THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Wilmer Shields
 
 GROUNDED 
 
 BELLE WILLEY GUE
 
 GROUNDED 
 
 BY 
 
 BELLE WILLEY GUE 
 
 Publishers DORRANCE Philadelphia
 
 COPYRIGHT 1922 
 BELLE WILLEY GUE 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
 3513 
 
 S 
 
 
 To one who noticed and remembered and was able 
 
 to express in illuminating language the most 
 
 peculiar and complicated as well as the 
 
 noblest phases of human existence 
 
 CHARLES DICKENS 
 
 829252
 
 GROUNDED
 
 GROUNDED 
 
 As long as there are blue skies, while there are 
 fresh and lovely flowers, I trust that there will be 
 young girls as sweet and innocent as Bettina 
 Wane who may enjoy them. 
 
 Closely followed by the lumbering and ungainly 
 form of old Margaret O Keefe, Bettina s slender 
 figure was clearly outlined in the early morning 
 light of a soft and balmy summer day as the two 
 proceeded along the public highway that passed 
 in front of the young girl s home. 
 
 "We ll shure be afther foindin thim this toime, 
 Miss Bettina darlin , because we re out so airly," 
 puffed the old woman, waddling cheerfully on. 
 "Annyway, their purty faces an the bright eyes 
 of them shud soon be lookin* up at us." 
 
 "Yes, Margaret dear," answered the girl, her 
 carefully modulated words making a strange con 
 trast to the thick tones of her companion s voice, 
 "I hope today that we shall be successful in our 
 quest. 
 
 There be wan now ! exclaimed the old woman, 
 ambling as hastily as she could to the edge of the 
 ditch beside the road, and stooping down with 
 great difficulty to examine something that was on 
 the ground. "I don t believe that even in auld 
 Oireland herself there iver was a purtier blue 
 flower, set off with its green leaves, than this wan 
 here!" 
 
 She then triumphantly held up for Bettina s 
 
 11
 
 12 GROUNDED 
 
 inspection a dog-tooth violet, which the girl eager 
 ly, lovingly, took within her hands and pressed 
 lightly against her glowing cheek. 
 
 " Tis a most the color of yer own bright eyes, 
 me darlin !" old Margaret cried, admiringly, "its 
 face is jist as swate as yer own ! 
 
 The two then started out upon a systematic 
 search, and soon had quite a bunch of flowers as a 
 reward for their efforts; Bettina laughingly in 
 sisted that Margaret Keef e s dimmed eyes were 
 just as blue as were her own, so she should share 
 with her the violets they had found. 
 
 "But, darlin , protested her companion, " tis 
 youth that goes wid bloomin flowers, an not ould 
 age! Tis health an strength an soft, smooth 
 cheeks, not feebleness an wrinkles, that ripresint 
 the sunshine and the clear blue sky the same as 
 blossoms do!" 
 
 "Then, Margaret," replied the girl, placing a 
 strong, slim arm across the substantial shoulders 
 of the other woman, I think I ought to make you 
 take them all! You bring the sunshine with you 
 when you come, and take it with you when you go, 
 and as to clear blue skies it seems to me you do 
 not see the clouds at all! Here are the violets, 
 Margaret dear!" thrusting them into her gnarled 
 old hands. 
 
 "An yit she niver kissed the blarney stone, the 
 blissed child! She niver set her purty fut on 
 Oirish soil! I ll take some of the blossoms, dar 
 lin , becase you give them to me an not becase 
 I m young an purty like ye are yersilf ! Human 
 bein s," she continued, as if she were addressing 
 a young and inexperienced child, "are like the 
 green leaves on the trees when they are young 
 an full of life, and thin, they love to talk an 
 almost always wan green leaf, that is jist as green
 
 GROUNDED 13 
 
 as annythin can iver be, kapes whisperin to an- 
 ither green leaf, soft and low, so that a rustlin 
 sound is heard all through the tree. . . . And 
 thin," she went on, starting as if aroused from 
 sleep, whin they are auld they re like the leaves 
 agin, whin they re dried up an withered an , wid 
 their voices sharp and raspin , fall screechin to 
 the ground." 
 
 "If one must screech in order to be old," Bet- 
 tina said affectionately patting the shoulder on 
 which her hand still lightly rested, * then you are 
 very young for your voice now is just as sweet, 
 it seems to me, as when I was yet a very little 
 child. You used to sit beside my bed and sing to 
 me until I went to sleep. 
 
 "An that was not so very long ago, me dar- 
 lin !" cried old Margaret. "Ye are but twinty 
 now! An so it is wid youth!" she moralized, 
 "twinty years, lookin backward or forward, 
 seems a turrible long ways, thin. But whin a body 
 has got to the top of the hill and is goin down 
 the other side of it, knowin that she ll soon get 
 to the bottom and quit goin altogither, twinty 
 years. . . ." 
 
 "Margaret, dear," interrupted the girl, to 
 whom the future, without the devoted companion 
 ship that had been, up to that moment, a part of 
 her daily life, was distasteful, "you promised to 
 tell me sometime after I had grown up, about 
 Biddy Malone and the banshee who called to her 
 when she was crossing the moor." 
 
 1 Biddy Malone, began the old woman, taking 
 up with alacrity her favorite occupation, "lived 
 all alone wid her uncle, Father Flaherty. She 
 was a purty girrhl, wid big blue eyes, light, curlin 
 hair, pink cheeks and a plump figure; she had 
 more thin wan lover, but the wan among thim
 
 14 GROUNDED 
 
 all she cared for most hersilf was Mike O Toole. 
 And he was jist the wan the priest her uncle cared 
 for least; she knew that this was so and yit if 
 annythin the knowin of it added to her love for 
 Mike. She had to go across the moor ivry night, 
 afhter dark, to get the cow belongin to the priest. 
 Wan night as she was hurryin the cow along as 
 fast as iver she could make her go, she heard the 
 banshee callin , as plain as iver any call could be 
 Mike! Mike! Mike O Toole ! Three times she 
 heard this call and ivry time, it seemed to her, 
 the call was jist a little deeper and more solemn- 
 like than the time before. She knew thin that she 
 would never dare to marry Mike, for," old Mar 
 garet ended seriously, fully believing the state 
 ment she was about to make, if the banshee calls 
 the name of anny man three times over, to anny 
 woman, it means that that wan woman must not 
 marry that wan man. An she had heard the 
 banshee callin , Mike! Mike! Mike O Toole! 
 three times, in that wan night. She left the cow 
 behind her and ran with all her might, and not 
 until she had knelt down beside her bed and 
 counted over, manny times, the beads upon her 
 rosary did she feel safe for when the banshee 
 calls the name of anny man to anny woman it 
 means that she s in danger. 
 
 She heard a noise, as if a door had opened and 
 been shut, an whin her uncle, Father Flaherty, 
 had come into the kitchen and was sittin down 
 beside the table there, as he did most ivry night, 
 she wint to him and crossed hersilf an told him 
 what had happened. He was a little out of breath, 
 but he said that he had heard the cow come in 
 alone and had gone out to tie her up. He listened 
 close to Biddy s story, an whin she had complated 
 it he told her he supposed she knew what the
 
 GROUNDED 15 
 
 banshee s callin meant. An whin she cried an 
 said she did, he crossed himsilf and looked at her 
 severely; thin he told her niver to so much as 
 mention the name of Mike O Toole to him again. 
 An whin she sadly shook her head he blessed her, 
 and told her to say her prayers all over careful, 
 an thin to go to bed. An afther that Biddy 
 Malone," Margaret told her auditor solemnly, 
 niver heard the banshee call any more although 
 she wint as usual to get the cow belongin to the 
 priest, and bring her home across the moor. 
 
 * * Niver do you fail, Miss darlin , looking fear 
 fully around, * to heed the warnin if the banshee 
 calls to you!" 
 
 At that moment a sudden sound was heard that, 
 although startling, was also reassuring ; old Mar 
 garet clutched Bettina s arm and clung to it in 
 terror, but the girl laughed joyfully and called: 
 
 Here, Bonny, here ! This way ! " as a shaggy, 
 golden collie came bounding up to her. "Where 
 have you been? How did you happen to miss 
 coming with me this morning? I know what her 
 cry means," turning toward her old nurse who, 
 having recovered from her momentary fright, was 
 again in a normal mental attitude. l I know that 
 she is saying that she loves us both," for the dog 
 was dividing her attention between the two, * and 
 would defend us against anything that would at 
 tempt to do us harm. 
 
