deliberately up into her eyes, the devil working in him.

Miss Desha returned his look steadily. "And the other girl--the clinging
one?" she asked calmly.

"Oh, she could wait. If we didn't hit it off, I could fall back on her.
I would hate to be an old bachelor."

"No; I don't think it would be quite a success," said the girl
critically. "You see, I think you are the most detestable person I ever
met. I really pity the other girl. It's better to be an old bachelor
than to be a young--cad."

Garrison rose slowly.



CHAPTER VI.

"YOU'RE BILLY GARRISON."

"And what is a cad?" he asked abstractedly.

"One who shames his birth and position by his breeding."

"And no question of dishonesty enters into it?" He could not say why
he asked. "It is not, then, a matter of moral ethics, but of
mere--well----"

"Sensitiveness," she finished dryly. "I really think I prefer rank