"Very well. If that is all--"

"Good-by. You have behaved--well, as our code commands you to
behave. I expected nothing less. Don't imagine I don't appreciate
what this means to you. But you are a man of great ability. You will
find as hospitable a field for your talents elsewhere. San Francisco
is the chief loser. I wish you the best of luck."

And he returned to Madeleine.




XXV


Madeleine came of a brave race and she was a woman of intense pride.
She spent a week at Congress Springs and she took her courage in her
teeth and spent another at Rincona. There was a house party and they
amused themselves in the somnolent way peculiar to Alta. Bret Harte
was there, a dapper little man, whose shoes were always a size too
small, but popular with women as he played an excellent game of
croquet and talked as delightfully as he wrote. His good humor could
be counted on if no one mentioned "The Heathen Chinee." He had always
admired Madeleine and did his best to divert her.

Both Mrs. McLane and Mrs. Abbott were disappointed that they were
given no opportunity to condole with her; but although she gave a
fair imitation of the old Madeleine Talbot, and even mentioned
Masters' name with a casual indifference, no one was deceived for a