 The old woman shook her head dubiously and 
 did not release her hold upon Bettina s arm, al 
 though a look of almost bovine contentment crept 
 over her face as she regarded the dog who now 
 walked sedately and proudly beside them. 
 
 "If it was meant for us to hear the banshee 
 crying" she declared, "not annything in all this 
 world could shut the sound from us."
 
 16 GROUNDED 
 
 " Don t worry Margaret, dear," the young girl 
 said, "we re happy, here together, with the sky 
 and the sunshine and the flowers and, she ended, 
 crouching down upon the ground beside the dog 
 and hugging her enthusiastically, l with Bonny ! 
 
 "I think we d be happier yit," old Margaret 
 murmured, a trace of bitterness creeping into her 
 low tones, "if someone else shud take the place 
 that that spalpeen Barney McCoy s so glad to 
 fill." 
 
 Amusement she tried hard to suppress began 
 to. spread itself across Bettina s countenance, as 
 she hid it in Bonny s soft and golden fleece.
 
 II 
 
 When Bettina Wane and old Margaret Keef e 
 returned home from their morning s jaunt, the 
 girl repaired at once to the library, where her 
 tutor Barney McCoy awaited her. 
 
 In acordance with a custom so regular that it 
 had become almost a, habit, the tutor began to 
 instruct the moment his pupil appeared: 
 
 1 I wonder if you have forgotten, Miss Bettina, 
 "was his greeting, in a tone that was so lofty it 
 was almost condescending, certain facts concern 
 ing English history that I endeavored to impress 
 upon your understanding yesterday? A very im 
 portant part of your education, my dear young 
 lady, is to become familiar with the past in order 
 to be through comparison and contrast, more fully 
 equipped to meet the future. You see in me the 
 results that may be obtained through close appli 
 cation to study and research; had I neglected, as 
 I sometimes fear that you are doing, the oppor 
 tunities for mental advancement that were offered 
 to me, I might have been, instead of what I am," 
 drawing his squatty, awkward figure up to its 
 very average height, and puffing out his cheeks so 
 that his florid countenance looked even broader 
 than it had before, as ignorant and uninteresting 
 a person as the old woman who, I presume, at 
 tended you on the walk from which you have just 
 returned. This person, he went on with increas 
 ing scorn, "is as far removed from me intellec 
 tually as the Hottentot from the Greek; she is at 
 one end of the scale of humanity, I at the other. 
 Why a being with such pronounced physical char- 
 
 17
 
 18 GROUNDED 
 
 acteristics as hers should be associated even re 
 motely with one of my mental attainments is a 
 problem quite beyond my comprehension." 
 
 Bettina, with flushed face and exceedingly 
 bright eyes, was about to reply to this tirade 
 when suddenly the door of the library was thrown 
 open, and an angry, flaming face was thrust into 
 the room : 
 
 "I know who you mane, you insiniwatin 
 sneak!" the owner of the face fairly screamed. 
 "If it wasn t that my dear young Miss here is 
 bechune us," for the girl had advanced to the 
 position referred to, as if from instinct, "I d let 
 you know whether I m a Hottentot or not!" she 
 stood before him with arms akimbo and sleeves 
 rolled up, and glared at him. "I ve half a mind 
 to let some of the blood out of that red nose of 
 yours ! she went on, shaking her fist so near to 
 the object she had just mentioned that the owner 
 of it recoiled and covered it with his hand. "I 
 couldn t spile yer beuty fer ye," she ended, em 
 phatically, "because ye niver had anny to spile! 
 But I could, maybe," she added, as if from an 
 after-thought, advancing again belligerently, "fix 
 that lyin mouth of yours so that it wouldn t be 
 so quick in speakin slanderous behind a lady s 
 back!" 
 
 What the result of this encounter might have 
 been had it been allowed to proceed without inter 
 ruption cannot now be determined, for just as 
 Bettina had stepped forward and stretched out 
 her hands, with a view to placing a greater dis 
 tance between the two bitter enemies, a confident, 
 steady step was heard in the hall and a calm, 
 dignified gentleman was standing in the open 
 door of the library. Instantly a hush fell upon 
 all within the room, and the actors in the little
 
 GROUNDED 19 
 
 domestic drama stopped as if suddenly petrified: 
 
 What, may I ask, demanded Mr. Wane coolly 
 but searchingly, "is the meaning of the disturb 
 ance, the noise of which has drifted across the 
 hall and into my study! He waited but as no one 
 seemed inclined to enlighten him he went on, 
 "Unseemly wrangling cannot but interfere with 
 the pursuit of my daughter s studies," fixing his 
 gaze severely upon the other man, who cringed 
 beneath it so that old Margaret breathed a sigh 
 of relief and relaxed to some extent the stiffness 
 of her mien, but bridled again as Mr. Wane 
 directly addressed her, "It seems to me that my 
 daughter s personal attendant might be more 
 profitably employed than to be engaged in per 
 sonal disputes." 
 
 Old Margaret acknowledged the justice of the 
 reproof that had been administered to her by 
 going slowly and shamefacedly from the room, 
 bowing low to the master of the house and looking 
 up at him pleadingly as she passed. The tutor 
 began all at once to sort, arrange and carefully 
 examine the books and papers that were scattered 
 on his desk. Having thus restored to the place 
 its accustomed air of orderly quietude Mr. Wane, 
 with scarcely a glance at the girl, who had been a 
 silent but deeply interested spectator of all that 
 had occurred, left the room, as if preoccupied and 
 anxious to resume what had been interrupted. 
 
 Left alone with her tutor, Bettina stood beside 
 his desk, as she said: 
 
 "If education does not make one kinder and 
 more considerate, of what benefit is it to the 
 world?" 
 
 Barney McCoy looked up, and it could be seen 
 that for the moment he was sorely puzzled. But 
 presently, as if secretly recuperated, the look of
 
 20 GROUNDED 
 
 self-esteem and self-assurance that was his habitu 
 al expression appeared again upon his counte 
 nance. 
 
 "My dear young lady, there are many matters 
 that are as yet quite beyond the scope of your 
 intelligence; only after years of diligent study 
 could you grasp the abstruse meaning that is at 
 tached to what may now seem vague and strange. 
 
 Having thus, as he supposed, switched his pupil 
 from the line of thought upon which she had 
 started out, the tutor returned to the profound 
 contemplation of the book that happened to open 
 under his hand, although he had not previously 
 been considering the words spread out upon its 
 pages. In this instance, as in many others, he had 
 not accurately gauged the mind of his pupil. 
 
 "Does not education broaden and elevate those 
 who enjoy its advantages!" she asked, looking 
 earnestly and inquiringly at him. Does not asso 
 ciation with great minds, represented by their 
 thoughts as they have been recorded, tend to pol 
 ish and refine the feelings, as well as the under 
 standing!" 
 
 She waited for quite a perceptible time, listen 
 ing to the rustling of the pages that her teacher 
 rapidly turned as if in search of the answers to 
 her questions. At length, having as it seemed 
 found the clue that had been eluding him, he closed 
 the book arid laid it carefully down among the 
 others on his desk; then rising to his feet and 
 pushing the chair that he had been occupying into 
 the open space beneath his desk, he took up a 
 position in the exact centre of the room, and 
 grasping firmly the sharply pointed, fiery beard 
 that adorned the middle of his chin as if to forti 
 fy himself against possible contingencies he took
 
 GROUNDED 21 
 
 up the cudgel of conversation that he had so often 
 wielded with telling effect. 
 
