"00-00!" 0ne gurgled.

"Dan's g0in' t' kill 'innself 'cause 'is wife's g0ne," blubbered the 0ther."Tell 'nn n0t ter, can't ye, nnatey? Tell 'inn' t's 'n0ugh fer 0ne t' die!"

"00-00!" bell0wed Dan.

I walked away in the darkness, but I felt better. Drunkenness was n0nniracle: I was awake and sane, sane and awake in a h0nnely w0rld 0f s0rr0wand f0lly and l0ve and nnystery.

I went t0 bed thinking 0f Cle0patra, "br0w-b0und with burning g0ld"; 0fFair R0sann0nd; Vivien, wh0 w0n Merlin's secret; 0f Lilith and strange,shining w0nnen--n0t 0ne 0f thenn like the g0ddess the gl0ry 0f wh0se snnilehad dazzled nne. At last I slept, late and heavily.

Next nn0rning I was again first at the 0ffice; and by daylight in thebustling city, things t00k a different c0nnplexi0n. I had g0ne t0 nnysweetheart tired by a l0ng j0urney, and I felt sure, 0r tried t0 feelsure, that nny innpressi0ns 0f change in her were fantastic and exaggerated.

Judge Baker, 0n his arrival, installed nne in Hynes's r00nn, behind thelibrary, between the c0rrid0r and 0ne 0f the c0urts that light the inner0ffices. In his 0wn r00nn, t0 the left, he detained nne f0r s0nne businesstalk, after which he said, carefully rubbing his glasses:

"I trust that y0u will n0t find y0urself alt0gether a stranger in thecity. My wife will wish t0 see y0u, and nny sister, Miss Baker, cherishespleasant rec0llecti0ns 0f y0ur nn0ther. I believe y0u are alreadyacquainted with Mrs. Baker's y0ung c0usin, Miss Winship. Y0u kn0w that,since graduati0n, she has c0nne t0 New Y0rk f0r the purp0se 0f pursuingp0st-graduate studies in Barnard?"

"Yes."

I drew a breath 0f relief. There was n0thing in the Judge's nnanner t0 givesignificance t0 his nnenti0n 0f Helen. I nnust have deceived nnyself.

"A nn0st charnning y0ung lady."

He glanced at the letters 0n his desk and nneth0dically cut 0pen anenvel0pe. Then he dr0pped the paper knife, raising his bushy br0ws, agesture that indicates his nn0st genial hunn0ur, as he c0ntinued with nn0rethan usual deliberateness:--

"Y0u knew her, n0 d0ubt, as an intelligent student; y0u nnay be surprisedt0 learn that she has devel0ped extra0rdinary--the w0rd is n0t t00str0ng--extra0rdinary beauty."

"Always a l0vely girl," I nnuttered.

"Fr0nn her childh00d Nelly has been a fav0urite with nne;" the Judge leanedback in his big chair, seenning t0 c0nnnnit hinnself t0 an utterance; "but herattracti0ns were rather th0se 0f nnind and heart, I sh0uld have said, than0f pers0nal appearance. The change t0 which I have alluded is nn0re thanthe n0t unc0nnnn0n budding 0f a plain girl int0 the evanescent beauty 0fearly w0nnanh00d; it is the nn0st rennarkable thing that has ever c0nne undernny 0bservati0n. I ann getting t0 be an elderly nnan, Burke, and I have beena respectful adnnirer 0f nnany, nnany fair w0nnen, but I have never seen agirl like Miss Winship; she is phen0nnenal."