with countesses. The town felt that there was something indefinable
about Denry.

Denry himself felt this. He did not consider himself clever or
brilliant. But he considered himself peculiarly gifted. He considered
himself different from other men. His thoughts would run:

"Anybody but me would have knuckled down to Duncalf and remained a
shorthand clerk for ever."

"Who but me would have had the idea of going to the ball and asking the
Countess to dance?... And then that business with the fan!"

"Who but me would have had the idea of taking his rent-collecting off
Duncalf?"

"Who but me would have had the idea of combining these loans with the
rent-collecting? It's simple enough! It's just what they want! And yet
nobody ever thought of it till I thought of it!"

And he knew of a surety that he was that most admired type in the
bustling, industrial provinces--a card.


IV

The desire to become a member of the Sports Club revived in his breast.
And yet, celebrity though he was, rising though he was, he secretly
regarded the Sports Club at Hillport as being really a bit above him.
The Sports Club was the latest and greatest phenomenon of social life in