't. " Silvia laughed in spite of herself, and the stout lady on the platformwent on piling up the indictment against her sex, and showing howdemoralizing the vote had proved to women; how the suffrage sentimentwas dying out in the West; how the "Antis" were organizing even in thesuffrage States to lift the curse from their kind; how much purer andnobler politics would be without the influence of woman, and wound upwith a glowing peroration on behalf of the women who were fighting tomaintain the sanctity of the home and the elevation of the children. Silvia gave an impatient ejaculation. "How can you take it so quietly, Miss Renner?" she asked. "I confess it always stirs me up. " "It wouldn't if you had the ballot, " said the smaller woman. "It's justamusing, or tiresome, according to how well it is done. You women arethe worried and worrying Marthas; we are the Marys, who have chosen thebetter part that shall not be taken away; we know it can't be, and thisis something like hearing people laboriously argue that the world isflat with the sun revolving around it. " After the opening speech there were brief addresses by Dr. David Dearsonon the disastrous results to motherhood should women participate in theactive life of the nation; by the Reverend Jayson Yerkes on the Paulinedoctrine of the subserviency of the truly feminine woman; by Mrs. Workman Werther on the decadence of feminine charm among women apingmen's interests in life, and Crawford Dorer, a labor leader, opposed themovement because the natural timidity of woman would, he predicted, setback all hope of militant progress for the workers of the world. The"Antis" listened with a somewhat strained and puzzled attention, and agroup of working-women, out on strike, and sitting in the balcony, gavean angry hiss, which was instantly suppressed. The last speaker, Mr. Reuben Rice, was one of those wandering scribes who travel through theWest and write up suffrage from a Pullman-car window, and as he exposedthe weaknesses, the failures and the pitiful spectacle that voting womenmake of themselves, he galvanized the audience into a semblance of reallife and interest. Dr. Earl found the speeches entertaining if not enlightening, and afterthe second, gave himself up to the silent enjoyment of collating thearguments presented in juxtaposition. No sooner had one speakerconvinced his hearers that women would precipitate anarchy by theirradicalism than the next proved equally conclusively that an era ofdilettantism and millinery shop legislation would be the inevitableresult of woman suffrage; no sooner were they filled with the horror ofthe degradation of politics by the class of women certain to participatein it, than another speaker assured them that politics was already sovile that any woman would be hopelessly contaminated who had anything todo with the gangrenous growth, and yet another showed that womenwouldn't vote anyhow. It was all he could do to control the muscles ofhis face when the Reverend Mr. Yerkes told them in one sentence of thedissension that would rend families and in the next that married womensimply voted as their husbands dictated, and he could not repress asmile when the doctor and the professor made it clear that if woman isto reproduce the race she must not be expected to do anything else, onlyto have Mrs. Werther show how woman must be free to take part in theennobling activities of the world, philanthropy, charity, etc. , if sheis to "bring to motherhood that crown which is the glory of the race, "and much more of the same sort. He heard the ancient argument aboutbullets and ballots, and in the same breath his attention was called toSemiramis conquering Assyria, the Amazons invading Asia, the triumph ofSappho in song, Aspasia in the salon, Deborah among the Judges ofIsrael, George Eliot in literature, and a host of others who had wondistinction. The audience was told that it was entirely proper to agitate, cajole, coax, beseech, threaten, bully and browbeat men into voting forcandidates and measures desired by the women; anything that stoppedshort of blackmail and personal intimidation bore the hallmark ofrefined femininity, but to take two minutes to accomplish results forthemselves by depositing a ballot on election day meant everlastingdamnation to all feminine traits! And Leonora patted her pretty littlehands, and looked up to Earl for approval, feeling that at last he mustsee that Silvia and her cohorts were routed horse and foot. When the attack upon Western women was well under way, and Mr. Rice, adapper little chap, looking like a freshman from high school, wasrolling out his arraignment of Denver women in particular as typical ofthe nethermost depths to which the voting female may descend, CarrollRenner wrote a few lines on a bit of paper, and gave it to one of theushers, and a few minutes later she had the satisfaction of watching theportly Mrs. Briglow-Jorliss read it. When Mr. Rice had concluded hisdiatribe, the lady stated in dulcet tones that Mr. Frank Earl was saidto be in the audience, and as he lived in Denver, and was known to havestrong views on this question, there was an urgent request that heshould come to the platform, that they might know from one who had longwitnessed with regret the deteriorating effects of woman suffrage thatnothing that they had heard was in any way exaggerated. She vouched forEarl as one whom she had known since his boyhood, a member of one of themost highly respected families in New York, and who had never failed toreply when she had needed statistics from the field of woman'sdethronement. There was a bustle and stir over the audience, and John Earl looked agood deal startled, while Leonora was openly delighted. An excellentspeaker, and a trained debater, the occasion had no terrors for FrankEarl. In fact, he confessed to himself as he made his way to theplatform, he had not had so much fun as he expected to enjoy in the nextfifteen minutes for many a long day. He was introduced with many ratherflorid expressions, and began by stating his position calmly, unmistakably, as opposed to the extension of the franchise to women. Hethen made a few complimentary references to those ladies who nobly putaside their own devotion to the home, the sphere they adorned soadmirably, in order to save their misguided suffrage sisters from theevil effects of their mistaken zeal. There were a good many suffragists and some suffragettes in thatanti-suffrage meeting, and Frank saw that the chilly audience had atlast thawed, melted, warmed up and was rapidly approaching the pointwhere it might reasonably be expected to boil over. "I am unalterably against the extension of the franchise to women, " herepeated, and went on, "but my reasons for this opposition are concreteand practical rather than abstract and theoretical, and are based uponthe experience I have gained from my residence in Colorado. I am alsoopposed to it because it is all too evident that the suffrage should berestricted rather than extended. The ballot should be the reward ofintelligence, education, and a comprehension of the great politicalproblems of the nation. " "Give us the truth, " some one at the left of the parquet cried. "I shall, " he said, "and that necessitates correcting a few impressionswhich seem to me at variance with the facts. If it were true that womenwould not vote, or would vote as directed by the male members of theirfamilies, I should not so much deprecate giving them the ballot; butneither contention is true. Women do vote, and what is worse, they votein steadily increasing numbers. Out of seventy thousand votes cast atthe last election in my city a little less than half of them were castby women, and judging from the results, I must say that the men of theirfamilies had very little influence with them. The possession of thefranchise has developed the secretive instinct among women; they nolonger confide their intentions to their doting husbands; they listen totheir words of wisdom and then--they vote the secret ballot as theyplease. " There was a wave of laughter that swelled into a gleeful sort of shoutof mirth, but with an air of the most grieved surprise the speakerturned wonderingly to Mrs. Briglow-Jorliss, who still beamed upon him, though she was looking worried. "But surely, Mr. Earl, " she said, "when the disagreeable duty is thrustupon them, the conservative women do what they can to protect theinterests of the State?" He shook his head sadly. "This is one of the most frightful discoveries we have made since womenbegan to vote. When Mr. Dorer speaks of the innate conservatism of womenhe shows that he is not conversant with the woman movement. It is truethat there are a few intensely partisan women, who can be held by partyties, but the rank and file observe no such allegiance. They read andstudy, but in addition they go to the legislative halls, and there theysee that both parties make and break promises with equal facility, andwhat is the result?" "Well, what is it?" cried an impatient feminine voice. "I hardly know how to break it to you, " he said, "but the result isrevolt, revolt all along the line. Yes, ladies; women, lovely, refined, gentle, educated women utterly refuse to be dictated to by politicalleaders, and openly sneer at ward bosses. They can't be kept in line. They no longer sing the sweet strains of 'The land of the free and thehome of the brave. ' On the contrary, they raise the battle cry, 'Letindependence be our boast, ' and in spite of the passionate pleas oftheir natural leaders, they go on record for the most radicallegislation. Why, I'm told that nearly every so-called progressive lawenacted in my State has been passed by their continued efforts. "They have no conception of the ideal of government laid down byHamilton; they will submit to neither checks nor balances, and wouldsubvert the whole scheme of representative government and replace itwith an out-and-out democracy. In accord with this mistaken view theyhave adopted the initiative and referendum, carried it overwhelmingly, three to one, in every county in the State, and I need not tell anaudience of intelligence that this is the most insidious form of attacknow being made upon the fundamental principles of our government. " By this time Silvia and all the suffragists in the audience wereapplauding wildly, while Carroll Renner laughed till the tears ran downher cheeks, and once more Frank turned a patient and puzzled countenanceto the presiding officer. "I do not understand the applause, ladies, " he said mildly, with a gleamin his eyes that none but Carroll understood. "The thing I am tellingyou is frightful. The enfranchisement of women means the end of theRepublic as it now is; it means the rejection of all theories that arefound wanting, and the putting out on the vast uncharted sea ofexperiment; it means interference with those great business enterprisesthat have built up, I had nearly said that 'make and preserve us anation'! It means a reckless disregard for property rights in thesentimental desire to protect the individual, as if a nation couldbecome great and strong by individual effort alone, and without theguiding and sustaining hands of statecraft and financial genius grippingthe rudder of the ship of state. They will not listen to the voice ofexperience; they cannot be intimidated; they cannot be deceived for anindefinite number of years; if the established order seems to themunfair, unjust or illiberal, they have little respect for tradition whenit's results they're after. " "But if the anti-suffrage movement is growing as we have been told, can't the anti-suffragists overcome those tendencies?" asked an old ladyon the platform. Frank restated the question for the benefit of the audience, and thenanswered with indescribable pathos, "I cannot conceal the truth fromyou; improbable as it seems, when once this poison becomes virulent inthe body politic it spares none, and the very women who have battledmost nobly against this corroding innovation are apt to succumb to itsinsidious influence; even the anti-suffragist, home-loving, God-fearing, modest and retiring as is her nature, has developed a talent forpolitical intrigue that has led to the downfall of more than one of thebest laid plans of mice and men. " He tried to go on, but the audience was convulsed, not so much by whathe said as by his manner, and by the sudden turning of the tables afterthe long tension had reached the snapping point. Still uncertain whetherto regard his as friend or foe, Mrs. Briglow-Jorliss, after rappingvainly for order, was obliged to dismiss the meeting, and by some ironyof fate the orchestra played "Hail Columbia, " and the suffragettes tookup the words and sung them with much unction, especially the lines-- "Let independence be our boast, Ever mindful what it cost. " CHAPTER XIV FAITH IS THE BASIS OF ALL PROGRESS Early in June, Dr. Earl received a letter which puzzled him not alittle. It was complimentary in the extreme, and yet something back ofit made him say, "'For it is not an open enemy that hath done this. '"The letter asked him to speak on "Mental Therapeutics" before a meetingof one of the great medical societies of the city of New York; statedthat there would be no other speaker, but there would be an opendiscussion after his address, and hoped he would find time to complywith the request. Once he started to write his acceptance; twice heactually wrote, declining, and then tore up both letters. It was truethat he was crowded for time, but he could make time, and in his hearthe knew perfectly well that he would have done so without a thought, butfor the unexpected complications which had occurred with Alice Bell. Already he had heard one or two thinly veiled sneers at the result ofthis much-lauded case. He had met Towers and Hershell, both of thememinent in the profession, but the day before, and their greetings hadbeen singularly cool; once or twice at the club they both frequentedMorris had been little short of insulting, but his well-knowninfatuation for Silvia Holland would account for that. A reporter fromone of the less reputable dailies had asked for an interview, and hadwritten an article which barely escaped being libelous. There were notwanting those in the profession who openly denounced him as a "fakir. " The longer he thought about it, the more unwilling he was to act uponhis own judgment alone, and so he turned to the one unfailing counsellorof his life, his sister Hilda. With him, to will was to do, so within anhour he was in his sister's drawing-room, and not five minutes laterSilvia Holland entered and was warmly greeted by Mrs. Ramsey. The daywas dismal and the rain was descending in a steady downpour that gave nopromise of ever ceasing; it was late afternoon, and Mrs. Ramsey saidcordially, "Let us have tea in my sitting-room; nobody else will comesuch a day as this, and it will be so much more cosy. I distrust fromhis air of supernatural gravity that my brother has something on hismind----" "Then I will be _de trop_" said Miss Holland. "I will amuse myself inthe library until you are at liberty. I was awfully glad to get your'phone message to come over, for it's a wretched day, and I waswondering where I should go for tea as I came up town from my office. Have your conference and never mind about me. " "Indeed, " said Jack eagerly, "if you would be so kind as to give me youropinion also on the matter I have called to consult my sister about, youwould confer a great favor, " and even as he spoke he knew it was for herquick comprehension he had been unconsciously wishing all the time. She laughed and assented graciously, and they followed Mrs. Ramsey toher own charming little room, as dainty and distinctive as its owner. Upon the tea-tray there were cigarettes, and Dr. Earl rather wonderedwhether Silvia would accept, but she shook her head. "No, " she saidlightly, "I emulate men's virtues, not their vices; maybe my nerves mayneed alternate sedatives and stimulants some day, but as yet I hardlyknow that I have any. " Hilda lit one rather languidly. "My doctor says it isn't so much nervesas lack of nerve with me; I don't know what you call it, but I confess Ifind the smoke-wreaths pleasant; you won't join me either, Jack? Well, let us have the story in all its native simplicity and be sure younothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice. " "I am told, " he said, "that no well-bred New Yorker makes literaryallusions, and that to quote Shakespeare is to relegate oneself to hiscentury; however, this is the problem, " and then he read them theletter. Hilda was openly pleased. "Why not?" she said. "It seems to me a verycourteous and appreciative note, and I should think you would enjoyspeaking before that kind of an audience, all of them picked men, trained and scientific and able to take in shades of meaning anddistinctions that are wasted on the laity. Unless you are keepingsomething back, I should say, accept by all means. But are you?" He paused. "In just a moment, Hilda. How does it strike you, MissHolland?" She held out her hand for the note, and read and then reread it, and herforehead contracted. "I wonder, " she said to herself, "whether this iswhat Orrin meant when he said the profession would furnish Dr. Earlenough rope--I meant to ask him what he did mean, but I forgot it. "Aloud she said, "Isn't Dr. Morris one of the directors of this society?He's a fellow alumnus of yours; it doesn't seem as if he would be likelyto show you an affront, does it?" "That's just the point, " answered Dr. Earl. "Is it a case of 'mine ownfamiliar friend'?" His sister looked at him quizzically. "When it comes to literaryallusion, Jack, " she said, "New York might permit Shakespeare, but Iassure you it wouldn't stand for the psalmist. Do you really think it isa plan to get you into some false position or to embarrass you withcriticisms or queries not made in good faith?" "That is exactly what I want to know, " he said. "And what if it is?" asked Silvia. He colored. "You mean I ought to be willing to bear testimony to mybeliefs whether they meet with acceptance or not?" Hilda blew a ring of smoke ceilingwards. "That's the trouble with thesesuffragettes, " she said reminiscently. "They never question theadvisability of 'casting pearls before swine. '" Jack laughed and Silvia turned on her reproachfully. "Hilda! That isn'tfair; haven't you just said yourself that this would be a pickedaudience? Suppose a little clique of them have arranged the meeting withthe intention of heckling the speaker? The bulk of them will be there ingood faith, anxious to learn, willing to listen to your brother'saccount of his experiences, and profit by them. If he can't gain arespectful hearing there, where will he gain it?" "Forgive me for being biblical to-night, " Hilda answered. "I can't seemto get away from the suggestion; you know it was the high priests andthe rulers of the synagogue that stirred up their followers to cry, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!' And times have changed more than people. Thepoor will hear gladly enough of healing that is to be had without moneyand without price, and operations that may be avoided by simply keepingwell, but my experience is that the fetish of the professional man is ajealous god, given to heresy hunting, and bowing down and worshiping atthe shrine of 'regularity. ' They want to preserve the _status quo_ atany cost. " "Yes, " said Silvia bluntly, "even after it has long been lost. They arelike people who might discover an ostrich egg-shell after the bird washalf grown, and go chasing after it, trying to put it back inside theshell. I think it is Emerson who says that there are quantities ofpeople who are always trying to become settled, whereas our onlysalvation consists in being constantly unsettled. I think the Englishwomen are infinitely braver and finer in their attitude on the suffragequestion than we are. What I feel, Dr. Earl, is this: we have come to atime when nothing is really worth while unless it is worth fighting for. There are other worth while things, of course, for the laboratory man orwoman, but for those of us who are in the thick of the fight, who wantto do things _now_, it is necessary that we should be willing to dobattle for our beliefs. " "But is that the way to win?" asked the doctor. "We've all heard aboutcatching flies with molasses, to use a homely simile. " "Yes, " responded Silvia; "the more molasses the more flies. No, the oldmethods are gone or are going. Do you suppose anything would do thesuffrage cause as much good in this country as clubbing a few old womenwho want respectfully to present a petition to the other old women inCongress? A few years ago a petition was presented, signed by a millionwomen, and a jocose member rolled it down the aisle with his foot, saying it might as well be signed by mice! But just let them try theEnglish methods and every State in the Union would enfranchise its womenjust as soon as they could get a popular vote on it. " She stopped short. "Oh, I beg your pardon, doctor, I didn't mean to give you a suffragelecture. " "You are not, " he said. "At least, what I understand is that you aretrying to make me see that, the spirit of the age is the militantspirit, that does not wait to have its own presented to it, but takes itwherever it finds it. " She nodded and he went on: "I think that is true, but with this difference between the illustration you cite and the casein point. You women must be passionate enthusiasts to win, because thething you want is concrete and imminent and personal. I have nointention of setting up as a _vade mecum_, founding a new cult, proselyting or even preaching my own doctrines; in the first place Ishall change them as I discover better ones, or when they fail to bringresults, and in the second I shall be too busy practicing my theories tofind time to exploit them. " "There you are wrong, " said his sister. "When a man like Jenner comesalong that is the time for practicing, but when smallpox has been rootedout and tuberculosis forgotten, men will still read what Socrates had tosay of immortality and the sermon on the mount. When you hear peoplebelittle the written and the spoken Word, it becomes us to remember that'In the beginning the Word was God, ' and all that we know of pastcivilizations is the word they have left behind, painted on their stonywalls or burned in a brick to say, 'After me cometh a builder. Tell himI too have known. '" "But, my dear sister, " Jack answered, "don't you think assuming the rôleof the teacher may be just a trifle, only a trifle, presumptuous on mypart?" "I don't quite know what your new views are, " she answered. "They are not new, " he said. "In fact they are most of them of suchhoary antiquity that they are lost in the mists that brooded over theface of the deep. It is only the application that is new. Even that hasalways been understood by certain great souls. Pythagoras is said tohave taught the Greeks to believe in metempsychosis for the purpose ofmaking them kinder to lesser forms of life; like many beauty worshipersthey were frankly inhuman, and it took heroic measures to create even aglimmering perception of the unity of life which is the basis of all thegreat world religions, whether it be Buddha's 'Who hurteth anotherhurteth himself, ' or Christ's commandment, 'Love one another'; the Yogilooking first at the prince and then at the pauper and saying, 'I amthat, ' or Father Damien going into voluntary exile for the sake of thesouls of the wretched lepers. The Prince of Peace preached the doctrineof spiritual inspiration, and the King of Conquerors said 'Imaginationrules the world. ' Jesus or Napoleon--both knew that back of the visibleman himself is the thought of the man, which controls him, and other menthrough him, if it possesses power and vitality and truth. " "Then it is a kind of new thought?" asked Hilda. "Rather a renaissance of old thought. The modern quest of the Grail isnot for the crystal cup that held the holy elements, but for the divinelife itself, the principle that inspires men to action. The philosopherof our day is not a hermit, theorizing about vague abstractions, butvitally alive to the problems that confront this day and generation, andmodern psychology is changing all the methods of the great processes ofexistence. Education, medicine, law, are all in process oftransformation. Grandsons of the men who denounced Mesmer as a charlatanthronged the clinics of Charcot. " "Yes, " said Silvia, "and within the next decade Münsterberg will havecompelled a complete remodeling of our forms of legal procedure. Noattorney worth his salt would undertake to ignore the apparatus devisedby the psychologist, and the time is nearly gone by when, as he says, courts will prefer to listen to the 'science' of the handwritingexperts, rather than permit the examination of a witness by methods inaccord with the exact work of the psychologist. " "That is true, " assented Jack, "and not the least gratifying part of thewhole matter is that it isn't the unimportant who are the ones to speakrespectfully of the changing ideal; in fact, the smaller a man'scalibre the more sure you can be that he will cling to the establishedorder. It is only very great men who have the courage of theirintuitions long enough to prove them. Münsterberg can afford to say whathe thinks. Now if I go to this meeting and tell these men that 'thereare cases where a fact cannot come at all unless a preliminary faithexists in its coming, ' what do you think they will say?" Hilda smiled. "Most of them will suspect you of quoting 'Science andHealth. ' If they accuse you of it, read them the rest of the paragraph. " "What is it?" asked Silvia eagerly. "I can find it in a moment, " said Hilda, going to the bookshelves, andtaking down a modest olive-colored volume. "Here it is. 'And where faithin a fact can help create the fact, that would be an insane logic whichshould say that faith running ahead of scientific evidence is the lowestkind of immorality into which a thinking being can fall. Yet such is thelogic by which our scientific absolutists pretend to regulate ourlives. ' That is from the late Professor James, who is said to have beenthe profoundest thinker this country has ever produced, and he has saidmuch more equally startling to those little minds that, like fullbottles, have no room for more. " Dr. Earl threw back his head and laughed; his quandary was over, hiscourse settled. He turned to Silvia with a genial smile. "Score one morevictory for the Feminists, " he said. "I wonder if there ever has been atime, anywhere on earth, where women were actually and aggressivelynoncombatants. The Spartan woman handing over her husband's shield istypical. Whenever and wherever there has been a cause worth fightingfor, worth dying for--always and forever we can see the figure of thewoman, shield on arm and javelin in hand, standing at the door of theslothful warrior's tent, calling him to action. Sometimes the eternalfeminine leads on, but very frequently, I regret to say, it has to getback and drive, and sometimes if it did not kneel and push I fear thewheels of progress would not revolve at all; that we do go on, slowlyand uncertainly, it is true, but that we go on at all, is due to thewoman soul that will not let us waste our years in the wilderness whenthe land of promise is so near at hand. Ladies, I go!" He rose as if to make good his words, but Hilda entered a peremptorynegative, and it ended by his staying to dinner and spending a long andutterly delightful evening, which became in a sense the beginning ofwhat he felt was a new epoch in his life. This was the understanding, the fellowship, the _bon camaraderie_ that gives existence its zest andpermits one to dream of life eternal without a horror of impendingweariness and boredom. CHAPTER XV AN EVIL PROPHECY BEGINS TO BEAR FRUIT Leonora and Mrs. Kimball accompanied Dr. Earl to the meeting of themedical society, and if he had some doubts whether or not she would beable to follow his discourse perfectly, he had none whatever as to hisown pride and pleasure in her dainty loveliness. She was gowned inwhite, and the season's styles were particularly becoming to hergraceful and well-rounded figure. Her radiant face with its sensitivecoloring resembled the delicate glow of one of those rare Sevres vasesof the Empire Period. She appreciated the compliment of the invitation, as people alwaysappreciate the compliment of being invited to distinguished gatheringswhere the subjects of discussion are likely to be much beyond theirrange of knowledge or understanding. There was a large attendance, for while many members of the professionhad come from idle curiosity, most of those present were interested inthe views of any man of standing who might throw new light upon thesuccessful application of either medical or surgical remedies. Whatever criticisms may be passed upon individual practitioners, orhowever many Bourbons may exist in the fraternity, yet it must beapparent to the student of such matters that nowhere in the world doesas large a percentage of the medical or surgical profession adopt newand improved methods of treatment of the maimed and the ill as in theUnited States. And nowhere in the world are such new and improvedmethods applied with anything like the aptness or skill as by Americandoctors of medicine or surgery. The old school, the newer school, the newest school of legallyrecognized practitioners were there in force, as well as numbers ofthose who were effecting remarkable cures without any special sanctionof law for their methods. Modestly and earnestly, Dr. Earl discussed the subject that had beenassigned him, amplifying as much as his time would permit, andoccasionally citing authorities bound to command respectful attentionfrom scientific minds. He was aware that he had the sympathy of most of his audience, and hewas just as fully conscious of the hostility of Drs. Morris, Tower, Hershell, Bainbridge and two or three more of those who believed withsomething approaching fanaticism that all physicians and surgeons mustadhere strictly to what they denominated "standard methods. " While Leonora could not comprehend the larger significance of hisdiscourse, it gratified her pride and pleased her vanity that herfiancée was a man who could obtain such a hearing from the medicalprofession. The discussion that followed the address was animated andintelligent, and if the malcontents had intended any discourtesy to Dr. Earl their plans went awry. Dr. Earl found himself plunged deeper and deeper every day in theseemingly innumerable duties that crowded upon him. Summer came withtropical heat, but feeling that he had already enjoyed a long vacation, he made no plans, save to take his week-ends out of town, and preparedto keep office hours all summer. Early in July, Leonora and her mother went to Bar Harbor and theRamseys to Newport. Frank had gone West in May. He would have missedthem had he possessed a free moment, but the first of August found himas busy as ever, in spite of the fact that the city was deserted by thefashionable world. Sickness has fashions of its own, and the fame he hadachieved as "the surgeon who cures without operating, " brought him not afew calls from those who had nothing to commend them save theirsuffering and their faith. Every doctor worthy the name has a set ofbooks kept only by his recording angel, and Earl's invisible guardianmade many entries that summer, and there were times when even theinsistence of Leonora could not make him feel willing to leave those whoseemed so wholly dependent upon his presence for their physical welfare. Now and then, in spite of his all-absorbing work, there came to hissensitive consciousness a feeling of foreboding and dread that he couldnot explain, save by some subtle law of suggestion, as he recalled halfin mirth and half in seriousness the dark prophecies of the astrologistat the suffrage ball. He had suspected his brother Frank, and when helearned that the seeress was Miss Renner, that suspicion had beenconfirmed; Frank might have given her the date of Leonora's birthday, but he had nothing to do with the warning she had given him thatsomething would happen within the next twenty-four hours which wouldhave a bearing on his whole career. Within two hours he had treatedlittle Alice Bell, and out of that event had grown his more intimateacquaintance with Silvia, and the marked hostility of Dr. Morris. Thechild was doing as well as could be expected, but he was greatlydisturbed over her condition, and was building up her general health inthe hope of