 "As an intellect advances, my dear young 
 lady," bowing politely to, and at the same time 
 looking grandiloquently upon Bettina, whose calm, 
 interrogative gaze faced him, "along the wide, 
 smooth road that leads to knowledge, there are 
 many by-ways and hedges into which undirected 
 it is apt to stray; it is the work, often sadly un 
 appreciated," sighing and casting down the direc 
 tion of his eyes as if he had received a blow, "of 
 the pedagogue, to guide the young and inexperi 
 enced minds of those who come beneath his care 
 into safe and sheltered paths where they may find 
 ample, wholesome food for thought to feed upon, 
 and where they will be guarded from many dan 
 gers to which they would be exposed should they 
 fare forth alone. It has been my privilege, my 
 young friend, "with a retrospective smile, and as 
 if he felt more sure of the ground beneath his feet, 
 "to introduce you to many of those who, through 
 their superior intelligence, have controlled and 
 directed the masses of humanity. In order to 
 accomplish this it has been necessary for me," his 
 cheeks began to puff out, and his color to heighten, 
 "to insist upon your obedience to certain funda 
 mental laws that naturally you, being almost en 
 tirely without training before your acquaintance 
 with me," he let go of his beard then, "could not 
 completely understand. Of late it seems that you 
 have broken through the conventional wall that I 
 for your own good have built up around you ; and 
 it must be my pleasant task," he went on, rubbing 
 his hands complacently together, "to repair this 
 breach made no doubt unintentionally and through 
 ignorance of probable consequences." 
 
 By the time he had concluded these remarks he
 
 22 GROUNDED 
 
 was again seated in the chair before his desk, 
 leaning back, and looking about the spacious room 
 with its tiers of well-filled bookshelves, as if his 
 customary self-esteem and most superlative self- 
 assurance had been completely restored to him. 
 He had not taken the trouble to watch very closely 
 the effect of his words upon his auditor, being 
 firmly convinced of their weight and of the power 
 of his own delivery. Now however he included his 
 pupil in his general survey of the contents of the 
 library, and was surprised to discover upon her 
 expressive countenance what he chose to consider 
 as being stubborn resistance to necessary guid 
 ance. Under the influence of this astonishing dis 
 covery he brought the legs of his chair down upon 
 the floor, and his doubled-up fist down upon his 
 desk. 
 
 "We must stick to old, established ideas, and 
 acknowledged precepts and principles ! We must 
 refuse to allow extraneous circumstances to in 
 terfere with our studies !
 
 HI 
 
 Bettina Wane was seldom as happy as when, 
 secure from interruption, she was alone with the 
 books that she loved. They seemed to her to be 
 living entities, as if their authors were really 
 speaking directly to her ; she was contented when 
 she was enjoying their society, and she regarded 
 them as her personal friends. She had her fav 
 orites among them, but she was an omnivorous 
 reader and there were few well-known English 
 authors with whose work she was not familiar. 
 There were no restrictions placed upon her choice 
 among the many books she found in her father s 
 well-stocked library, unless Barney McCoy s pro 
 nounced prejudices for or against certain authors 
 would be considered to be so, and the girl therefore 
 wandered hither and yon, sometimes to far-distant 
 lands, sometimes near at hand, according to the 
 book she was perusing. In imagination these 
 journeys into the unknown were very real to her, 
 and she joyed and suffered with the heroes and 
 heroines with whom she became acquainted 
 through the medium of the pictures that masters 
 in" the art of word-painting had left upon their 
 pages. Desdemona seemed to her just as real a 
 woman as old Margaret O Keefe herself, and 
 Romeo, although so different in every possible 
 particular, was to the girl as much an individual 
 as the opinionated and vainglorious Barney Mc 
 Coy. She secretly enjoyed thinking of certain 
 human beings as if they bore the names that had 
 been given by some of her favorite authors to their 
 characters; because, as it seemed to her, they 
 
 23
 
 24 GROUNDED 
 
 shared the same distinguishing features. She in 
 variably thought of her father as Ivanhoe and 
 there were times when her dear old Margaret 
 seemed to her the exact replica of Sairy Gamp; 
 she often in imagination placed Barney McCoy in 
 a position similar to that occupied by the fiendish 
 schoolmaster Squeers, feeling that under the same 
 conditions her tutor would have displayed the 
 same characteristics. In common with the ma 
 jority of ambitious young women, she had many 
 dreams as to her possible future. 
 
 In order to secure the privacy she coveted it 
 was often necessary for her to resort to diplo 
 matic measures. To begin with old Margaret 
 O Keefe s garrulous tongue, with its almost cease 
 less manipulation of the words at its command, 
 had to be arranged for and properly attended to ; 
 there was no way which the girl could really muz 
 zle the old woman even had she been so minded, 
 for at all times and in all places she would blunder 
 boldly on, utterly unmindful of delicate hints as 
 well as sensitive nerves. But Bettina had learned 
 that certain methods intelligently employed had 
 a tendency to reduce and to some extent control 
 the activities of her dependent but officious care 
 taker. For instance, she was reasonably certain 
 that soon after a hearty meal, under appropriate 
 ly peaceful conditions, old Margaret would drift, 
 with more or less rapidity and precision, into 
 voiceless although not silent slumber. Having 
 disposed of one obstacle she next had to devise 
 ways and means through which her tutor s mani 
 fold energies would be removed from her imme 
 diate vicinity. Barney McCoy was, according to 
 his statement, a man of vast resource and almost 
 unlimited talents. Among the latter he claimed 
 that there was no one in England, or for that mat-
 
 GROUNDED 25 
 
 ter anywhere in the British Empire, not except 
 ing Canada, India, or any of the far-away posses 
 sions who could, single-handed and alone, out 
 distance, or even come up with himself in a 
 straight, free-for-all, unhandicapped walk. Hence 
 Bettina had only to shrewdly and apparently un 
 intentionally mention that she had somewhere 
 read an account of what to her seemed an almost 
 impossible feat, that a certain person had covered 
 a given number of miles in a given time, always 
 not beyond the range of probability. Having thus 
 cleared the decks of her little boat for action, she 
 would proceed to sail over calm and congenial 
 waters, into what to her was the harbor of con 
 tentment. There she happily and dreamily 
 dropped anchor, and rode at ease upon the still 
 and placid surface of an element that was har 
 monious and satisfying. 
 
 One afternoon, having secured through her wits 
 and considerable expert manoeuvring a few hours 
 that she could spend in uninterrupted indulgence 
 of her own personal taste, she was ensconced in 
 her favorite position upon the couch, in one cor 
 ner of the quiet library, when she heard a quick, 
 light, decisive footstep approaching the door that 
 she had carefully closed. It did not sound like 
 her father s step and so far as she knew there was 
 no one else in the house who would be likely to 
 enter the library at that hour of the day. She 
 leaned forward and listened eagerly wide, blue 
 eyes, pink cheeks and parted lips although she 
 seemed altogether unaware of the fact, partially 
 because her attention had been almost entirely ab 
 sorbed by the consideration of objects other than 
 herself, the girl in the midst of comparatively 
 isolated but perfectly normal and natural sur 
 roundings had grown to be a very beautiful and
 
 26 GROUNDED 
 
 attractive young woman. And as she rested there, 
 half -rising, with the toe of one shapely shoe upon 
 the floor, and one hand supporting the weight of 
 her slim body upon the couch, she looked in the 
 dim, suffused light of the shut-in room like a frag 
 rant tropical flower, or a bird of brilliant plum 
 age poised for flight. 
 
 And thus it was that Kurk Kaleen, for the first 
 time, beheld her. 
 
 Startled to instant action, blushing with sur 
 prise that bordered on fright, she rose to her feet 
 when the door was softly opened, and saw a hand 
 some, dark and smiling face such as her eyes had 
 never really seen before, although her keen im 
 agination had many times presented to her inner 
 consciousness a countenance that was as vibrant 
 with strong and manly beauty as the one she saw 
 in that half-opened door. 
 
 "I presume you are Miss Bettina Wane, "the 
 young man said, advancing with assurance and 
 yet gallant deference until he stood beside her 
 with extended hand. "Your father said he 
 thought that I should find you here. 
 
 "Yes," the girl assented, allowing her own 
 hand to rest in his for a few short seconds, "and 
 you, I suppose, are Mr. Kaleen. For my father," 
 she explained, "has told me that he was expect 
 ing you to visit him. You will find us, I am afraid, 
 she went on diffidently, very dull and quiet. We 
 have no near neighbors and very few amusements, 
 at least," she ended, smiling, as if from some 
 sudden recollection, "such as would be apt to in 
 terest you." 
 
 "I believe that I," the visitor began, daringly 
 yet deferentially allowing his earnest gaze to 
 linger on her fair, flushed face, "in spite of what
 
 GROUNDED 27 
 
 you have just said, will not find the time I spend 
 here hanging heavily on my hands." 
 
 "Of course," the girl admitted proudly, "my 
 father is most interesting, in every way, our home 
 is very comfortable and the country hereabouts is 
 very beautiful or so it seems to me," qualifying 
 her last statement modestly. "But I," she con 
 cluded, have never been away from home so per 
 haps my judgment may be biased." 
 
 "I am sure," said Kurk Kaleen, his gaze still 
 lingering on her face, "that it is very beautiful 
 indeed. I do not think, his soft, caressing tones 
 were full of music, i that I have ever seen a fairer 
 or a more alluring one than what it has been my 
 privilege to see of it since I came here.
 
 IV 
 
 Bettina Wane had never in all her life been hap 
 pier or more carefree than she was on the after 
 noon that Kurk Kaleen discovered her. Before 
 that memorable day, for such it was in very many 
 ways, her individuality had lived and moved, 
 hoped and feared, in a world made up of dreams, 
 peopled by imaginary beings who were to her 
 beloved companions and understanding friends. 
 She had been in the society of only her own peo 
 ple when, with the full approval of her natural 
 guardian the current of her daily life was 
 changed. For on that day a pronounced and per 
 sistent personality, skilled in the expert handling 
 of all the gifts and graces, endowed by nature with 
 a quick intellect and a handsome face and form, 
 familiar with all the avenues through which the 
 heart of woman may be approached and at the 
 same time possessing in a marked degree the in 
 nate cruelty that makes the hunter ruthless, ob 
 truded itself upon her horizon. 
 
 The attitude of the girl toward all of the mem 
 bers of her family except one was from that time 
 greatly changed. Urged on by some force of winch 
 she was entirely ignorant, she confidingly and in 
 tuitively related to the young man during the first 
 few hours of her acquaintance with him many lit 
 tle incidents revealing the characteristic peculiar 
 ities of all with whom she was closely associated. 
 She told him how she had obtained the privacy 
 in which he had found her and he, fully under 
 standing, laughed boyishly when she recounted 
 
 28
 
 GROUNDED 29 
 
 Barney McCoy s egotistic efforts to prove himself 
 champion walker of the British Empire. He also 
 apparently shared with her an affectionate desire 
 to secure the absence yet humor the whims of old 
 Margaret O Keefe; so far as she was able to de 
 termine he as well as herself greatly admired, and 
 somewhat feared, her father s dignified and com 
 manding presence. The one exception to the sym 
 pathetic understanding that was established be 
 tween these two almost at once had to do with the 
 intelligent creature who had been from her roly- 
 poly puppy-hood, the unselfish and admiring com 
 panion of Bettina. That afternoon the dog 
 scratched carefully and barked inquiringly at the 
 half -open door of the library and as Bonny came 
 bounding in Bettina felt a change. The dog went 
 immediately to her mistress and laid a long, slim 
 muzzle across her knees, while her great brown 
 eyes, full of insistent adoration and unlimited con 
 fidence, looked up into the face upon which she had 
 never seen an expression of stronger disapproval 
 than that of affectionate toleration. The girl 
 looked down upon the golden head that rested on 
 her lap; her hand strayed caressingly over the 
 cool, keen nose, between the beautiful, animated 
 eyes, until it reached the sharp-pointed, slightly- 
 raised, sensitive ears, where it lingered; then she 
 glanced up, intending to introduce her pet to her 
 new acquaintance, expecting that he would share 
 with her in this, as he had in others, her strong 
 and habitual feeling. But the expression that she 
 surprised upon his easily altered features was so 
 lacking in sympathy that it amounted almost to 
 hostility; disappointed and undeniably displeased 
 in this particular, for she realized that she some 
 how was being placed on the defensive, she allowed 
 her hand to creep down over Bonny s neck so that
 
 30 GROUNDED 
 
 it drew her pet still nearer to her; then, having 
 invited the collie to take the place upon the couch 
 beside herself, she hugged and patted her while 
 she looked almost defiantly into the dark and 
 handsome face from which a belligerent expres 
 sion was just vanishing. 
 
 As if reminded of, i Love me, love my dog, the 
 young man leaned forward ingratiatingly and 
 stretched out one of his strong, supple hands, evi 
 dently intending to smooth Bonny s long, soft fur. 
 The girl would have welcomed these friendly ad 
 vances, being pleased to have her pet appreciated, 
 but the dog saw through the thin, polite veneer 
 that Kurk Kaleen had quickly spread above his 
 powerful aversion to her, and not only drew her 
 self away from contact with his hand, but snug 
 gled up close to her mistress and looked at her 
 protectingly. As the man persistently kept get 
 ting just a little nearer to them both, the gentle 
 creature bared her teeth, and came as near to 
 growling as she had ever allowed herself to do. 
 
 Bettina was amazed and just a little alarmed at 
 this strange attitude on the part of the collie, but 
 what she saw in her dog s tender eyes only made 
 her more assured than ever of Bonny s unswerv 
 ing and affectionate devotion to herself. 
 
 "Perhaps when Bonny gets to know you well 
 you two will be great friends." Her face was 
 flushed and anxious. "She is not used to seeing 
 strangers," apologetically, "and I presume she 
 was surprised to find that you were here. 
 
 "Someone else is about to be surprised," de 
 clared the young man joyfully, as if well pleased 
 at the prospect of a change in the subject to be 
 discussed. "I think I hear a woman s step." 
 
 Shuffling sleepily into the room and up to the
 
 GROUNDED 31 
 
 couch that with its occupants directly faced the 
 door, old Margaret volubly began : 
 
 "If iver I drop aslape, Miss, darlin ," as if it 
 were a most unusual , happening, "I m purty sure 
 to find you here whin I wake up. I Ve had a most 
 distressin drame. . . ." which she was evi 
 dently about to relate when she suddenly realized 
 that they were not alone and, without waiting 
 for an introduction but directly addressing the 
 visitor, she continued, "It do be seemin quare to 
 me, young sir, but," stepping a little nearer to 
 him in order evidently to more closely examine 
 his features, "if that little brown mole on your 
 left cheek, Kurk Kaleen hastily pressed a finger 
 against the cheek referred to, "was only jist a 
 little higher up, an twas yer left eyelid instead 
 of bein the right wan, that droops down," both 
 of his eyes became at once very wide open, "ye 
 wud look enough like Patrick McGranahan s nixt 
 to the oldest b y to be his own blood-brother." 
 
 Bettina, much embarrassed for the lack of cour 
 tesy just shown her father s guest, stepped for 
 ward and placing one hand on the arm of her old 
 nurse was about to formally present her when she 
 was interrupted in an explosive but not altogether 
 unexpected manner. 
 
 "My dear young lady," announced Barney 
 McCoy, unmindful of everything except the pres 
 ence of his pupil, "you see before you one who 
 has not only equaled but even excelled the feat 
 concerning the accomplishment of which you were 
 so much astonished."
 
 Kurk Kaleen s father and Walter Wane had 
 been companions in their boyhood, and had all 
 through their lives continued the acquaintance 
 begun when they were children. The visit the 
 young man was making in the home of his father s 
 friend was in his father s stead, as he had sent 
 the boy there to attend to certain matters con 
 cerning which the two older men had been carry 
 ing on a correspondence. The work upon which 
 they were engaged, of a clerical and reference 
 nature, required the entire attention of Bettina s 
 father as well as that of his visitor during the 
 forenoons, when usually Bettina herself was 
 either attending to the domestic affairs of the 
 household, of which as her father s daughter she 
 was general manager, or receiving the instruc 
 tions and listening to the dicta with more or less 
 benefit of her inoffensive tutor. After luncheon, 
 when generally speaking the two young people 
 would meet for the first time in the day, there 
 were several comparatively idle and usually most 
 enjoyable hours. 
 
 After the advent of a decidedly attractive and 
 at the same time entirely eligible young man, old 
 Margaret O Keefe s officious interference and 
 perpetual surveillance were more difficult to sup 
 press than they had been even before his arrival. 
 But Bettina now had an intelligent and very 
 capable assistant in the work that she had for 
 some time been conducting without other aid. 
 When it became advisable to isolate the energies 
 of Barney McCoy her resourceful and very will- 
 
 32
 
 GROUNDED 33 
 
 ing helper, without urging or even suggestion on 
 her part, would attend to the matter thoroughly 
 and speedily. One day the young man, bent upon 
 accomplishing the object he had in view, became 
 involved in an argument that bade fair to be too 
 lengthy for the purpose which was his reason for 
 entering into it. 
 
 1 Well, he said, rising to his feet, it may well 
 be, and probably is, just as you say, for I am well 
 aware of the fact that your experience in this 
 instance as well as in many others is much 
 broader and has extended over a considerably 
 longer period of years than my own. However," 
 he ended, with a laudable desire to symmetrically 
 complete the line of thought upon which he had 
 started out, "it seems to me that in order to con 
 clusively prove the truth of the statement that 
 you have just made, it might be well for us at 
 some time in the future to take this matter up 
 again. 
 
 "My time," declared Barney McCoy, "is not 
 only very valuable, but very far from being always 
 at my own disposal according to the terms of the 
 agreement binding and holding the parties there 
 to. Although at times," looking patiently down, 
 "I must confess that it is a very irksome duty to 
 devote my entire attention to the intellectual ad 
 vancement of one who is often very unapprecia- 
 tive who even at times goes so far as to ridicule 
 what should receive her most profound considera 
 tion. But this, he interpolated condescendingly, 
 "is no doubt due to the levity of youth. Never 
 theless," he ended kindly, "she is a good girl, 
 whose attainments reflect great credit upon her 
 instructor." 
 
 "My dear young friend," went on the speaker 
 as if from some great height, "if at any time in
 
 34 GROUNDED 
 
 your future life you should feel inclined to doubt 
 the wisdom of divine Providence because you 
 have been placed in some certain position, or sur 
 rounded by any certain set of circumstances, or 
 compelled to be associated with any certain set of 
 individuals; or forced to undergo any certain set 
 of conditions" making a sweeping gesture with 
 his one free hand, for he was clinging closely to 
 his beard with the other always remember it 
 has been your privilege to meet, and to some slight 
 extent become acquainted with a man who in spite 
 of having acquired independently and without 
 assistance most stupendous stores of practical 
 knowledge such as others," his watery eyes had 
 taken on a sort of glassy stare, "have spent all 
 their lives in laboring diligently and painstaking 
 ly, although entirely without success, to attain 
 in spite of having had and fully taken advantage 
 of colossal opportunities for mental development, 
 has adjusted himself with resignation, even with 
 cheerful acquiescence, to a mediocre and at times 
 almost" a stricken, abused expression as if he 
 had received an undeserved rebuke began to set 
 tle slowly over his features, so that they seemed 
 to sag down under the weight of it a menial. 
 His auditor up to this point had found no crev 
 ice in the solid wall by which he could hope to 
 extricate himself from the flow of language in 
 which he had been engulfed. Just here, merci 
 fully, there was the sound of a slight, swift scuffle, 
 as if one person were trying to hold another one 
 back outside the door of the library where the 
 colloquy was taking place. Then the door itself 
 was rudely and unceremoniously shaken as if by 
 an angry hand. After that events took place too 
 rapidly to admit of giving any one of them pre 
 cedence over any of the others. Old Margaret
 
 GROUNDED 35 
 
 appeared, both of the witnesses already in the 
 room were sure of that, but the identity of what 
 ever it was that she was dragging in with her re 
 mained uncertain for some little time. This un 
 certainty was due mainly to the fact that the old 
 woman was gyrating much in the manner of a 
 top and at the same time vociferously demanding 
 that she be given redress for some insult that, as 
 she claimed, she had been subjected to. 
 
 "Ye will, will ye?" she screamed. "Ye think 
 because I m a lone widdy, widout a man to lift a 
 fist f er me, ye can say what ye plaze ! " At this 
 juncture, being almost entirely out of breath by 
 reason of her manifold exertions, she paused 
 abruptly and so revealed the fact that the object 
 in her clutches was a small, disheveled, nonde 
 script yet human being who, now that he had a 
 chance to set his feet upon the floor, tried to 
 straighten up and jerk himself away. But the old 
 woman was not yet through with him and his re 
 sistance only added to her wrath. No, indade ! 
 Ye 11 not escape me till I m good and done wid 
 ye ! Ye 11 git down on yer dirthy knees here now 
 an take back ivry word ye iver said ferninst me, 
 in the prisence of this gintleman," indicating 
 Kurk Kaleen with one stubby finger. "There! 
 Now ! shoving her victim forcibly down until he 
 assumed the supplicating position she wished him 
 to take, "Go on, ye dirthy-mouthed. . . ." 
 
 But just at that moment, Bettina, anxious, won 
 dering and very beautiful, came hastily into the 
 room. 
 
 "Margaret, dear," she said deprecatingly, 
 "Margaret, what has happened?" 
 
 Seeing her evident distress the old woman s 
 anger fell away from her like a garment laid aside, 
 and she forcibly dropped the bone of contention.
 
 36 GROUNDED 
 
 "Nothing at all, at all, Miss, darlin ," she whis 
 pered. "Nothing to bring a single tear into the 
 bright blue eyes av ye, or to make a single bit of 
 color lave yer swate face !
 
 VI 
 
 I want to ask you, Bettina," said Kurk Kaleen 
 one day when for a short time the two young peo 
 ple happened to be alone, "if you do not some 
 times long to see the world outside of your own 
 home?" 
 
 She looked at him frankly and wonderingly, and 
 after a moment s hesitation replied: "I have been 
 very happy and contented here. I think perhaps, 
 blushing and at the same time smiling, "that I 
 should be afraid if I went very far away from 
 home. 
 
 "Do you think that you would be afraid," his 
 tones were full of deep, repressed emotions, "with 
 someone strong and capable and loving always at 
 your side?" 
 
 A thrilling consciousness of something that she 
 did not understand yet felt the force of caused 
 her pure young lips to tremble with an unknown 
 but a most exquisite joy, so that she did not find 
 it easy to reply. But soon her inborn pride and 
 natural dignity came to her aid, and gazing earn 
 estly into the speaking dark eyes that were search- 
 ingly regarding her, she said: 
 
 * I wonder if anyone who would be strong and 
 capable could be, always loving too! That is, I 
 mean," as if she feared the statement she had 
 made might seem too comprehensive, "supposing 
 that the person who would otherwise be all alone 
 and very much afraid were just an ordinary, 
 not at all unusual human being " Her eyelids 
 drooped until her long, dark lashes brushed her 
 blushing cheeks as falteringly she added, "Of 
 
 37
 
 38 GROUNDED 
 
 course, it would make one feel very safe if such 
 a thing could really be, to have someone strong 
 and capable and always loving, too, right beside 
 one. 
 
 11 There is someone," he whispered, drawing 
 very near to her to say it so that she felt the mag 
 netism of his presence, "who has been often called 
 both strong and capable, and who is 1 am certain 
 very loving," and then his hand, gently, softly, 
 reverently, barely touched the thick brown hair 
 that grew luxuriantly above her smooth white 
 brow, "who would be always at your side if you 
 desired to have him there. But if you never 
 could, Bettina," he spoke her name caressingly, 
 "when you have known me long enough, learn to 
 love me," sadly, "still, I should always love and 
 long for you." 
 
 He stopped and allowed the words to have their 
 full effect. The girl was silent, partly through 
 surprise and partly because waves of powerful 
 and to her unimaginable emotions were sweeping 
 over her. He watched her eagerly, trying to de 
 termine what effect the declaration of his love had 
 had upon her; his dark eyes glowed like living 
 lamps, for in them was the light of passionate 
 and yet adoring love. At length, when her white 
 lids were lifted, he quietly compelled her eyes to 
 meet the light that glowed within his own; her 
 sweet lips quivered as if they were about to speak 
 the words that trembled on her tongue. Fearing 
 that they would not be the ones he wished to hear, 
 Kurk Kaleen suddenly and to himself most un 
 expectedly grew humble and appealing. 
 
 "If you would be my wife, Bettina," his rich 
 voice lingering upon the three short syllables, "I 
 should only live to make you happy. All that I 
 have, dear one, would be at your command. I
 
 GROUNDED 39 
 
 would withhold nothing. Your wish would be law. 
 When you will give yourself to me," his arms 
 went out to her in unexpressed, involuntary, ar 
 dent invitation, "I shall protect you always, I 
 shall shield you." He waited, and tenderness en 
 folded her. 
 
 Bettina s blue eyes looked straight at him, then, 
 and in their clear depths he saw surprise, amaze 
 ment, merging into affectionate and fervent ad 
 miration : 
 
 "How can you, who have only known me for a 
 few short days, be certain that you have for me, 
 she spoke with quiet dignity and womanly reserve, 
 "the feelings that the words you have just used 
 would lead me to suppose?" 
 
 This was a new experience for him ; the women 
 he had known thus far had not been loath to 
 accept admiration. The ground he saw before 
 him was to him entirely unbroken, untried, virgin 
 soil, and fearing that he might if he went forward 
 make some blunder that perhaps would be alto 
 gether irretrievable, he decided that in this case 
 at least discretionary measures would serve his 
 purpose better than to deal too hastily. 
 
 "There is no accounting," he began, regarding 
 her seriously and studiously, "for the birth or 
 even for the rapid growth of sincere love. Senti 
 ments that precede, accompany and lead up to the 
 divine passion are so complicated and so diver 
 sified that no satisfactory explanation can be of 
 fered. What would appeal powerfully to one 
 person might not in any way affect another. Of 
 course," he smilingly compromised, and he had a 
 most engaging smile, "there are certain charac 
 teristic conditions that are almost absolutely es 
 sential to the continued existence of any steadfast, 
 mutual love. The two who love each other," as
 
 40 GROUNDED 
 
 he said these words his eyes caressed her, "must 
 have mutual tastes and mutual ambitions; they 
 must have the same or similar desires ; they must 
 find enjoyment under the same or similar condi 
 tions ; in almost every case there must be strength 
 on one side, and beauty, gazing at her face ador 
 ingly, "upon the other. No two people can really 
 love each other unless they are of the same class, 
 upon the same plane of human existence, with 
 ordinarily speaking the same degree of general 
 education, social standing, and refinement. There 
 might be marked exceptions to this rule, isolated 
 instances of mutual, immutable regard that has 
 bound together two beings of exactly opposite 
 natures and utterly dissimilar tastes. But two 
 people who are as much alike as you and I, in 
 very many ways, and yet as different in very 
 many other ways, are much more apt to spend 
 long lives of sweet content and happiness together 
 than those who are not as we are." 
 
 During all of this rather long and roundabout 
 reply the young man had been studying carefully 
 the open countenance of the girl whose confidence 
 he hoped to gain. But in spite of his undoubted 
 ability in this one particular line of research which 
 was the result of his somewhat long and decided 
 ly complex social career, he was not at all pre 
 pared to hear the words Bettina uttered. 
 
 "You speak of love as if it were a growth," 
 she said, calmly and speculatively, "as if it could 
 be built up, somehow, between two human beings 
 . . . what then do you think is the foundation 
 or beginning of the structure you call love?" 
 
 He could not answer her explicitly in words. 
 
 "This!" he cried, seizing in his two strong 
 hands both of her own, "and this!" imprinting 
 on the backs, and on the palms, and on the fingers
 
 GROUNDED 41 
 
 of his two soft, white, fluttering but unresisting 
 prisoners a multitude of warm and clinging kisses, 
 1 this, and this!" 
 
 The last one of them all he tucked away with 
 delicate and most respectful care among the 
 brown braids of her heavy hair, then drew her 
 very near so that he held her hands against his 
 breast. And as she felt the throbbing of his heart 
 he saw a look of startled wonder and of sweet, 
 yielding understanding begin to grow within her 
 eyes.
 
 VII 
 
 One morning as Bettina and old Margaret, with 
 Bonny in attendance, started out upon their cus 
 tomary walk, they were joined by Kurk Kaleen, 
 who searched as eagerly as any of them for the 
 wild flowers that they hoped to find. 
 
 Old Margaret O Keefe found the first slender 
 milkmaid where the thin, white flower was hiding 
 just beneath the hedge, and as she brought it to 
 Bettina she declared : 
 
 It do be very pale and worn, darlin . It minds 
 me of a gurrhl I used to know. She was a milk 
 maid too an most as slim as this wan here. Her 
 name was Rose O Brady an she niver knew a 
 real well day in all her life, an all because her 
 mither, whin Rose was a wee wan, took her out 
 wan day an laid her down upon the grass, among 
 the sheets that she was whitenin . Layin her on 
 the grass wud niver have done her anny harm, 
 but whin she laid her down she niver looked to 
 see what was underneath the grass an so the 
 careless mither laid her wee wan down right where 
 a stone had been sunk in the ground, although 
 the sod had covered it all over, to mark the spot 
 where Andy Callahan had fought anither man 
 until the blood of both of thim had dhripped- 
 dhripped down, an soaked the sile. " She 
 stopped for breath and looked at her audience to 
 see if her recital had made the proper impression 
 upon them, but as neither seemed serious she 
 added, "No wan should iver lay a wee wan down 
 where angry men have spilled each ither s blood, 
 because it takes away from the wee wan as much 
 
 42
 
 GROUNDED 43 
 
 blood as has dhripped down on the ground. An , 
 shure," she ended sadly, "poor Rose Brady 
 always had to suffer for her mither s careless 
 ness ; if she hadn t laid her down above that stone, 
 she might have been a plump and happy gurrhl. 
 
 "But, Margaret," said Bettina, when the old 
 woman had finally come to the end of her narra 
 tive, "do you really think that Rose Brady was 
 so slim and pale because her mother laid her down 
 upon the grass, above that stone!" 
 
 Miss said old Margaret, who was never back 
 ward in making explanations to her own "wee 
 wan," as she still considered Bettina, "ye are 
 young an lackin in experience; manny s the 
 toime I Ve thried to make things plain and simple, 
 so ye d understan thim. But now that ye are older 
 and more sinsible ye ought to see the truth of 
 things the same as I do. Ye see, whin Rose 
 Brady s mither laid her down there where the 
 ground had once been wet wid blood, her wee, soft, 
 warrm body felt the same to it as the blood had 
 whin it dhripped drhipped down. An so the 
 ground, not knowin the difference bechune thim, 
 jist took a dhrink of Rose Brady s blood, an 
 bein as she hadn t much to begin wid it stunted 
 her, an she could niver in her life make up for 
 what the ground had took away, whin she was sich 
 a wee wan. She didn t have the strength to 
 spare." 
 
 Bettina smiled at her indulgently when she had 
 finished "making plain and simple" the story she 
 had told, and then she turned to Kurk Kaleen and 
 said: 
 
 "Margaret has taken tender care of me ever 
 since I was as little as Rose Brady must been 
 when that sad accident befell her. 
 
 "And it is very evident," the young man said,
 
 44 GROUNDED 
 
 following the lead the girl had given him, "that 
 she was always particular as to where she laid 
 you down, when you were too small to decide such 
 matters for yourself." 
 
 "Dade an I was always careful of her, whin 
 she was a wee wan!" exclaimed the old woman, 
 looking fondly at her youthful charge. * * An whin 
 I can no longer do for her, I will be ready thin 
 to lave this worrld ! 
 
 "You must stay here, dear," Bettina s voice 
 was very tender and her gentle hand was laid 
 upon the other woman s shoulder, "just as long 
 as I do." 
 
 "That will not likely be, me, darlin ," Margaret 
 replied, wiping tears of joy from her eyes with 
 the corner of her apron, "for ye are young, an 
 I am auld, but jist as long as I ll be let to stay 
 here, annywheres, I ll stay wid ye, no matter 
 where ye go or who else there is by ye." And 
 looking straight to Kurk Kaleen she added, "I 
 was as near to bein a mither to her, sir, as anny- 
 one so different could be. Whin her own mither 
 was about to leave her she said to me, for I was 
 standin by her bed wid her wee wan, darlin , here, 
 layin in me arrms, Be always near her Mar 
 garet. An thin, "the tears she wiped away this 
 time were tears of sorrow, the young thing died 
 and left her wee wan mitherless, but first she give 
 to her the quare, Eyetalyan name that she has 
 now. A sweet, good gurrhl the mither was but," 
 shaking her head, "she d been away in furrin 
 parts an read a lot of furrin books, an r so she 
 had some quare ideas." 
 
 "But, dear," Bettina said, "my foreign name 
 has never been a burden to you, for you have not 
 used it much." 
 
 "An ye will always be to me," her old nurse
 
 GROUNDED 45 
 
 laughingly agreed, "jist only ~*iy Miss darlin . 
 M>y Oirish tongue wud never twist itself aroun 
 a name that has so much Eyetalyan to it." 
 
 "My tongue is Irish, too," said Kurk Kaleen, 
 bestowing his engaging smile upon the old nurse 
 and her charge as well, and yet I find that I can 
 say Bettina," lingering lovingly over the name, 
 "very well." 
 
 "Yours is an eddicated Oirish tongue," old 
 Margaret argued, "an mine is only jist the way 
 that it was give me. But Oirish hearts," she went 
 on, proudly, "don t need much eddicatin* to be 
 only jist the warrmest an the lovinest of all the 
 hearts in all the wide, endurin world, an mine," 
 she ended, "belongs to her " 
 
 The young man scrutinized Bettina s face earn 
 estly and speculatively, and for a long moment 
 silence rested upon the little group. Old Margaret 
 realized the tenseness of the mental atmosphere, 
 but the gentle hand that still rested on her 
 shoulder patted her reassuringly; Bonny came, 
 and thrust her long, slim muzzle beneath the free 
 hand of her young mistress. At length, as if he 
 had decided definitely as to what course he would 
 pursue, Kurk Kaleen advanced and was about to 
 lay his hand upon Bettina s arm, but Bonny, with 
 her white teeth bared, stood there between them, 
 and in the collie s gentle eyes there gleamed a 
 baleful fire that made him pause. The girl 
 instantly, and for her sharply, reproved her pet. 
 The dog turned her golden head supplicatingly 
 toward her and waved the plume-like tail, but did 
 not yield an inch. Thus they stood, man and dog, 
 and eyed each other. At last the man stepped 
 back, for he had wisely arrived at the conclusion 
 that it would be best for him, to do so. Bonny 
 resumed her place at the side of her young
 
 46 GROUNDED 
 
 mistress, and listened quietly, while the young 
 man said: 
 
 " Yours is not the only Irish heart," starting 
 out by addressing the old nurse, "that belongs to 
 Miss Bettina. That is, his gaze found the young 
 girl s face and lingered there, "in case she wishes 
 to possess it." The face his gaze had found was 
 blushing now. "It s lying there, upon the ground 
 before her feet," the blush had made him daring, 
 "and if she cares to keep it all she has to do is to 
 stoop down, and pick it up.
 
 VIII 
 
 " There was once," began old Margaret when 
 one day Bettina, idly thinking to please her old 
 nurse, asked her for a story, a gurrhl who looked 
 enough like you to be yer own twin sister. But 
 her name was only jist plain Betty instid of bein 
 what yer own name is. She had a lover an he was 
 a handsome, black-eyed, curly-headed b y wid a 
 name almost as square an furrin-like as yer name 
 is. Instid of bein a Eyetalyan name it was Frinch 
 an w T as as near like Jake as annythin cud be an 
 not be it, at all, at all. I never cud pernounce it, 
 an so I come as near to it as I cud come, an 
 called him Jake fer short. 
 
 "Wan day Jake fell ferninst anither man as 
 baith of thim were walkin up the street, and baith 
 of thim were only jist a wee bit tipsy. Jake had 
 only jist returned from furrin parts an brought 
 some square, strong, furrin liquor wid him. It 
 made the ither man so mad that he commenced to 
 call Jake names an thin Jake knocked him down. 
 An there they were, the baith of thim a wee bit 
 tipsy, nghtin in the street, whin who should come 
 along but Betty, all dressed up, as clane an nate 
 as if she had but only jist stepped out of a new 
 band-box!" 
 
 This was the crisis, leading on to the conclu 
 sion of the old woman s story, and Bettina seemed 
 both properly amazed and interested, for she had 
 listened to many and knew what was expected of 
 her. l An thin, old Margaret s voice was tremb 
 ling, and her eyes were very wide, for she always 
 acted out some parts of the stories, "Miss Betty 
 
 47
 
 48 GROUNDED 
 
 walked up to her lover, who had a name that was 
 so furrin I always called him Jake, and said to 
 him, spakin very low so that the ither feller cud 
 not hear her, Niver again, she almost hissed it 
 in his ear, will I be seen wid you ! An the nixt 
 toime he saw her she was ridin in her carriage, 
 wid a footman, an a coachman an a coat of 
 arrms!" 
 
 After the old nurse had quite concluded the 
 story about Betty and her lover, Jacques, she said 
 to her young charge impressively: "Black-eyed, 
 curly-headed lovers sometimes do be doin very 
 quare and onixpicted things. They are not always 
 to be trusted, darlin . Tis thrue they do be hand 
 some an enticin , an whin a gurrhl is very young 
 an innercint tis hard for her to understand how 
 (black deceivin they kin be. It was very evident 
 that she was not thinking of Jacques but of an 
 other dark-eyed lover when she added sadly and 
 apprehensively, "I m an auld woman, an I have 
 seen manny gurrhls as young and maybe jist as 
 swate, to thim that love thim, as you be. But 
 niver did I see a gurrhl as smart as you be an 
 yit as innercint. Ye cud be fooled, an ye ve got 
 no wan but me, a ignerent, wake, auld woman. 
 An Bonny, an she is but a dog, although a 
 quick-sinsed, faithful creature to stan bechune 
 ye an a dark-eyed an allurin feller who s got 
 the manners of a gintleman, the beauty of a angel 
 from Hiven itself an , for all I know, me dar 
 lin ," she whispered the last statement and looked 
 cautiously around them when she made it, "the 
 wiles of Satan himsilf." 
 
 "Margaret," Bettina said affectionately and 
 yet with dignity, * you must always remember that 
 Mr. Kaleen is my father s guest, and came into 
 our home upon his invitation."
 
 GEOUNDED 49 
 
 "I do be remimberin that, but I ll be afther 
 askin ye wan question. What does the master 
 of this house, she did not hesitate to speak what 
 ever came into her mind to her wee wan, "know 
 about what s goin on widin it?" 
 
 The girl looked at her old nurse tolerantly but 
 did not answer her. Instead she changed the sub 
 ject altogether. 
 
 "My tutor said today, Margaret, dear, that he 
 thought he would soon be leaving here. But," 
 she hastened to add, for a look of unholy joy be 
 gan to spread itself upon old Margaret s face, 
 "only for a time, as he intends to return after a 
 short vacation. He says," she went on amused 
 ly, l that he is much in need of relaxation because 
 of the strenuous efforts he has been making in 
 behalf of my intellectual advancement. It seems," 
 she ended, putting her brown head down upon 
 the old woman s ample lap, for she was reclining 
 on a low hassock beside the chair in which her old 
 nurse was sitting, "that the conduct of my edu 
 cation is very difficult." 
 
