"'TWAS FOR YOUR PLEASURE YOU CAME HERE, YOU SHALL GO BACK FOR MINE"

For a moment Crozier stood looking at the closed doorway through which
Mona had gone, with a look of repentant affection in his eyes; but as the
thought of his own helpless insolvency and broken hopes flashed across
his mind, a look of dark and harassed reflection shadowed his face. He
turned to the front doorway with a savage gesture. The mutilated dignity
of his manhood, the broken pride of a lifetime, the bitterness in his
heart need not be held in check in dealing with the man who waited to
give him a last thrust of enmity.

He left the house. Burlingame was seated on the stump of a tree which
had been made into a seat. "Come to my room if you have business with
me," Crozier said sharply.

As they went, Crozier swung aside from the front door towards the corner
of the house.

"The back way?" asked Burlingame with a sneer.

"The old familiar way to you," was the smarting reply. "In any case, you
are not welcome in Mrs. Tynan's part of the house. My room is my own,
however, and I should prefer you within four walls while doing business
with you."

Burlingame's face changed colour slightly, for the tone of Crozier's
voice, the grimness of his manner, suggested an abnormal condition.
Burlingame was not a brave man physically. He had never lived the
outdoor life, though he had lived so much among outdoor people.