overcoming the disease. He had asked Miss Renner one or two questions, but she had evaded him, and while he had thought of calling on her and asking for the promisedhoroscope, which she did not send, the idea seemed absurd, and he had notime to carry it out. On the fourth of August he received a summons to come to Magnolia, Massachusetts, to attend a former patient who was spending the summerthere, and he left New York, intending to remain a week. His movements had become a matter of interest to the ubiquitousnewspaper reporter, and as the dog-days in New York were not prolificin startling items, the fact of his being sent for to attend a prominentNew York man at Magnolia was seized upon and made into a fairly readablefirst page news story. He arranged for the care of his patients, saw the Bells and told them ofhis intended absence, and spent some time talking with the frail littlechild who had become greatly attached to him. As he rose to go, heturned to the couch once more. "What shall I send you from Boston, little Miss Alice?" he said kindly, and the girl replied in true childfashion, "Candy. " He shook his head. "You know I don't approve of muchcandy for small girls; but you shall have something better, " he said, "you may be sure I won't forget, " and with another good-by he was gone. He took the midnight train for Boston, and his patient's motor car waswaiting for him when he arrived there. Perhaps it was the excitement of thinking what the "something better"could be that kept Alice Bell awake that night; whatever it was, whenSilvia Holland saw her the next morning her heart sank. She had afeeling that she was in some way responsible for the child also, andthat she was still Dr. Earl's assistant. She watched her while shetalked to Mrs. Bell, and suggested, in a tentative way, that Mrs. Bellshould go to some quiet country place for a month, but the woman shookher head. "I cannot leave the city, now, " she said. "I have a great quantity ofsewing that must be done for Miss Lanier's wedding in September. " "Couldn't you take it along?" asked Silvia. "No, " she said quietly, but decidedly. "Some of the things she wantsfitted, and I have said I would be here any time she wanted to run intotown. Besides, there are other reasons why I cannot go away now. " Shecontrolled herself with an effort. "I can never tell you, Miss Holland, how thankful I am for the work you have brought my way. You can'tunderstand, no woman who has never been anxious to know how she wasgoing to get the rent can understand what a blessing it is to beindependent! You are doing great things for all women, Miss Holland, andnot forgetting individual women as some people would, but _do_ try tomake girls understand that they can never be free so long as they aredependent on somebody else for their bread and butter. " Silvia flushed. "You're not fretting because of the paltry little sum Iadvanced for your rent, are you?" she said. "I thought we were friends, and such things should not be spoken of between friends. " The woman turned to her with a face in which gratitude and some greatsorrow were contending emotions, and caught her hands and held themtight. "No, " she said, "I don't mind being under obligations to you; I'm almostglad to be, for the sake of knowing such a woman. You can do a kindnesswithout making it a burden; there are people who pay a debt as if theywere doing you a favor. The only thing I mind is that I am not moreworthy of all you have done for me. " Silvia put her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "Don't talk to meof unworthiness, " she said. "You are a brave woman and a devoted mother;it is one of the crimes of civilization that you should lack for anycreature comforts, and you shall not any more. You shall earn what youneed yourself, and this fall I intend to start a class of girls indomestic economy, and you shall teach them how to make these prettythings you fashion so exquisitely. " An indescribable look of pain and rebellion passed over Mrs. Bell'sface, and she turned away from Silvia, with a quick gesture ofrenunciation. "In the meantime, " Silvia went on, feeling that the time had not come toseek any further confidence, "I am going to borrow Alice. I want to takeher up to Nutwood for a week or two, and as I'm going this noon, supposeyou gather her things together, and I'll take her right along. " The little girl gave a cry of joy, and then her face dropped. "But, mamma, " she said, "will I miss my present from Dr. Earl?" Her mother smiled and explained that the doctor had promised to sendAllie "something better than candy" from Boston, where he had gone thenight before. "I will forward it, " she said; "you can trust mother forthat. " "He has been very good to you, hasn't he?" said Silvia absently, thinking of him once more as she had seen him first, as he bent over thechild, the sleeves rolled back from his powerful white arms while hebathed the matted locks and set the broken leg. "He has that, " said the woman laconically. "I'm glad to have Allie gowith you, for she would miss him; he said he wouldn't be back for aweek. Now be a good girl, Allie, and do just as Miss Holland tells you, and you will write mother a little letter every day, and mother willwrite to you. " She flung her arms about the child in a sudden passion ofemotion, but the eyes that looked into Silvia's as she took her handwere dry and wretched. "I wish you could tell me all about it, " Silvia said impulsively. "I shall, soon, " she answered; "unless Fate turns kind for once, I shalltell you all, soon, very soon. " CHAPTER XVI THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF EMMA BELL The crowd going home from the resorts and roof gardens August 9th wasstartled by the wild cries of the newsboys: "Extra! Extra! All about themysterious murder!" Murders are not so rare in New York as to cause any genuine sensationamong its people when one is announced in the public press, but mysteryhas ever been attractive to the human race, and the details of thepresent case as contained in the columns of the papers were so involvedin conjecture as to arouse the interest of every reader. The only factsthat were clear were that Mrs. Emma Bell had been found dead in thesitting-room of her apartment on East 56th Street with a box of candiedfruit on the table near her, which had just been opened, and which, according to the postmark stamped on the paper enclosing the box, hadbeen mailed to her from Boston. Written on thin paper that was sopasted as to cover the entire top of the box was the inscription, "Withbest wishes to you and Alice. J. E. " A weird description of the lifelike appearance of the woman when found, seated in her chair, with eyes staring and pupils dilated, was given inthe best reportorial style. The coroner had taken possession ofeverything and had ordered the apartment sealed until an inquest couldbe held. Whether or not the candied fruit had anything to do with thedeath, and if so who could have sent it, were all matters of speculationwhich the various writers had covered in from one to four columns, according to their respective imaginative qualities and newspaperinstinct, but none of them gave the slightest intimation as to thesuspected person, if murder really had been committed. More or less accurate likenesses of Mrs. Bell were given with all theevents of her life that seemed spectacular, the most prominent of whichwas that her neighbors had long speculated as to her source oflivelihood, since her husband's death some four years previously, andwith characteristic charity such speculation led to hints alongsalacious trails and the dark recesses of public suspicion. The eventsof the injury to her little girl, and her treatment by Dr. Earl, andthe devotion of the volunteer nurse, lacked nothing in their interestingnarration in connection with the supposed murder mystery, and assistedvery materially in enhancing that mystery through the glamour ofprominent personages who were so well in the foreground of the story. The coroner's jury sat upon the case as coroners' juries have beensitting upon similar cases ever since English jurisprudence advanced tothe stage of not executing people on suspicion. There was the same dank, solemn atmosphere of the morgue, the same density of intellect andunderstanding, the same owl-like gaze of stupidity that passed musterfor wisdom, the same perfervid desire to get a certificate on the publictreasury without undue mental or physical effort, the same ambition togive a duly impressive but harmless verdict, that must havecharacterized the first empaneled jury of this nature. Never by anypossibility could these original qualities have deteriorated, and itwould require a wild stretch of the imagination to note any traces ofimprovement. The reading of the verdict of a coroner's jury has never been known todisqualify any person from serving on a trial jury in a murder case byunduly influencing the opinion, or arousing the passions of suchinvoluntary candidate for the jury box. No jails have been stormed orrevolutions started by the verdict of an American coroner's jury, andNew York was not destined to have its sensibilities too harshly jarredby a sensational verdict in this case. After solemnly sitting for hours, the jury found that "Said Emma Bellcame to her death from the effects of hydrocyanic acid administered bysome person to the said jurors unknown, and whether said hydrocyanicacid was administered with felonious intent the said jurors cannot atthis time ascertain. " The facts established by the jury were, that the woman was dead; thathydrocyanic acid had killed her; that the cause of death was so evidentthat it was only necessary to examine the contents of the stomach; thatapparently none of the candied fruit had been disturbed, as the box waseven full and the top layer as smooth as when first packed; that achemical analysis proved that no poison of any kind was in any of thecandied fruit in the box; that no vial could be found on or near thewoman after death, and that a thorough search of the apartment failedto disclose any of this or any other kind of poison; that the woman wasquite alone in the apartment when death took place and was onlydiscovered by the janitress at ten o'clock at night, at which time sheentered the apartment, having been invited to sleep there during theabsence of the child in the country, whither she had gone a few daysprevious to this for a week's stay; that Mrs. Bell had been doing herown work for several months and taking in fine sewing. But ambitious newspaper reporters bent themselves to this new task, asis their custom in all matters of public concern, _i. E. _, to outrivalthe most noted expert in the line of that particular phase of publicendeavor uppermost at the time. Theories were advanced in the dailypapers that made Sherlock Holmes seem like a novice in detective workand Lucretia Borgia a mere infant in the skillful administration ofpoisons. The regular detectives, both public and private, were arousedby the mystery that shrouded the case. It remained, however, for theubiquitous reporter, to whom society really owes a debt along every lineof worthy public endeavor impossible either to estimate or discharge, to discover that the handwriting on the box was that of Dr. John Earl, and that he had been in the habit, for months, of paying almost dailyvisits to the Bell home; that he was at Magnolia Beach, but a short ridefrom Boston, at the time the package was mailed there; that ostensiblyhe had visited the Bell home to attend the little girl who was injuredby the automobile, but that the mother was undoubtedly much interestedin him; that there were many rumors among surgeons that his operation onthe leg of the child had produced tuberculosis; that the districtattorney had received anonymous letters to the effect that Earl haddeliberately attempted to poison both mother and daughter, to be rid ofan unpleasant _liaison_ on the one hand and the evidence of his lack ofskill on the other; that the child had gone to the country after he leftthe city and he still supposed her with her mother, hence the saving ofthe child's life; that the box of candied fruit was only a blind, andthat some other package must have arrived containing the poison inanother form, possibly in the same wrapping paper with the fruit; thatno possible motive could be discovered for the poisoning by any otherperson and no clue could be found leading to a suspicion of any oneelse. With five hundred thousand visitors constantly within the gates of theircity; with a shifting population of nearly a million more; withpermanent residents absorbed in the most strenuous existence known onthe American Continent; with sensation in high life of such frequentoccurrence as to benumb any effort to form a discriminating opinion--thepeople of New York (visitors, temporary denizens, those of fixedhabitation) welcomed these ready-made conclusions of the daily press andblindly adopted them as their own. Individual character counts for less in the metropolis of the UnitedStates than it does anywhere else in the nation. There are severalreasons for this, but the principal ones are a lack of time on the partof the permanent residents to inform themselves on such matters and alack of interest in the subject on the part of the remainder of thepopulation. The result is, that when charges are made, with any degreeof sanction from the constituted authorities, against ordinary citizensof hitherto blameless lives, the great majority of the people acceptsuch charges as well founded until they are effectively disproved. So it was in this case. Just as soon as the incriminating factsseriously involved Dr. John Earl it was taken for granted that he wasguilty, and such presumption was certain to grip the public mind untilhis innocence could be duly established, if such result were at allpossible. This was also the golden opportunity for the Bourbon members of his ownprofession to assail his theories and, secretly and openly, certain ofthem charged that the result in Dr. Earl's case was but the natural onewhere "standard methods" of practice were set aside for the, as yet, "unscientific paths of suggestive therapeutics, " as these reactionarymedical men denominated Earl's system, for he had cured throughsuggestive methods a score of patients who had been condemned to theoperating table by other surgeons, and as a result he had aroused theresentment of such surgeons in particular and the condemnation ingeneral of all those who believed in the supreme curative power of theknife. Those in other walks of life, who, from conviction or selfishness, wereopposed to disturbing present conditions, and who appreciated andfeared the interdependence of the whole progressive movement, were alsoeasily convinced that, properly enough, he was in the toils of the law. It was not long until his friends and defenders began to realize that asecret sentiment was being created against him which had for its purposethe discrediting of his mental stability, as well as his medicalmethods, and that they would be compelled to combat not only menacingfacts and conditions, but also the still more powerful influences ofcenturies of prejudice against men of his type, who had dared to get toofar ahead of the general parade. Psychologically, some interesting impressions were made upon observantminds. Many of our national hypocrisies were emphasized, and theseoccurrences revealed certain inconsistencies of public pretension andaction in other fields closely correlated to this one, and it becameevident that improvement in theory and practice, in matters of thissort, was impossible so long as more fundamental abuses were not onlypermitted but sanctioned in a most aggressively affirmative manner. These observing people were reminded that in this Christian nation across of considerable dimensions is generally ready for instant use inimmolating the person who is rash enough to interfere too strenuously orpersistently with the operations of our morally depraved and generallyrum-soaked political bosses, who have boldly usurped the functions ofgovernment and whose aims and purposes are widely at variance with allof the teachings of the lowly Nazarene; that, much as we pride ourselvesupon our philosophical advancement, there is usually a cup of hemlock inreserve for a master spirit that attempts too far to outdistance thecrowd; that, fond as we are of orating and writing about the dark daysof barbarism, we continually applaud the barbarian methods of those whoappropriate the property and liberties of their fellow men to increasetheir own wealth and power; that, while there is no longer much of adisposition to consider the earth flat, there is a marked tendency toregard most every other mysterious thing as of that character. Dr. John Earl had friends who understood the complex and extensivenature of these sentiments, and, whatever might be their opinionconcerning his guilt or innocence of the specific charge underdiscussion, they greatly feared the graver charge which emanated fromthe chaotic darkness of superstition, ignorance, prejudice and jealousyand the location of which could be determined only by occasional andangry flashes of venom. While these things were occurring, Dr. Earl had come to New York and hadgone directly to the district attorney and notified him that, if needed, he could be found at his house on East 53rd Street, but he assured thatofficial that he knew nothing of the affair whatever. This was treated as bravado by those who believed in his guilt and asvindication by those who asserted his innocence. His brother Frank hastened from a summer resort in the fastnesses of theRockies and his sister and brother-in-law returned to town from Newport. One day, Silvia Holland appeared at the coroner's office and asked tosee the box in which the candied fruit had arrived. She examined itcritically for several minutes, and then asked for the wrappercontaining the address and postage stamps. There were three ten-cent andtwo fifteen-cent stamps on the paper, although it was apparent that halfthat amount in postage would have carried the package. She compared thehandwriting with samples of Dr. Earl's, and it was only too evident thatboth address and message were written by him. When she returned to her office she found Miss Renner waiting for her inresponse to a telephone message. The two women had seen much of eachother after their meeting at the League House and a deep regard hadsprung up between them. For the time being, Miss Renner was doingspecial work on one of the New York papers, and lending her voice to thesuffrage cause between assignments. They exchanged greetings, and thenthe little Westerner said quietly, "You wanted me?" Miss Holland looked at her long and searchingly. "Yes, I both want andneed you, my dear. Your paper has been rather vindictive in its pursuitof evidence against Dr. Earl. I want you to go to the district attorneyand ask him personally to examine the inside of the lid of the box whichcontained the fruit, also the scalloped paper that covered the fruit. Ifhe does so, he will find that a green gage, an apricot or a plum, whichwas seedless, of course, rested on top of the paper, and was crushedagainst the lid of the box. The stain is quite distinct on both paperand cover, and shows that there was only one such piece of fruit placedthere. Of course, it contained the poison, and was placed on top, because it would naturally be eaten first. " Carroll Renner looked at her in amazement. "If I do that he will order the immediate arrest of Dr. Earl; it willput him in jail and possibly lead to his conviction. Is that what youdesire?" She looked up at the taller woman searchingly. "Surely I do--if he is guilty, " Miss Holland replied, without changingher expression. "There is no doubt that it will cause his immediatearrest, " she added, "but even that is preferable to this suspense witheverybody suspecting him and no opportunity to defend himself. " She turned away, and Carroll slipped her arm about her waist. "DearSilvia, I'll go--on one condition. " "And that is?" came in a rather muffled voice. "That you will defend him yourself!" said Miss Renner. Miss Hollandturned and caught her in her arms. "I can't do that, " she said. "Icouldn't, anyhow, without being asked, and besides, he will need themost skillful criminal lawyer in New York to defend him. I should make asorry mess of it. " Carroll drew her down on a settee and held her hands firmly. "You mightjust as well be a man, if you are going to talk like that--always readyto let women go ahead until something really worth while comes along, and then saying 'only a man can do big, difficult things. ' After allyou've said, are you going to hesitate when it comes to crossingprofessional swords with a man? Come now, promise me; if I go to thedistrict attorney, you will defend him. " "But I have not been employed, or even asked to defend him, " sheinsisted. "You must see how unprofessional it would be, Carroll. " "Professional! that's what the doctors say when they refuse to save yourlife because they don't want to be discourteous to a fellowpractitioner, " answered Carroll. "Well, if the life of the man I lovedwas at stake I wouldn't wait for somebody to come and hire me to defendhim!" "Carroll!" cried Silvia. "Silvia!" she retorted. "Will your highness deign to accept employmentif it is offered you by his family?" "Oh, Carroll, I can't let you drum up business----" "You should be shaken, Silvia, " her friend answered. "Of courseeverybody in the country knows that you live in daily fear of thepoorhouse, and keep an advertising bureau busy trying to find youemployment! However, I suspected you would make these silly objections, so I told Frank Earl yesterday that he ought to move heaven and earth toget you to defend his brother. He nearly fell on my neck, and he is nowgiving me absent treatment or holding a thought that I may succeed inmaking you see that you could do more for the doctor than any other NewYork lawyer. " "That isn't true, Carroll, " she said. "I wish it were, but it isn't, andI haven't been able to think of any one that I want to see take up hisdefense. " "Naturally, because you know you ought to do it yourself. Now listen tome. " Miss Renner put her hands on Silvia's shoulders. "We haven't knowneach other long, but it doesn't follow that we don't know each otherwell. If John Earl were my brother I should give you no peace until youpromised to defend him, not alone because you have the requisite skillas an attorney, but because you would give this case the devotion, theinsight, that are not to be bought with money. Now you know my terms;shall I go to the district attorney?" Silvia kissed her impulsively. "Yes, dear; go--go at once!" Her eyesfilled and her exquisite voice quivered with the strain of the emotionshe could no longer conceal. "Oh, Carroll, I'm glad to have you now;come back to me afterward and tell me all about it!" CHAPTER XVII THE ARREST OF DR. JOHN EARL Early the next morning Dr. John Earl was arrested for the murder of EmmaBell and was remanded by the magistrate to The Tombs without bail toawait the action of the grand jury, which was soon to convene. Both heand his family had foreseen the event, and he had made the necessaryarrangements for the conduct of his business. Humiliating as his arrestwas, they all bore it with Spartan courage, and prepared to ransack theearth, if need be, to establish his innocence. Leonora Kimball and her mother returned from Bar Harbor to find theircity friends almost unanimously arrayed against Dr. Earl, and they werenot themselves in the best humor with the tide of ill fortune that hadswept them into these muddy currents. They went immediately to TheTombs, and in the interview that followed Dr. Earl insisted that Leonorashould consider herself released from her engagement so long as theleast taint was attached to his name in connection with this charge. Sheprotested that this was the hour of his need, and she could not think ofsuch a thing, but he caught the tone of doubt in her voice, and the lackof genuine sympathy in her manner. There passed rapidly through his mindthe thought that the electric chair might be just ahead of him; a longimprisonment might be his fate; he might lose the affection of friendsand the respect of strangers, but if in this hour of bitter ordeal, guilty or innocent, whichever she might believe, his affianced wife didnot show supreme faith and devotion, he was indeed a beggar in the realmof love. Carroll's ominous words about the malign stars that governedher fate recurred to his mind, and he thought of his contest withhimself, and his decision when, defying the possibility of separation, inharmony or divorce, he elected to keep his plighted troth whatever hispost-nuptial fate might be. But in the recesses of his prison he had yearned for love, for thedivine, illuminating rays that had lighted the path of many a martyr tothe stake; of many a hero to the cannon's mouth; of not a few convictsto the gallows; of many a sublime philosopher to the dungeon or theax--and all his misfortunes seemed but fleecy down compared to theweight which this sense of isolation and aloofness from the tendernessof the world brought to him. He looked at her fair young face, cloudedand troubled now with doubts and annoyance, and with a sinking heart herealized that her personal vexation loomed as large upon the horizon ofher mind as the shame and danger that had overtaken him. "For the present, dear, you are absolved from any obligation to me, " hesaid very gravely. "When I am released I shall, of course, give you theopportunity to reconsider if you choose to do so, but in the meantimeyou are entirely free; it must be so, dearest. " She made no reply, but lifted her face to his for their farewell kiss, and her mother was not able to stifle her sigh of relief until they hadpassed beyond the prison walls. As they left, Frank entered the room, and the glance he cast after the departing form of the elder lady wasnot exactly amiable, but he kept his peace. "It is time, Jack, that you were thinking of somebody to take charge ofyour case. You know I'm not familiar with criminal law, or the New Yorkpractice; I'll do my best, but you must have a skilled lawyer incommand. " "I have already given the matter deep thought, but I have not made up mymind. There's Littlefield, but hiring him or any other noted criminallawyer is equivalent to pleading guilty, " answered Jack. "What do yousuggest?" "I'm not in a position to make suggestions myself that are reallyvaluable, " Frank replied, "and of the hundreds that have been made therehas been but one that really appealed to me. That came from my Coloradofriend--Miss Renner; but this is a matter where you must be the solejudge, and I want you to make your own selection, regardless of anyother person's ideas. " "Miss Renner is a very keen woman, " Jack said, a gleam of curiosity inhis manner. "I should like to hear her proposition; it is sure to beoriginal, anyhow. " Frank answered rather hesitatingly. "At first, I was enthusiastic aboutit, but I fear you will not approve of trusting your life to a woman, and I don't urge it in any way; Miss Renner wants us to employ SilviaHolland. " "Miss Holland defend me? Will she--would she be willing to do it?" Jackasked, in startled tones. "Carroll Renner says she will, " Frank answered, "and she is curiouslycorrect in her judgments of people, and they have been pretty close thislast summer. " Earl gave a sigh of relief. "Then by all means employ her at once, " hesaid. "I not trust my life to a woman? Dear Frank, when is there ever atime when man does not trust his fate to woman? The infant owes hisexistence to a woman; the boy would make sad progress in the world wereit not for the woman. The young man would drop back to barbarism but forher, and where would you and I be but for that dear, sweet sister ofours? Simply because the Twentieth Century woman is breaking away fromthe old, destructive life of the parasite and endeavoring to fulfill herdestiny on earth, is no reason for believing that she does not stillpossess all the noble qualities that have characterized her since theworld began. Not only have I no prejudices against, but a decidedpartiality for a woman defender, " and so the matter was settled. Silvia went to consult with Earl every day that she was in the city, and strongly advised against any attempt to secure bail, as sure to openanew the charges and innuendoes which were already but dimly rememberedby the New York public. She took personal charge of every phase of thecase, and although Frank was associated with her he asked few questionsand she volunteered but little information. A week later she spentseveral days in Boston and stopped at Providence on her way back, butaside from telling his family where she had been she gave no intimationeither of her purposes or the results of her trip, and cautioned everyone to give nothing to the press. "What did you do with the box of candied fruit you bought at Thompson'scandy store when you were in Boston?" she demanded of Dr. Earl at herfirst interview after her return. For a moment he looked dazed. "Box of candied fruit--I didn't buyany--oh, yes; wait a minute. While at Magnolia, I wished to pay a visitto some old friends who live in East Boston; they have a youngster inthe family, and I bought the candied fruit for her at the same time Ibought the pecans which I sent to Alice; but do you know, a curiousthing happened to that package of candied fruit. I put it on the seatbeside me while crossing the ferry, and then took up a magazine articleI was much interested in, and when I rose to leave the boat the packagewas gone. I hadn't been conscious that any one was near enough to takeit, but there was a crowd on the boat, and my package disappeared;naturally, I didn't mention it to my friends. " The look she bent upon him was full of perplexity. "Of course it can'tbe traced, " she said to herself. "Did the box have the name of thestore, or any name of a manufacturer or dealer upon it? Try andremember, " she said. "Really, I cannot say; I didn't notice, except that the clerk wrapped itin plain white paper, " he replied. "Were you in Providence on this trip, or have you been there recently?"she continued. "Not in four years, " he answered and she gave an involuntary sigh ofrelief. "Have you expressed any annoyance to your medical friends over thedevelopment of tuberculosis in the knee of little Alice Bell, or haveyou stated that the case baffled you?" she asked with considerableconcern. "Yes, I have said to at least two surgeons that I was annoyed at what Ibelieve to be the recurrence of an old condition, but never that I wasbaffled. It is perfectly simple. " "How I wish I could find that letter, " she said, more to herself than tohim. "The post-office department has ransacked the country for it, but itseems to have disappeared as completely as did your package on the boat. I do wish I could clear up two or three things to my own satisfaction, but you can't help me, and there is no need of annoying you with them. "She looked about the small room set aside for the consultation ofprisoners with their counsel, but gained no inspiration from the barewalls, and rose to go, extending her hand as she did so. "You do believe in my innocence?" he asked. She gave no direct answer in words, but as her eyes met his he knew thathe was no longer alone in his struggles, and whatever her belief in themerits of his case, her faith in him was supreme. "It is not a question of what I believe, " she said at last, "but of whatthe State can prove on the one hand, and what we shall be able to showon the other. " "You are worried, " he said quickly. "Yes, " she said, "I am; your life may be at stake, and if I fail toclear you every one in the country will say that I should never havetaken this case, and they will be right. Even now, Dr. Earl, are youcertain it would not be better to employ counsel eminent in this branchof the profession? I shall be very glad to serve in second place. " "This is no time for flattery or false sentiment, and I shall attemptneither, " he said, "as you know, I prefer thorough methods in allprofessions, and those methods require rather more of the psychologicalthan the usual practitioner employs. I think we are quite agreed inthat. For that and other ample reasons I prefer to leave my case justwhere it is. " The look that the blue eyes flashed up to the brown ones was pleased andproud, and something that she saw there sent a quick flush to her cheek, and though her heart was heavy her step