startling?"

Nevertheless he went with Segur the next Sunday to Mrs. Sidney's great
house in the upper Avenue overlooking the Park.

"Why do I come here?" he asked himself. "It is a sheer waste of time. Mrs.
Sidney can do me no good, or I her. It must be the hope of seeing Miss
Trevor."

When the gaudy and be-powdered flunkey held back the heavy curtains of the
salon to announce him and Segur, he saw Miss Trevor on a low chair absently
staring into the fire. Yet when he had spoken to Mrs. Sidney and turned
toward her she at once stretched out her hand with a slight smile. Some
others came in and Howard was free to talk to her. He sat looking at her
steadily, admiring her almost perfect profile, delicate yet strong.

"And what have you been doing since I saw you?" Miss Trevor asked.

"Writing little pieces about politics for the paper," replied Howard.

"Politics? I detest it. It is all stealing and calling names, isn't it? And
something dreadful is always going to happen if somebody or other isn't
elected, or is elected, to something or other. And then, whether he is or
not, nothing happens. I should think the men who have been so excited and
angry and alarmed would feel very cheap. But they don't. And the next time
they carry on in just the same ridiculous way."

"Politics is like everything else--interesting if you understand what it is
all about. But like everything else, you can't understand it without a
little study at first. It's a pity women don't take an interest. If they