having prematurely spoken. He hated Maud for the beauty that she would
not give him, and which, he feared, she was ready to give to another.
He hated Saul, for his stolid ignorance of his daughter's danger. He
hated most of all Farnham, for his handsome face, his easy smile, his
shapely hands, his fine clothes, his unknown and occult gifts of
pleasing.

"'Tain't in natur," he growled. "She's the prettiest woman in the
world. If he's got eyes, he knows it. But I spoke first, and he shan't
have her, if I die for it."




V.


A PROFESSIONAL REFORMER.


Sleeny walked moodily down the street, engaged in that self-torture
which is the chief recreation of unhappy lovers. He steeped his heart
in gall by imagining Maud in love with another. His passion stimulated
his slow wits into unwonted action, until his mind began to form
exasperating pictures of intimacies which drove him half mad. His face
grew pale, and his fists were tightly clinched as he walked. He hardly
saw the familiar street before him; he had a far clearer vision of Maud
and Farnham by the garden gate: her beautiful face was turned up to the
young man's with the winning sweetness of a flower, and Sam's irritated
fancy supplied the kisses he had watched for in the shadow of the