was light as she left the gloomybuilding. Her car was waiting at the door, and calmly seated therein was CarrollRenner. Silvia greeted her eagerly. "Of all persons on earth you are theone I was most wishing to see, " she said. "How did you happen to comehere?" "I got your telepathy, Silvia, dear, " she answered, with a squeeze ofthe hand, "when on mischief bent about three blocks from here, anddecided to come by this cheerful edifice on the chance that you might behere. I saw the car, introduced myself to your chauffeur and climbed in. I must say, " she added, "that you were an unconscionable time. Now, whatcan I do for you?" "Let's go and have luncheon somewhere, " answered Silvia, "and I'll tellyou all about it. " "No, " said the newspaper woman, "I have to interview a Mrs. Somebody orother who has just come to town to teach us how to connect our trolleyswith psychic wires, or our subliminal minds with ethereal vibrations. She's stopping at the Buckingham, and if you want to take me out thereI'll be glad of the lift, for I'm short on time, and we can talk on theway. " "Surely, I'll take you gladly, " Silvia answered, giving the directionsto the chauffeur, "and since I've wasted so much of your afternoon, I'llsend back for you, and have you taken to the office if you're goingthere, or to your own hotel, unless you'll come and dine with me; I'malone to-night. " "Thank you, " Miss Renner answered; "I would be glad to get back home, for I've a wretched headache; not that I'm particularly comfortablethere, for it's been abominably warm the last few days. " Silvia gave a sigh of relief. "Has it? Well, that makes it easier for meto ask a favor of you. But first tell me, Carroll, are youtimid--nervous?" "Do you mean am I given to 'seein' things at night'?" Carroll asked. "Idon't know how it will be after I have my seance with Mrs. Whoever-it-isI'm going to see, but when I'm reasonably abstemious I'm not given toingrowing nerves. What do you want me to do?" "I want you to go and live in what was Mrs. Bell's home. I had paid therent for her up to the end of October, and after her death I took chargeof the place. Of course, I couldn't send Alice back there, but I wentand got her clothes and toys and I've been there a number of times. Ihad a new lock put on, and have taken a maid there and kept it in order, so all you'll have to do will be to send up your trunk. " "Certainly I'll go, " Carroll answered soberly, "but what do you expectto gain by it? Of course you have a motive. " "Yes, " answered the other woman, "I have, but it isn't the sort of thingone can speak of, except in the closest confidence. I haven't mentionedit even to Frank Earl, whose interest in this case is at least as greatas mine, and you mustn't. I haven't been practicing law so very long, but I've heard that all lawyers, who are really worth while, aresuperstitious about talking over a case before it goes to trial. Theydon't tell their clients more than a bare outline, and I believe it istrue, for surely I've found myself more fanciful than I ever was before. The day before Mrs. Bell was found dead in her room she wrote to Alice;it was a very short letter, and she excused herself by saying that shewas very tired, having written me a long letter. Naturally, Alice showedme the letter, and I remarked at the time that it was strange minehadn't come by the same mail. Then after the tragedy it slipped my mindfor a day or so, and when I made inquiries it had not been received, orif it had, the servants said it was forwarded to me here. I made moreinquiries, but nothing could be found in my office, though there was abunch of mail from Nutwood. The longer I thought of it the more anxiousI became to find that letter, and when I was employed in this case itseemed to me absolutely imperative that I should do so. I have seen allthe postal authorities here who could have any knowledge of the letter, or its possible disposition, and have written to Washington, but all invain. I am sure it would clear up several matters that are troubling megreatly. " "Couldn't the letter have been returned to Mrs. Bell's apartment, through some error in the address? She would not have mailed animportant letter without the return address, " said Carroll practically. "That was my idea exactly, so when it didn't come I looked for it there;several letters addressed to her had been delivered, but there was nosign of this one. Now, I can't tell why, but I feel as if I wantsomebody in that house. Was there ever anything more utterlyunreasonable than that? I wouldn't dare tell any one but you; I can'texplain it, but neither can I rid myself of the feeling, and I was goingto seek you, to ask if you will undertake this for me. All I want isthat you shall put in whatever time you spend in your own apartmentthere. Nothing may come of it, but you have no idea what a relief itwill be to me if you will not be too much inconvenienced, and you haveno dread of the rather morbid associations. " "I'll do it, " Carroll answered. "There are too many other people in thebuilding for me to be afraid of anything alive, and as for thedead--well, I shouldn't be afraid of her either. I can't tell you why, but I believe this is a good move. " She gave a little shiver. "I hopethe new lock is a strong one, Silvia; I should hate to have the murderercome back to the scene of his crime. " CHAPTER XVIII DR. EARL IS INDICTED FOR MURDER The grand jury returned an indictment against Dr. John Earl for themurder of Mrs. Emma Bell. There could be but one grade of homicide inthis kind of a case, and he was accordingly charged with murder in thefirst degree and his trial was set for Tuesday of the following week. Frank came to see him early Saturday morning. "The neighbors of Mrs. Bell will be at the trial in full force to tell of your daily visitsthere at all sorts of ungodly hours. Their gossip indicates that theybelieve you had a very serious affair on with her, and this, togetherwith the claim of the surgeons that you botched the operation on thechild's leg, furnishes a fairly powerful motive for the crime, at leastin the public mind. Jack, " he asked, with a mixture of doubt andanxiety, "did you really have an affair with her?" "Nonsense, Frank, nonsense, " answered his brother. "It is true that Iwent there at rather unusual hours; I was pretty busy, and when I foundshe was in the habit of sitting up until after midnight I used to dropin there when I was through for the day. I don't think I ever went therelater than nine-thirty or ten, and I seldom stayed more than fifteen ortwenty minutes. Later on I was, and I still am, greatly worried aboutthe child. Of course my operation didn't produce tuberculosis; that issilly, but it serves the purposes of jealous rivals. When I found thistubercular condition developing I asked her mother a great manyquestions; it seemed to me so improbable that it should have occurredwhen the child was really having better care than usual, judging fromtheir surroundings, that I sought to learn whether it was not arecurrence of some trouble she had apparently outgrown, and from hermother's answers I think there is absolutely no doubt that this is true. You will readily see, under the circumstances, that I did not time myvisits watch in hand, but the charge of a _liaison_ there would beridiculous were it not so vulgar and malicious. There was some sort ofa tragedy in the woman's life, but I have no idea whatever as to itsnature. " "With your handwriting on both the outside and inside of the package, your intimate relations with the family, the complications of thissurgical case, the fact that you were practically in Boston at the timethe package was mailed, and the total lack of suspicion of any oneelse, " said Frank, checking the indictments off on his fingers, "theyhave a fairly convincing case against you, old man, and if you knowanything that can break these theories down now is the time to divulgeit. " "Naturally, if there were anything of the kind you imply, it would beeasier for me to discuss it with you than with my leading counsel, " hisbrother replied, "but equally, of course, in such a case, I should nothave employed a woman to defend me; certainly not such a rabid feministas Miss Holland. I have told her all I know, all I can conjecture, butcandidly, Frank, I fear she is greatly worried over the outcome. I knowthe difficulty in overcoming gossip and prejudice and jealousy, and ifthat cannot be done I fear I must pay the penalty of being the target oftheir shafts. Crushing as that is, there is one haunting thought thatis even more intolerable, " he concluded. "And that is?" "That the last thought of that unhappy woman was that I sent the candiedfruit. She may have realized in that brief second of time that it causedher death. I hope to prove my innocence to the world, but she has passedbeyond the reach of proof. " "She has also passed beyond the need of it, " answered his brotherquickly. "Why don't you comfort yourself with the thought that, nomatter who else may be deceived, wherever she is, she knows the truth?" There had been something akin to despair in his voice, and Frank noticedhow trouble had deepened the lines in his face. "Brace up, old fellow, "he said huskily. "We'll get a line on something before we go to trial. " Dr. Earl did not see Leonora or hear from her directly again after theirinterview, but the Sunday following the announcement that Miss Hollandhad been employed to defend him, an item appeared in the society columnsof the New York papers stating that their engagement had beenterminated. He sighed when he read it, whether from sorrow or relief hecould scarcely have told himself. But he fully realized at this timethat the vital heart-beats of genuine love are not always inspired byplighted troth, neither is the latter always a product of the former, and he marveled at his own lack of understanding in so readily acceptinga superficial substitute for the real article. The Ramseys gave everyevidence of their devotion, seeing him daily, and there were not wantinga few staunch friends, and numerous former patients showed theirloyalty, but as the day of his trial approached he found himselfthinking more and more of the four devoted souls who had done and woulddo all for him that was humanly possible. CHAPTER XIX A GREAT MURDER TRIAL BEGINS Although the court officials had taken the precaution to admitspectators only by cards issued from the sheriff's office, the famousold room in the Criminal Courts Building was jammed to its very doors atthe opening of the trial of Dr. John Earl for the murder of Mrs. EmmaBell, for it must be remembered sheriffs are elected by popular vote andhave friends in all walks of life. So there were business men and streeturchins, ladies of fashion and washerwomen, members of the learnedprofessions and hoboes, scholars and draymen, students of psychology andthe merely curious, advocates in frock-coats and counsellors in jackets, attracted by the ever-living fascination of seeing a human beingfighting for his life, with the added interest in this case of thenovelty of seeing that fight made by a woman attorney. Many tragic memories cling to this old room. Here other doctors hadbeen convicted and sentenced to the electric chair for sending poisonthrough the mails. Here more ordinary individuals had been acquitted bydisplaying more skill in the transaction than had been shown by thedoctors. Here had been tried all sorts of murder cases, with all sortsof defenses, from self-preservation with an ax to the irresponsibilityof a brain-storm. From that old-fashioned witness chair, on its highplatform, enough tales of tragedy had been told, if bound in books, tofill a good-sized library; enough tears had been shed to atone for athousand crimes; enough pathos shown to have broken a million hearts;enough perjury committed to substantiate David's somewhat sweepingassertion. From that high perch against the wall had emanated the technicalrulings, or the broad principles of justice that had made societytremble for its safety, or caused it to repose in security. From that old counsel's table some of the greatest lawyers of the worldhad measured steel in weird combats over sending human souls into themysterious Beyond. On this day, the district attorney sat at one side of the table, withhis assistants, grave, severe, determined-looking officers of the law. On the other side sat a beautiful young woman, with luminous eyes, aspirituelle countenance, but a firm and earnest manner and perfectpoise. Behind her sat the younger brother of the prisoner. At her sidewas the prisoner himself, grave in mien, courageous in bearing, collected in deportment. Back of them were Mr. And Mrs. Ramsey. Amongthe witnesses for the defense was Dr. Morris, saturnine, mocking, indifferent. Thus organized society arrayed itself against a portion of its ownelements. Thus organized society spoke through the cold impassiveness ofits own laws, while its elements spoke through personal emotions andhuman passions. Thus organized society appealed to itself to protectitself, while its elements appealed for human kindness and universalcharity. Such is the situation in every criminal trial. It took three days to obtain a jury of proper qualification andsufficient disinterestedness to satisfy both sides. All the otherlawyers watched with interest the methods employed by the "woman lawyer"in asking her _voir dire_ questions and in exercising her right tochallenge, and most of them agreed that she asked no useless questionsand showed rare judgment in her peremptory challenges. The next day on the convening of court the district attorney outlinedhis case with circumstantial detail. He related in spectacular fashionthe first meeting of Dr. Earl and the Bells at the suffrage ball, anddwelt insinuatingly upon the interest manifested by Dr. Earl in thechild at the time of the accident. Either inadvertently, or by design, he referred in slighting tones to the part played at this meeting by the"volunteer nurse, " but his sentence was never completed, for Silviaaddressed the Court. "May it please the Court, " she said--and her manner was unmistakable--"Ihave no right, and neither do I intend, to complain of any respectfulreference made to me during the course of this trial, either as anindividual, or as an attorney for this defendant, but I shall insist nowand hereafter that I must be referred to with the respect andconsideration due my, as yet, unsullied membership in the legalprofession and my reputation as a private citizen. " There was no opportunity for a ruling by the Court, for the districtattorney promptly disclaimed any intention of disrespect, and beggedher pardon for any words susceptible of such construction. It wasevident that her interruption produced a most favorable impression uponCourt, jury and spectators, and if any came to scoff at the weakness ofthe "woman attorney" they remained to admire the strength of the femaleadvocate. The district attorney continued, warmed into greaterdetermination to make a lasting impression upon the jury as to the guiltof the defendant. He followed Dr. Earl on his numerous visits to the Bell home; dwelt uponthe unusual hour of many of them; agreed to prove more than ordinaryintimacy between Mrs. Bell and the defendant; showed the defects in hissurgery and the terrible results, which promised permanently to cripplethe child; exhibited the handwriting upon the box and placed beside itthe handwriting of Dr. Earl to undisputed legal documents; stated thatthe defense would scarcely claim that the handwriting was not his;asserted that they had positive proof that Dr. Earl had purchased a boxof candied fruit of the exact size and character of this box just priorto the time it was mailed, and that Dr. Earl was in Boston at the timeof the mailing of the package. From his recital it was clear that much thorough detective work had beendone in the case for the State. "Now, gentlemen of the jury, as to the motive, " he went on. "A powerfulincentive existed for the commission of this crime. Dr. Earl had beenengaged for some time to marry into one of the most prominent andwealthy families in this city and the wedding was to have taken placethis month. The advertisement that followed his spectacular professionalperformance at the suffrage ball brought him an