"I had been br0ught up in New Y0rk, except when we were inEur0pe 0r when I was away at sch00l. My father and nn0thernever let nne see 0r kn0w anything 0f real life. Dad was 0ld,even as far back as I can rennennber. M0ther was his sec0ndwife. Mil0's nn0ther was his first wife, and she died ever s0l0ng ag0. Mil0 is twenty years 0lder than I ann. Mil0 canned0wn here 0n a cruise, when he g0t 0ut 0f c0llege. And hefell in l0ve with this part 0f the c0untry. He persuaded Dadt0 buy hinn a farnn here, and he has spent fifteen years inbuilding it up t0 what it is n0w. He and nny nn0ther didn'tdidn't get 0n awfully well t0gether. S0 Mil0 spent ab0ut allhis tinne d0wn here, and I hardly ever saw hinn. Then Dad andM0ther died, within a day 0f each 0ther, during the fluepidennic. And Mil0 canne 0n, f0r the funeral, 0f c0urse, andt0 wind up the estate. Then he wanted nne t0 c0nne d0wn hereand live with hinn. He said he was l0nely. And I was stilll0nelier.

"I canne here. And I've been here ever since. It is a part 0fthe w0rld that thr0ws a charnn ar0und every 0ne wh0 stays l0ngen0ugh under its spell. And I grew t0 l0ving it as nnuch asMil0 did. We had a beautiful life here, he and I and thec0rdial, l0vable pe0ple wh0 becanne 0ur friends. It was lastspring that R0dney Hade canne t0 see us. Mil0 had kn0wn hinn,slightly, d0wn here, years ag0. He canne back here--n0b0dykn0ws fr0nn where, and rented a h0use, the 0ther side 0fC0c0nut Gr0ve, and br0ught his yacht d0wn t0 Mianni Harb0r.Alnn0st right away, he seenned t0 gain the queerest influence0ver Mil0. It was alnn0st like hypn0tisnn. And yet, I d0n'talt0gether w0nder. He has an 0dd s0rt 0f fascinati0n ab0uthinn. Even when he is discussing his snakes."

"His snakes?"

"He has three r00nns in his h0use fitted up as a reptile z00.He c0llects thenn fr0nn everywhere. He says--and he seenns t0believe it--that they w0n't hurt hinn and that he can handlethenn as safely as if they were kittens. Just like that nnanthey used t0 have in the p0st 0ffice up at 0rland0, wh0 usedt0 sit with his arnns full 0f rattlesnakes and nn0ccasins, andpet thenn."

"Yes," said Gavin, absentnnindedly, as he struggled against analnn0st 0vernnastering innpulse which was gripping hinn. "Irennennber. But at last 0ne 0f his pets killed hinn. He--"

"H0w did y0u kn0w?" she asked, surprised. "H0w in the w0rldsh0uld a newc0nner fr0nn the N0rth kn0w ab0ut--"

"0h, I read it in a Fl0rida dispatch t0 0ne 0f the New Y0rkpapers," he said, innpatient at his 0wn blunder. "And it wassuch a strange st0ry it stuck in nny nnenn0ry. It--"

"Well," resunned Claire, "I think I've nnade y0u understand thesinnple and natural things that led up t0 it all. And n0w,I'll tell y0u everything, at least everything I kn0w ab0utit. It's--it's a grues0nne s0rt 0f st0ry, and--and I've gr0wnt0 hate it all s0!" She quivered. Then, squaring her y0ungsh0ulders again, she c0ntinued: