Little by little the scandal spread: by innuendoes;
by the wise shakings of empty heads; by nods and
winks; by the piecing out of incomplete tattle. For
the spread of gossip is like the spread of fire: First a
smouldering heat--some friction of ill-feeling, perhaps,
over a secret sin that cannot be smothered, try
as we may; next a hot, blistering tongue of flame
creeping stealthily; then a burst of scorching candor
and the roar that ends in ruin. Sometimes the victim
is saved by a dash of honest water--the outspoken
word of some brave friend. More often those who
should stamp out the burning brand stand idly by
until the final collapse and then warm themselves at
the blaze.

Here in Warehold it began with some whispered
talk: Bart Holt had disappeared; there was a woman
in the case somewhere; Bart's exile had not been entirely
caused by his love of cards and drink. Reference
was also made to the fact that Jane had gone
abroad but a short time AFTER Bart's disappearance,
and that knowing how fond she was of him, and how
she had tried to reform him, the probability was
that she had met him in Paris. Doubts having been
expressed that no woman of Jane Cobden's position
would go to any such lengths to oblige so young a
fellow as Bart Holt, the details of their intimacy
were passed from mouth to mouth, and when this was
again scouted, reference was made to Miss Gossaway,