enormous practice. Tohave the public learn that this piece of surgery upon which hisreputation was based was in reality a case of malpractice meant ruin. Tohave his married life disturbed by the appearance of a wronged womanmeant destruction to his domestic happiness, so he planned that thepoison should be sent to wipe out this family on the eve of his weddingand before any damage had been done him in either of these directions. You must confess it was a skillful job. Only one piece of poisoned fruitin the box, and that so arranged as not to disturb its contents. Whethermother or daughter got this piece of candied fruit first, the other wasdoomed, for a kiss from those dying lips would have conveyed a likefate, so powerful was this solution. The only thing that thwarted hisnefarious purpose to kill them both was the absence of the child, whowas in the country, a fact entirely unknown to Dr. Earl. " This and much more of like import furnished the closing portion of hisstatement to the jury, and when he finished it was apparent that hisrecital had made a deep impression upon every person in the courtroom. The atmosphere was charged with serious import to Dr. Earl. His sister had moved closer to him and was holding his hand. Her husbandcame nearer, and Frank turned and gave him a reassuring glance. Hisexpressive face showed deep concern rather than worry. As soon as the district attorney resumed his seat Silvia arose anddeathlike stillness fell upon the courtroom. "With your permission, yourhonor, I will reserve my statement of defense until the State has closedits case. " "Certainly, that is your privilege, " replied the Judge. Then there was a buzz of excited whispering. "What does it mean?" "Isshe afraid to state her defense after that terrific arraignment of thedefendant?" "Oh, there comes in the timidity of woman!" said an old andskilled criminal lawyer. "Does she not realize that it is a fatalevidence of weakness not to state a defense at the opening of thetrial?" But the district attorney had called his first witness and the bailiffrapped loudly for order. For three days the State put witness afterwitness on the stand and by expert medical testimony, by toxicologists, by direct and inferential testimony, the district attorney more thanproved the case which he had outlined to the jury. That the child was probably permanently crippled from tuberculosis ofthe knee and that the tuberculosis resulted from faulty surgery was theopinion of the three surgical experts called upon that point, but uponcross-examination Silvia forced each of them to admit that it waspossible that a former tubercular condition had recurred. She alsoforced the unwilling admission that so far as the fracture of the legwas concerned the bones had knit perfectly. The most damaging testimonywas that of a neighbor woman, who had overheard Mrs. Bell exclaim toherself on the very day of the poisoning, "I will force him to marry meor I will kill him!" Pressed on cross-examination as to what she saw as well as heard, sherelated how she had passed Mrs. Bell's door, which was open, and hadseen Mrs. Bell with a document of some kind in one hand and a pen in theother, and had heard her utter this exclamation. When asked why sheassumed that the statement must refer to Dr. Earl, she replied with somefeeling that no other man had been seen around the apartment since Mrs. Bell moved in, the first of April. A young woman, a clerk in Thompson's candy store in Boston, identifiedDr. Earl as the purchaser of a box of candied fruit a few days beforethe poisoning. On cross-examination she said it was a box of identicalproportions with the one marked "Exhibit A. " Silvia asked her if theboxes from their store did not always bear the firm name on the lid andshe admitted that they did, and swore that the one purchased by Dr. Earlhad the firm name on the outside of the lid in gilt letters. Then Silviashowed her the box which had contained the poisoned fruit and asked herto state on oath whether or not that was the box in which she had soldDr. Earl the fruit and she declared that it was not. Then she asked herif Dr. Earl had purchased any loose pieces of fruit, and she testifiedthat he had not. Silvia produced a box and asked the witness if it were not from theThompson store. She answered that it was. "Did not Dr. Earl also purchase a box of pecans at the time that hebought the fruit and is not this the box in which the pecans werepacked?" Silvia continued. The girl seemed to study for a few moments. "Yes, I do remember, " shesaid, "he did buy a box of pecans the same day he bought the candiedfruit and this box may have contained them, for it is from our store. Iwant to add, though, that I had forgotten about the nuts when thedistrict attorney asked his questions here and when I was examined inBoston. " "How did you happen to forget about the nuts and remember about thecandied fruit?" asked Silvia. "There was nothing to recall the pecans to my mind until you mentionedthem just now, but I remember that Dr. Earl bought them first andreturned afterward and bought the fruit. " On redirect examination the district attorney got an admission from theclerk that at several places in Boston, which she mentioned, boxes couldbe obtained without any name on the lid, but that the Thompson storenever carried them. The testimony of this clerk that the box presented by the districtattorney had not come from their store, was the only rift in theotherwise dense cloud of incriminating evidence for the State, and theprosecution closed its case with perceptible gloom hanging over everyperson connected with the defense, and the jury was grave of face, asmen well may be who have the life of a fellow being in their hands. The prosecution closed at four-thirty and Silvia asked for anadjournment until morning to open her case. The request was granted, andNew York spent the night wondering what the "woman lawyer" would do thenext day. In the cafés, clubs, hotels, between acts in the theatres, little else was discussed, and the consensus of opinion was that she wasdoomed to defeat in this her first big trial. Progressive women grieved over the outlook, for it spelled much ofdisaster to the woman movement if she should be humiliatinglyvanquished. Her friends championed her cause as best they could, vigorously, but not with the genuine enthusiasm they would like to havefelt. New York had never before been so interested in a criminal trial. CHAPTER XX A WOMAN AND SPOOKS FIND A LETTER The trial had been in progress some six days when the State rested itscase. None of the family or friends of the defendant underestimated theimpression created by the array of facts marshalled by the districtattorney. The evidence, though wholly circumstantial, was neverthelesssinister and deadly. Hilda Ramsey, white and worn, kissed her brother with quivering lips andwent out of the court leaning on her husband's arm, and making nopretense of concealing her suffering. Neither her belief in herbrother's innocence, nor her confidence in Silvia's ability to prove it, could counteract the pain and humiliation of the past weeks. Ramseywrung his brother-in-law's hand, and gave him a look more eloquent thanwords, and Frank bade him brace up. "'Thrice is he armed that hath hisquarrel just, ' you know, old fellow, " he said, with a slap on theshoulder. There was a grayish pallor on Silvia's face as she gave her client herhand, but he was as composed and almost as cheerful as if he were but "alooker-on in Vienna" as he once more assured her and Frank of his entireconfidence in a verdict of acquittal. "If you will pardon me, " he said, looking at Silvia kindly, "I willchange places with you and be the counsellor for a moment, and adviseyou to eat a good dinner of very simple things, then disconnect yourtelephone and go to bed and read Omar till you fall asleep; there aretimes when it is an immense comfort to remember that-- "'He that tossed you down into the Field, _He_ knows about it all--He knows! He knows!'" His quiet voice acted like a tonic, and her face was full of gratitudeas she bade him goodnight, and turned to confer with Frank. Carrollstood by the reporters' tables, irresolutely, until presently Silviabeckoned her. The two women exchanged looks which were enigmatical toFrank, but evidently perfectly intelligible to them, for Carroll turnedaway with a sound like a strangled sob, and the pall of weariness anddepression which had lifted for a moment again settled over Silvia, nowthat there were no longer any prying or unfriendly eyes upon them. Without another word she turned and went down to her car. Frank waiteduntil Carroll gathered up her "copy, " and then they went out into thestreet together. "Why didn't you go home with Miss Holland?" he asked. "She looked as ifshe wanted you; I supposed she was going to ask you when she called youover. " "Not she, " answered the girl. "She knows better than to prepare for thegreat day of her life by gabbling half the night. Besides, I'm too blueto be of any use to her. " "Anything happened?" he asked, too absorbed in his own affairs to giveother matters more than perfunctory attention. "Yes, " she said, vexation in her voice. "I've fallen down on anassignment, the biggest I've had since I came to New York, and I'm allbroken up over it. " He turned and looked at her, conscious of a sense of disappointment allout of proportion to the occasion. It was the first time he had everknown her to fail in comprehension or sympathy; that she could evenremember, let alone obtrude, a small personal grievance of her own inthe face of the tragedy that surrounded them, was so utterly out ofkeeping with her character that he looked at her in amazement, and ittook him several minutes to control his voice so as to make the properpolitely concerned query as to the demands of the city editor which hadproved too much for her well-known ability. "It wasn't the city editor, " she said, too unhappy to notice the icytimbre of his voice. "It's a good thing to disappoint them once in awhile; keeps 'em from expecting you to outdo the labors of Hercules intime to beat the morning papers. No, it was something I was to do forSilvia, and I can't make good; at least I haven't, and I'm at the end ofmy resources. " In spite of the fact that it was still broad daylight, and a crowdedthoroughfare, Frank Earl stopped and gave her hand a cordial grip thatmade her wince. "You're all right, " he said. "You're all right. Nowlet's go and have dinner. " "Are you not going to the Ramseys'?" she asked, evidently taking it forgranted that the family would wish to be together at such a time. "Oh, no, " he answered. "Hilda will go straight to bed, poor girl; andRamsey will sit beside her and dab cologne on her forehead, and after awhile he'll coax her to eat a cracker and drink some tea, and he'll havehis dinner right there beside her. You don't know the turtle-doves. Idon't hanker for my own society to-night, but I shall have to put upwith it unless you take pity on me. " "I can't, Frank, " she answered. "I simply can't eat when my mind is soupset; I'm going straight home. " "And make _your_ supper on crackers and tea, I suppose, " he saiddisgustedly. "Well, in that case, I'll go for a tramp and try to get ridof the cobwebs in my brain, and the stuffy air of that courtroom. Ialways feel as if twenty centuries of alleged justice, injustice andmalpractice looked down upon me when I get into court; that's one reasonwhy I'm no good as a trial lawyer. Here, isn't this your street?" "Yes, no--I don't live where I did any more just now, " she answeredlucidly. He stopped and looked at her and smiled in spite of everyeverything. "I've sent in my copy, and you can walk up with me, if youwant to. " They walked on in silence; Frank was evidently thinking deeply, andCarroll was following some weary round of conjecture for the thousandthtime when she stopped at her number. Frank looked at it and then at her, startled out of his usual debonair manner for once. "Why--it is----" "Yes, " she answered. "I've been living here for some time, but thatwasn't for publication, so I kept my other room, and had my mail gothere as usual. Silvia desired it. " "She hasn't left any stone unturned, " he said musingly. "I wonder whatwas in that letter!" "Oh, she has told you, then?" Carroll asked. "About Mrs. Bell's letter to her? Oh, yes, she told me to-night, justbefore you joined us; I thought you knew about it. Anyhow, it seems tobe gone beyond recall. Don't you intend to invite me in? Well, of allthe inhospitable persons! I'll see you in the morning, " and lifting hishat he went on up the Avenue. Carroll climbed the two flights slowly and unlocked her door. The suiteacross the hall had been vacated by a superstitious tenant the weekafter the murder, and the family immediately below had moved away thatmorning. As Carroll closed the door behind her she was conscious of asense of oppression. It was not fear, which is a simple, concreteemotion, easily understood; it was not even so subtle as dread of anyabstract thing, ghost or goblin damned. She gave her shoulders a littleshake, as if the sensation were some tangible thing to be thrown off, and laying aside her hat and gloves she went through to the buffetkitchen and put the kettle on. She returned to the sitting-room andlooked about her uneasily, and then put on a house gown and slippers, and arranged her tea-tray. There were but four rooms in the apartment, in addition to the kitchenette, and but one of them offered much in theway of light or ventilation, so Carroll lived in the front room, as EmmaBell had lived there; she worked there, as Emma Bell had worked; shelooked upon the same nondescript blue wall paper, and the few picturesthat relieved its monotony. With some misty idea, similar to that of theFrench "_confrontation_, " she had brought none of her own books orbelongings to disturb the suggestion of the room as it had been. Therewere three large windows, through which the city lights were beginningto shine; under one of these and across that end of the room was adivan, covered with a bright rug; opposite and against the other wallwas a desk, with a chair before it, and bookshelves, and a cornercupboard which held a plentiful supply of tea-things. Between the twowindows nearest it was a tea-table, which evidently served a doublepurpose, for underneath was a basketful of neatly folded sewing. By thetable was the high-armed mission rocking-chair in which the dead womanhad been found. Opposite was the little sewing-chair, usually occupiedby Alice when she and her mother had supper together at the table, whichhad been a gift of Silvia's. Evidently it had been a fancy of Mrs. Bell's to set the chair for the child before she opened the fatal box, and Carroll had kept both chairs in their relative positions. Thedoorway into the alcove bedroom was concealed by a portière. There was nothing in the desk now but some of Carroll's writingmaterials; everything in the room had been ransacked at the time of itsmistress' death, and Silvia had herself searched carefully for anythingthat might afford a possible clue. Sometimes she even thought that someone, possessing a key, had entered the place and removed all evidencewhile that ghastly witness still sat in the chair, for there were noletters, no papers, nothing. Immediately after going there to stay, Carroll had gone over the tiny place with systematic care. There was noupholstered furniture in which anything could have been concealed; eventhe divan was a rattan affair; there were only rugs upon the floors. Themattress revealed nothing, and though she laboriously examined everypicture, there was nothing concealed back of them or within the frames. "Don't you think the letter was mailed?" Silvia asked her, and she hadreplied that while it probably had been, the chances were that a roughdraft of it had been written, and preserved somewhere, and it was forthis that she searched until it became evident that the slight resourcesof the flat were exhausted. It was rather a poor little place, woefully lacking in the closets andcubby-holes so dear to women, and yet, as Carroll sat there in thechild's place, with her second cup of strong tea getting cold besideher, she found herself looking at the other chair expectantly, and theempty desk seemed watching