girl's arm, which she had withdrawn in affright, he marched straight
ahead. The man fell back, but stared after them with his former
expression of bewildered surprise. Mary Louise noted this in a glance
over her shoulder and something in the stranger's attitude--was it a
half veiled threat?--caused her to shudder involuntarily.

The Colonel strode on, looking neither to right nor left, saying never a
word. They reached their home grounds, passed up the path in silence and
entered the house. The Colonel went straight to the stairs and cried in
a loud voice:

"Beatrice!"

The tone thrilled Mary Louise with a premonition of evil. A door was
hastily opened and her mother appeared at the head of the stairs,
looking down on them with the customary anxiety on her worn features
doubly accentuated.

"Again, father?" she asked in a voice that slightly trembled.

"Yes. Come with me to the library, Beatrice."




CHAPTER IV

SHIFTING SANDS