"How long ago was this?"

"Just before you came back."

The drummer pinched his lip nervously.

"Don't say anything, will you?" he asked, giving the girl's arm a
gentle squeeze.

"Certainly not," she returned. "I wouldn't worry over it."

"All right," he said, passing on, seriously brooding for once,
and yet not wholly unconscious of the fact that he was making a
most excellent impression upon the chambermaid.

"I'll see her about that," he said to himself, passionately,
feeling that he had been unduly wronged. "I'll find out,
b'George, whether she'll act that way or not."


Chapter XXI

THE LURE OF THE SPIRIT--THE FLESH IN PURSUIT


When Carrie came Hurstwood had been waiting many minutes. His
blood was warm; his nerves wrought up. He was anxious to see the
woman who had stirred him so profoundly the night before.

"Here you are," he said, repressedly, feeling a spring in his