her; she was resentfully conscious thateverything in that room knew the truth, everything save its humanoccupant with her keen mind, her active brain. The hours passed andstill she sat there, waiting, waiting. There were the usual noises, commonplace and mysterious, to be found in vacant houses, but about nineo'clock she became conscious that there were sounds in the recentlyvacated flat below. Evidently the family had come back for some lastarticles which they had left behind. They were a quiet old couple withwhom Carroll had exchanged greetings now and then on the stairs; the oldlady had told her they were going to live with their daughter. Carrollroused herself and lit the gas, and a little while later there came atap at the door. She was frightened for a second, the sound was sounexpected, and then with a laugh at her foolishness she went to thedoor and opened it, revealing an old man, her neighbor from the floorbelow. He held a rather heavy package in his arms, and explained, rathershamefacedly, that they had no high-chair, and when their littlegrandchild was brought to visit them Mrs. Bell had been accustomed tolend them her big dictionary. "Not bein' literary she didn't need it, and the very afternoon of the day she died I came up to borrow it, sameas usual; she had stepped out, but the door was ajar, and thedictionary lying right on the end of the divan, so I took it, and when Ibrought it back after supper I couldn't get in, and after the trouble mywife wrapped it up and put it away for safe-keeping, Miss, and forgot ittill we come to move, " he finished breathlessly. He put the package on the divan, and Carroll talked with him a fewmoments longer, and then locked the door upon his retreating form andwent to the window, and stood there, looking out, yet seeing nothing. Itwas beginning to rain, and the cool, damp air was pleasant, but sheshivered and turned back to the room that still kept its silentmistress' secret, as she had kept it, even in death. The little clock onthe mantel struck ten, and there was a quick, light step on the stair, and a brisk knock at her door. As she opened it, Frank stood there, shaking the drops of water from his hat. "I've had my walk, " he said, "I've got over my gloom; I've lost mygrouch, but I still have my appetite with me. Now come on, like a goodfellow, and let's have supper. " "Oh, go away, Frank, " she said, almost crying with vexation. "I wasalmost on the verge of something when you came. " "That's what I thought, " he said cheerfully. "I said, 'She'll drink apint of strong tea and sit there in the dark until the rugs begin towiggle and the wall paper glowers at her. ' You're on the verge ofnervous prostration; that's what you're on the verge of, and nothingelse. Now come along, or have I got to come over there and make you?" Henoticed her negligee. "Put on your frock, and I'll wait, but hurry. " "It's raining, " she demurred, "and I haven't my raincoat here. " "I brushed by one in the hall, " he said, and stepping back he lifteddown a somewhat shabby gray raincoat and flung it toward her. She pickedit up, and slipped it on. It was large, but still she could wear it, andwhile she stood in the middle of the room hesitating, she slipped herhands into the capacious pockets. "Well?" demanded Frank impatiently. The girl did not answer, but stood staring ahead of her. Slowly sheraised her left hand, pressing the thumb between her eyebrows, andtaking the right hand from the raincoat pocket, she stretched it out, the fingers groping uncertainly. She turned so white that the young manin the doorway stared, frightened, yet under a spell that forbade hismoving. Suddenly the trembling, questioning hand grew rigid, andwithout an instant's hesitation she turned and walked to the divan, andlaid her hand upon the bundle. "It is here, Frank, " she said quietly. "Turn up the light, and cut thiscord. " He did so, and as the paper fell away from the dictionary, she openedthe heavy volume and their eyes fell upon a large manila envelopeplainly addressed to "Miss Silvia Holland, City Investment Building, NewYork. " The girl laid her hand upon it. "Wait a minute; let me tell you what happened, " she said. "When thepostman came she gave him the letter for Alice, and he gave her the box. She didn't give him this letter because she hadn't stamps enough--see, it has but one--or perhaps she meant to use it as a threat; there wassomebody who had a motive for killing her. The woman across the hallcalled her and she slipped this envelope into the dictionary and wentout, leaving her door open; old Mr. Dillon came up and got the book;he's just been telling me about it. They never opened it, and after herbody was found--Mrs. Bell's, I mean--his wife was so upset that she wentto her daughter, and they forgot it entirely until to-night. When Mrs. Bell came back, she opened the package the postman had given her, andshe never had a chance to miss anything after that. " She lifted her hand, and Frank picked up the envelope and looked at itand then at her. "I believe you have solved the mystery, " he said, "and that all you havenot learned will be revealed when Silvia opens this envelope. Oh, thisis wonderful, Carroll! I'll get a taxi, and we'll go to her at once. " "I wouldn't, " said the girl. "It'll be nearly midnight by the time wecan get there, and if it is bad news--which it isn't--there's nothingshe can do to-night, and if it is good--and I am sure it is, for us atleast--it can wait until morning. Whichever it is, she needs a night'ssleep before she faces any new complication. " She took the envelope and looked at it again, and then at Frank Earl. With a little laugh she clutched it to her bosom, and holding out theother hand to him, she said, "Now, I'm ready to go to the kitchen andcook anything there is to be found in this section of New York!" "Carroll, " he said, humbly, "would you mind if I proposed to you oncemore? We seem to need you in our family. " CHAPTER XXI SILVIA HOLLAND'S GREAT PLEA TO THE JURY Hours before court time the next morning an immense crowd packed thestreets around the building, and when the doors were opened it wasuseless to attempt the enforcement of the ticket rule. When the courtconvened the space outside the rail was jammed with a crowd thatthreatened to overflow the space inside which was reserved for membersof the legal profession, witnesses, and the family of the defendant. Itwas an orderly crowd, however, and the tension of silence was socomplete that it held them in a kind of paralysis of attention when thegavel fell and the stentorian voice of the bailiff called his "Hear ye. "As soon as he sat down the Court recognized Silvia. She took her placeat the end of the counsel table with a few papers within reach. Thedistrict attorney noticed with satisfaction that they were very few. Shewas gowned in pure white, and her hair rippled back from her broadforehead, and with head proudly erect and with easy, natural pose, shefaced the jury, which gave her instant and absorbed attention. She spokeslowly, deliberately, and her soft, musical voice was heard distinctlyin every corner of the courtroom. "Gentlemen of the Jury: Human life is the greatest mystery in a universeof mystery. It springs into existence with the knowledge of the agescoursing through its sensibilities and inherently possessing all of thepassion and prejudice of countless centuries. Where it started none ofus knows. Where the æons ahead of us destine it to end none of us cantell. Deliberately to blot from this earth and its service that whichcomes into the world so divinely equipped with knowledge and inspirationrequires both sublime courage and indescribable depravity; sublimecourage to invite the hostility of the vast, complicated, mysteriousforces that are embodied in a human life, however humble it may be;indescribable depravity to destroy the most useful and the mostbeautiful product of this earth. "Yet the statute in this and other American States for the punishment ofthose who take human life is made to apply but to a fraction of thoseguilty of such offense. The individual who shoots or otherwise takes thelife of another is always prosecuted and generally punished. Theassociation, whose culpable neglect of the ordinary dictates of humanityin making its employees safe, is not even prosecuted for factory girlsdestroyed in a fire, for miners entombed in the earth, for passengersand trainmen hurled to their death that dividends may be wrung from softroadbeds and rotten rails, for excursion boats so built as to preventthe saving of passengers in case of accident; and what must be said ofthose economic and social conditions that drive thousands toself-destruction every year and that destroy all Christian and politicalideals, the proper development of which would preclude the possibilityof crime! "You, gentlemen, represent the collected society of which I am a part, and the fact is worth your consideration at least, that under the systemof woman parasitism, dependence, and, in a way, slavery, the ruggedqualities of strength of purpose, of womanly self-reliance, ofconstantly expanding mental and moral natures that so distinguished ourforemothers, and which mean so much to the character of children, whichin turn mean so much to the character of the citizen and the nation, have largely disappeared. "In every consideration of crime, its cause should be of interest tothose who represent the State. I am not seeking to minimize or palliateor excuse whatever crime may have been committed in this case, but_that_ society which is seeking its own safety and perpetuity cannot toostrongly be urged to beware of the universal menace to its existence, aswell as to guard against those individuals that war only againstindividuals. So I appeal to you in this case, if crime there be, to dealwith the perpetrator of such crime with all due justice, but with thatmercy and consideration which these thoughts may suggest, and which weowe to the weaker members of society. "Whatever crime was committed in this case sprang from the old order ofour existence, which is rapidly passing away; it was nurtured in thatsoil which most of us cultivate too much, and which produces envy, malice, hatred, uncharitableness and other destructive and despoilinghuman traits. I have no quarrel with the character of the testimony withwhich it is sought to convict the defendant, for circumstantialevidence is the most reliable, the most convincing, the least subject toperjury of any evidence recognized by the law, and, as I shall undertaketo demonstrate to you, it is absolutely unassailable when each link ofthe chain fits perfectly in every other one. I am not unmindful of thevery strong case which the district attorney has made against thedefendant, and it may be that his contention is the correct one. That isa matter for you to determine. " There was a little stir in the courtroom at this extraordinarystatement, and Hilda looked at her husband and then at her brother andthe hot flush of resentment dyed her white face to the hair. "The motive of malpractice on the child, " Silvia went on evenly, "and atroublesome _liaison_ with the mother do, indeed, seem to be powerful, but what can be said for those motives when I prove to your entiresatisfaction that the setting of this fracture and the subsequenttreatment and final results are among some of the best ever attendingsuch cases in this large city; that the tuberculosis of the knee is therecurrence of a disease which had attacked the child five years beforein the glands of the neck and which broke forth afresh in the kneebecause of her low physical condition and the immediate injury to theknee; that what I shall present will so conclusively prove theimpossibility of a _liaison_ between Dr. Earl and Mrs. Bell that therecannot even remain the suspicion of such a thing? "The mystery of her support since last April I alone can clear up withchecks and other evidence so convincing in character as to leave nodoubt. It is embarrassing but necessary to bring myself as a witnessinto this trial. I found this poor woman with a great and secret sorrow, not knowing how to earn a living and by industrial independence developthe best qualities of her nature, and I undertook to teach herself-reliance and to lead her into the new life of social and economicfreedom. Had she been thus trained from girlhood this tragedy would havebeen impossible, and her life would have been full of beauty, for I havenever known a sweeter character. In the meantime I loaned--not gave, butloaned her the money to live upon. She would have resented a gift. Shewas making splendid progress with her fine sewing, and would soon havebeen independent of any financial aid. But the sorrow which hung overher, and which all this time was and still is a mystery to me, seemedto dominate her life, as I will presently show you. "It was the ghost of the old environment, of the old parasitical age, when women were so easily enslaved with the promise of idle luxury andtransient caresses, stalking into the midst of a nobler effort andbeckoning her backward while yet the understanding and courage were notsufficiently seasoned. Later I shall go into these things more fully. "I will prove to you by the proper Federal officials that, owing to achange of design by the government, the ten-cent stamps on this package, bearing this particular vignette, could only be purchased in three orfour post-offices in the United States for several months before and atthe time the package was mailed, and the only place east of thepost-office at St. Louis was in Providence, Rhode Island, and I shallalso prove that the defendant has not been in Providence in four years. You will notice that stamps to the value of sixty cents were placed onthe parcel, when half that amount would have been sufficient, showingthat whoever mailed it did not care to have it officially weighed. "Another circumstance worthy your attention is that poisoning byhydrocyanic acid is so easily recognized that it has seldom been usedfor purposes of murder, except in cases where the person committing thecrime felt safe as to his own identity, and desired to make it appearthat some one else had done the deed. " She paused in her recital and cast a glance at a large, muscular man, seated among a group of witnesses for the defense. He gave her an almostimperceptible nod in the affirmative, and she went on slowly andimpressively: "What is more, gentlemen of the jury, this candied fruit was notpurchased in Boston, but in Providence, and the person buying itinsisted on a perfectly plain box, without any name upon it; he alsobought several separate pieces of similar fruit. " There was a buzz of excitement in the human hive, which the bailiffsuppressed by a sharp rap of his gavel. Those who had caught the signalturned their eyes from Silvia to the large man, but there was nothing inhis impassive demeanor to attract attention. The defendant and his family were evidently as much at sea as were theothers in the courtroom as to the significance of these assertions, butthe look of worry had entirely disappeared from the face of Dr. Earl. "It is true, " she went on, "that I had taken the little girl to thecountry for a week when this awful crime was committed, but Dr. Earlknew nothing of this, and the evidence is already so clear as to need nofurther illumination that the person who sent the poisoned candy wasaware of the fact that the child was not at home, and would not be forseveral days at least. So clear is it that Dr. Earl did not know thechild was in the country that I will prove to you that he sent to hercity address a box of pecans which were forwarded by her mother to thecountry, and I will offer in evidence the box in which they were sent. The person who mailed this box had designs on one victim only, and hadthe child been at home she would undoubtedly have been the one killed, for she would have been certain to receive the first piece. With all duedeference to the learned district attorney, and while his theory ispossible that a kiss given and received might have caused the death ofthe other, the probability is so remote that a person skilled in theknowledge of poisons and their effects, as Dr. Earl is, would scarcelyhave undertaken to poison two people in this clumsy and uncertainfashion, when the placing of two pieces of candied fruit instead of oneon the top of the box was all that was necessary to insure the enddesired. " She paused again, and gave the large man another look, and thenexhibited a card to the jury, which she had been holding in her handfrom the beginning of her address. "No, gentlemen, the poison was intended for but one person, and thatperson partook of it, " she said sadly and earnestly. She held a picturepostal so the jury could see it. "This postcard, as you see, was sent toMrs. Bell from Magnolia a few days before the crime occurred. It isdated August 5th; her death took place August 9th. Look at the addresson this card, and at the message on the other side. Now let me show youa strange thing, which cannot be merely a coincidence. " She took the outer layer of thin white paper that had wrapped the box, on which were the stamps and the address, and laid it over the sameaddress on the card, and the length and formation of each letter wereidentical, the punctuation marks and the lines of shading were the same, on paper and card. "You see how this has been done, " she said. "The address on the paper iswritten with an indelible pencil. Ink would have spread and blotted. Weshall prove to you that the address on the box was copied by tracingfrom this identical card, as also were the closing words on the cardwith the initials which were traced on the paper that is pasted on thetop of the box--'With best wishes to you and Alice. J. E. '" The district attorney protested to the Court against so much detail andproof going into an opening statement, and the Judge looked inquiringlyat Silvia. "I know I am pursuing an unusual course, " she replied, "but I promiseyour honor, and also the honorable district attorney, that I will notabuse my privilege, and if you gentlemen will bear with me I am certainthat I shall be able to render a distinct service to the State. " The Judge had followed her carefully, and being one of those wearers ofthe ermine who believe that substantial justice rather than technicalresults should be the aim of courts in criminal trials, said to thedistrict attorney, "I am certain that Miss Holland fully understands therules of procedure in this court and will adhere to them as strictly asthe nature of her defense will permit. If I think she is oversteppingthem, I will stop her. " Silvia gave another glance at the large man. His eyes were on the littlegroup by his side at the time, but the silence caused him to turn to heragain, and after another affirmative nod she resumed. "It is difficult for me to cause pain to anything that lives. I feelthat the ant, with its wonderful little organism, is as much entitled tothe uses and joys of this dear old world as I am. When I enlisted inthis case it was to defend a man whom I felt certain was innocent, notto bring any other person to the bar of justice, and even now, if Icould clear the fair name of my client from the remotest suspicion ofever having thought of this crime, without injury to another, I shouldmuch prefer to do so. Not that I am unmindful of my duty as a citizen, but I am more conscious of the tenderer feelings that are of necessityappealed to in such a case. "When in the discharge of my duty I found suspicious footprints leadingelsewhere I spent hours determining what course I should pursue in thiscomplicated situation. The sequel will give all of you, in the jury boxand in this courtroom, an opportunity to decide whether my course hasbeen the right one. God knows I have prayed to be shown another way, butI could discover none. " She paused, and the tears were glistening in her eyes and her voicetrembled, but she regained her self-control at once. "Before I did aught else, I had two skilled detectives watch thesuspected person; their observations were all too convincing. It wasEugene Aram again telling his dream to the child, but this time theguilt was acted. "Then down I cast me on my face, And first began to weep, For I knew my secret then was one That earth refused to keep: Or land or sea, though he should be Ten thousand fathoms deep. "So wills the fierce, avenging sprite, Till blood for blood atones! Ay, though he's buried in a cave, And trodden down with stones, And years have rotted off his flesh-- The world shall see his bones!" Once more the tears shone in her eyes, tears that were the onlyconsolation one wretched soul in that courtroom was ever to know, butshe dashed them away impatiently. "To prevent injustice, and possible injury, the suspected man has beenkept under surveillance ever since. " Again there was a murmur of voices over the courtroom, and Frank, whohad entered hastily, just after she began her address, called herattention to a large envelope which he laid on the table before her. Shelooked at him, and then at the envelope, and gave an involuntary startof surprise and a hastily stifled exclamation. "The missing letter!" shesaid, under her breath, and hastily tore it open, and glanced at thefirst and last pages, while the bailiff restored order. "I must beg your honor's indulgence, " she said, "for a few moments. Thisletter contains information of vital importance, and as your honor sees, it has just come into my hands. " The Judge granted her request, and while she hastily read the document, the excited murmur swelled again in spite of the glaring bailiff. In afew minutes she turned to the Judge. "Your honor, " she said, "this is a letter to me written by Mrs. Bellonly a few hours before her death; I can easily prove her handwriting, and in any event, it is sworn to before a notary. The matter containedtherein will end this trial. That I can use it as part of the _resgesta_, I have no doubt. I will submit it to the district attorney andask him to examine it, and then give it to your honor. In the interestof justice and my client I would like to read it to the jury at thistime. " She handed the letter to the district attorney, and while he read it sheseated herself and conferred with Frank. "Where in the world did you getit?" she asked. "Carroll and spooks, " he began, and then went on more seriously, "butwhere on earth did you hide yourself? We have been madly tearing aroundNew York, and telephoning all over the adjacent territory in a wildendeavor to find you and get this into your hands. I'm not going to tellyou about the letter itself; that's Carroll's story. We've been to theStudios, and everywhere else we thought there was a possibility offinding you, and waited at your office until the last minute in the hopethat you'd come there. " "I spent the night at Nutwood, making a last search for the letter, " shesaid. "It was only a chance, but I felt that I couldn't give it up. This morning I motored down, and we had some delay, so that I had tocome directly here. But it's all right. " The Judge finished reading the letter, and called Silvia to the bench, where they held a whispered conversation with the district attorney, glancing once or twice toward the little group of witnesses where thelarge man sat. Then Silvia returned to her seat, and the districtattorney gave some hurried directions to a deputy, who immediately leftthe room, while the Judge gave whispered instructions to a bailiff, whostationed himself at the general entrance. "You may read the letter, Miss Holland, " said the Judge, and the tensionin the courtroom grew almost intolerable as she rose, holding the letterin shaking hands, and began reading: "'NEW YORK, August 9. "'MY DEAR MISS HOLLAND: "'The secret I have longed and yet hesitated to tell you must now bedisclosed. Of course my trouble has been caused by a man, a man whom Ihave known a long time and loved too well. He was here day beforeyesterday and we had a stormy interview--which he says shall be thelast. For a long time his manner has been changed toward me, and for thelast few months he has neglected me. He didn't seem to like it when Igot acquainted with you, or when you paid so much attention to Allie; hesaid he didn't see what you wanted of her, and asked me how you came totake her to the country and when she would be back, and wanted to knowif I had told you or Dr. Earl of my relations with him. I said certainlynot, and when I reproached him for not coming to see me he said hecouldn't come here. Since Allie was hurt, I have only met him a fewtimes. Sometimes I have been happy when I was with him, for I loved, andI love him, better than my life, but I have not wanted to deceive you, and every day the old life has grown harder to bear. I think I havealways believed that he would marry me, as he promised in the beginning, until this summer. Now I see that, more than he has deceived me, I havedeceived myself, as every woman deceives herself when she forgets thehonor of the present for promises that are to be redeemed in the future. "'I had made up my mind to break away from this life and try to beginover again; you had shown me the way, and I saw the means by which Icould support myself and Allie, and not be beholden to him. God knows Inever wanted to take his money, and when it was grudgingly given it wasworse than gall and wormwood to have to ask him for it. I did not meanto see him any more, for when I look into his face I forget everythingexcept the days when he did love me. I meant to tear him out of myheart, and devote my life to Allie. "'And then, Miss Holland, I made the discovery that has made medesperate, the one discovery that tells a woman she is helpless, andthat not only her whole future, but that of another, depend upon thewhim of a man. I demanded that he should keep his promise; I will notpermit a child of mine to go through the world bearing the brand ofillegitimacy, and I told him so plainly. Perhaps I was wrong to lose mytemper and threaten him, but I am half mad. I told him I might bear theblame, and the pain, but that if he allowed me to go through thisdreadful time alone that he should share the shame, if I dragged himthrough the courts to fasten it on him. "'I don't wonder much that he was infuriated with me, or that hethreatened to kill me if I didn't let him alone. He said he hadn't themoney to give me all I needed, but if I would be sensible and not make afuss and a scandal, when he married the rich woman he expected to winthat he would give me a fortune ample for myself and my children for thebalance of my life. I think it was the thought of his marrying anotherwoman when my child was coming into the world fatherless that made mebeside myself, but I could not bear it and I said some dreadful things. "'Now, I want to know what I can do, or if there is any law to defend awoman who makes a mistake; if there is, I know you will find it. I amgoing to swear to this, so you will know that I am in earnest, and willnot back out like so many women do. "'One other thing I think I ought to tell you. While we were talking hepicked up the postal Dr. Earl sent me, from Magnolia, and then he beganall over again and talked awfully about him. I don't know why, but hehates him and will injure him if he can. "'You will find this at your office when you get back from the country;even now I can't bear to tell the whole truth, and yet I suppose youmust know it if you are to help me. What fools women are, Miss Holland;I ought to hate him, and yet if it were to be the last word I shouldever write--now, as I always have, I love Orrin Morris. "'Your unhappy friend, 'EMMA BELL. '" Silvia had scarcely finished the letter, pausing instinctively beforeshe read the name of the guilty man, when the large man, who had beenfurtively keeping guard of the little group of witnesses where Dr. Morris was seated, sprang toward Morris in a vain attempt to knock fromhis hand a vial which he but that instant had touched to his lips. Atthe same moment a smaller man on the other side of the group made asimilar effort, but they were both too late. Almost instantly the doomedman became rigid, a slight froth appeared on his lips, the pupils of hiseyes dilated and the lids opened in a wide and horrible stare. There wasa general rush in his direction on the part of the medical men gatheredfor the trial, but the first of the physicians to gain his side saw thehopelessness of any effort to save him and waved the crowd back. In lessthan five minutes he was dead, and in the sudden appalled silence thebailiffs cleared a way and removed the body, a considerable portion ofthe curious crowd following. Every day during the trial Dr. Morris had occupied practically the sameseat in the courtroom. His naturally colorless face gave no indicationof the emotions within, and when Silvia's address told him all tooplainly that his deeds were to be publicly uncovered, he turned a triflemore livid, but otherwise gave no evidence of his feelings. He had knownfor several days that he was under surveillance and he understood, atlast, that the reason for his subpoena as an expert for the defense wasto keep him constantly in attendance on the court, but he faced hisordeal with resolute will, if not with supreme courage. As often beforeduring his career he had carefully scanned the path he was to tread andwas prepared for every emergency. When the fatal exposure came, which hehad hoped until the last might be withheld, he was determined that noneshould know aught from his lips concerning its truth or falsity. Theymight speculate as to the significance of his death by his own hand, but he would neither say nor do anything that would throw additionallight upon the subject. Poor Morris! Other learned professional men before him had sought tomystify the world as to their misdeeds by blotting out their own lives, not realizing that every accusing finger of the seen and the unseenworld would be instinctively and unerringly pointed toward their mortalremains with the final and irrevocable verdict--"Suicide is confession. " When quiet was restored the Court ordered the defendant to come forward, and Silvia, trembling with emotion, stepped to the front of the Judge'sbench with him. "It is quite evident, sir, " began the Judge, clearing his throat, "thata mistake has been made in your case. Not an intentional one, or onethat could have been avoided, apparently. The manner in which you havebeen defended leaves not a vestige of suspicion attaching to you eitherin connection with this matter, your professional qualifications or yourstanding as a citizen. Let me assure you that such a result, under thecircumstances, is most gratifying to all of the officers of the law, forour purpose is to guard society by punishing the guilty and protectingthe innocent. Sir, you are discharged as a defendant in this case. " Great applause greeted this speech from the Court, and the districtattorney added his own tribute, while Silvia was given an impromptureception by jurors, court officers and spectators. When this was over, and the throng that had surrounded her and her client went their way onthe quest of new sensations, she found herself standing alone with himbefore the bench, in almost the identical spot where he had entered hisplea of "Not guilty" a few weeks before. The Ramseys and Frank andCarroll were eagerly waiting their turn to shower congratulations uponthem, but as John Earl took both her hands in his, Silvia wasunconscious of all else. The eyes she lifted to his were swimming inhappy tears that could not drown the love they revealed. He dared nottrust his voice for more. Besides, what more was there to say? For allthe world lay in the single word--"Silvia!" * * * * * In a short time, Jack and Silvia were absorbed in their respectiveprofessions, but never failing in their duty to the great worldmovement that was making real the prophecy of England's poetic seer: "We two will serve them both in aiding her-- Will clear away the parasitic forms That seem to keep her up but drag her down-- Will leave her space to burgeon out of all Within her--let her make herself her own To give or keep, to live and learn and be All that not harms distinctive womanhood. " There was no "task" to their duties, for the all-powerful though subtleinspiration of genuine love made each day only a part of a splendiddream which they felt could never end. And the love that leads to high endeavor and unlocks the storehouses ofhuman progress crowned their efforts with success, and humanity wasbetter and nobler for their deeds and example. THE END.