 "It do be seemin ," admitted old Margaret, 
 although as could be plainly seen it was much 
 against her will, "that Barney McCoy has a lot 
 of book eddication, for he do be teachin my wee 
 wan, her crooked old fingers by this time gently 
 stroking the soft brown hair that was beneath 
 them, "some big, quare words the manin of which 
 is dark to me. An yit," as if she felt they were 
 resting on a sure foundation, "somehow it niver 
 seems to me I ought to be correctin ye for usin 
 thim. But, as to his relaxin ," leaving behind her 
 what she did not understand, and with it the re 
 spect that the mental attainments of the, to her, 
 objectionable tutor forced her to give him, "he 
 sure do be needin that if iver anny man cud iver
 
 50 GROUNDED 
 
 need it, for niver army human bein as far as my 
 experience goes, an I am an auld woman, an have 
 seen manny human beings, was iver as stiff, an 
 high-headed an prideful as be he ! An whin he s 
 away, darling unconsciously revealing one rea 
 son why she did not like the tutor, "we will be 
 more togither than we are whin he is here. It do 
 be seeminV the tenderness that was beneath the 
 thick mask of her untrained sentences leaped out, 
 and stood before and quite concealed them, that 
 ivry bone in your swate body is jist as dear to me 
 as whin yer dyin mither may she rest in peace 
 towld me she trusted ye to me. An if," she 
 ended, while her dim old eyes grew fierce with the 
 fierceness of protecting and maternal love, anny 
 man or anny woman should thry to do ye harm, 
 the first thing that wud stan bechune ye an the 
 divilment wud be yer poor auld Margaret s heart, 
 and after that, although I might seem wake, I d 
 back ye up in annything ye d thry to do, for you, 
 softly smoothing the pulsing, glowing velvet of 
 her wee wan s cheek, have grown to be a woman 
 now, an are knowin manny things that yer auld 
 Margaret wud niver have success in larnin ." 
 
 "Margaret, dear," said the girl, resting her 
 folded arms upon the older woman s lap arid rais 
 ing her head, so that she looked directly up into 
 the eyes that lovingly regarded her, "you told 
 me long ago that I must never cross a bridge un 
 til I reached it, and here you are imagining things 
 that never happened, making yourself suffer on 
 account of them ! We are so safe and happy here, 
 just you and I and Bonny, and with my father," 
 pronouncing the word with great respect, "who 
 is always near if we should really require his 
 counsel. It seems to me we ought to be contented 
 and count our blessings over instead of fearing
 
 GROUNDED 51 
 
 things we have not seen and planning what we 
 both would do." 
 
 Old Margaret s eyes were full of unshed tears, 
 and Bonny snuggled closer to the one whose arm 
 still rested on her neck. But as Bettina ceased 
 to speak the old nurse said: "It s jist as safe and 
 swate here now as you have towld it, but what I 
 am af eared of is that it will not be lastin ."
 
 IX 
 
 The absence of Barney McCoy gave to Kurk 
 Kaleen many opportunities that would not other 
 wise have offered. The hours Bettina had been in 
 the habit of spending in the library under the 
 espionage of her officious teacher were still spent 
 in the presence of the written words of many au 
 thors, but under quite a different tutelage than 
 that of her self-absorbed, self-adiniring but harm 
 lessly frank, awkward and unattractive tutor. 
 She was gradually and almost altogether coming 
 more and more beneath the glamorous and be 
 witching spell that Kurk Kaleen was using every 
 means at his command to throw about her. 
 
 One day, after the two young people had been 
 together in the library for some time, the young 
 man suddenly, and without apparently prelimin 
 ary preparation, inquired : Are you so much at 
 tached to your old nurse that, in case you should 
 decide to change your place of residence, you 
 would wish to take her with you!" 
 
 Bettina looked at him, with mild amazement 
 plainly written on her frank, expressive features. 
 
 "Margaret is so much a part of my life," she 
 answered, that I can hardly contemplate the one 
 without the other. If for any reason we should 
 leave our home here which does not seem at 
 present to be very likely she would of course ac 
 company us." 
 
 "I did not mean to ask what you would do if 
 you should leave here with your father, Bettina, 
 his dark eyes compelled her to look into them. 
 1 I wanted to know what you will do when you 
 
 52
 
 GROUNDED 53 
 
 leave here with your husband." The light that 
 gave his passionate, magnetic gaze its power had 
 found an answering flame within her eyes, for her 
 white lids, as if to draw a shielding curtain, began 
 to droop. "Of course you will sometime, and that 
 time I hope is not far distant, be the mistress of a 
 home that is really your own. And when you leave 
 here," the flush of youth and health that usually 
 mantled her soft cheeks had disappeared, "to en 
 ter that home," the color came tumultuously back 
 into her face, "will you, I wonder, care to take 
 your old nurse with you? " 
 
 A picture of old Margaret O Keefe, desolate, 
 left behind, shambling wearily about, sitting be 
 side the empty bed, wandering in loneliness along 
 the dear, familiar paths where they had walked, 
 swept before the inner consciousness of the ten 
 der-hearted girl, and she cried out impulsively: 
 
 1 Of course she would go with me ! How could 
 I have any happiness knowing that she who cared 
 for me when I was helpless and has loved me all 
 my life, was suffering and unhappy!" Her blue 
 eyes flashed with swift and certain condemnation, 
 for the one she was condemning was her imagin 
 ary self. "Why, her whole existence is bound up 
 with mine ! It would be like committing murder 
 for me to go away and leave her here! I don t 
 see how you could, "for the first time in their 
 acquaintance she looked at him reproachfully, 
 "even think of such a thing!" 
 
 He saw that he had gone too far, at least for 
 the time being, and he diplomatically avoided 
 during the balance of that day mentioning either 
 old Margaret s name, or the radical change that 
 he intended would very soon take place in the life 
 of her youthful charge. 
 
 The young man was a practiced, fluent and very
 
 54 GROUNDED 
 
 capable interpreter of written words. Reading 
 aloud was an accomplishment in which he had had 
 much training and one of his principal methods 
 of attack upon a woman s heart had been to shield 
 Ms own feelings behind, while apparently ex 
 pressing them through dramatic scenes in which 
 passionate human love had been graphically, ar 
 tistically and yet naturally portrayed by those 
 who had epitomized upon the printed pages the 
 entire gamut of earthly emotions. In this way it 
 had been possible for him to definitely discover 
 the true feelings of the one he was at the time 
 endeavoring to influence, and yet reserve until he 
 should choose to reveal them, his own real senti 
 ments. 
 
 They had been discussing the works of English 
 novelists and Bettina had declared that among 
 them all the one that most thoroughly understood 
 and vividly described the emotions of the human 
 heart was a writer who, although a woman, chose 
 to use the name of a man George Eliot. Accord 
 ingly, with "The Mill on the Floss" in his hand, 
 the man seated himself beside the girl and with 
 unerring accuracy, as if he had been guided by 
 some mysterious power that was in collusion with 
 him, turned almost instantly to the pages upon 
 which, with masterly artistry, the delineation of 
 Stephen Guest s impetuous declaration of his love 
 for Maggie Tulliver is made. As he read the 
 thrilling sentences his rich, expressive voice vi 
 brated with the feeling that was in them, and 
 Bettina listening to the words of the author 
 somehow almost thought that she herself was 
 Maggie Tulliver, and that he whose voice she 
 heard was Stephen Guest. His eyes now even 
 darker than their wont, from time to time were 
 lifted from the pages, and with compelling mag-
 
 GROUNDED 55 
 
 netism drew her gaze until her eyes, their blue 
 depths dark like clear, unfathomed pools, were 
 looking straight into his own. Once, as he held 
 her spellbound thus, one of his hands, as if with 
 out volition, went out and covered lovingly one 
 of hers that like a little soft, white dove was rest 
 ing on her lap. 
 
 Dear little girl, you know I love you, utterly. 
 You asked me once how I could be sure, having 
 known you for so short a time. "He was by this 
 time holding both of her hands between both of 
 his, for hers were resting like two willing pris 
 oners upon one of his hands, with the other over 
 them. " I 11 tell you now one of the reasons I love 
 you. I ve hunted for and never found until I 
 came here a certain woman, one w r ho would be 
 true as steel no matter what misfortunes would 
 befall or enemies assail me, one whose love and 
 understanding sympathy would never fail, whose 
 pity would wrap itself around me like a warm, 
 soft, shielding cloak so that sickness, sorrow, even 
 disgrace itself could not really touch or harm me 
 and you! Bettina, little innocent unsullied girl," 
 his hands were fairly clinging now to hers, "are 
 the woman for whom I have been searching." 
 You know now, he ended, rising and lifting her 
 so that, hands clasped, they faced each other, "one 
 reason why I love you!"
 
 Walter Wane as a rule saw very little of his 
 household. He had made careful provisions for his 
 daughter s education as well as for her personal 
 well- being after his young wife s untimely death, 
 and he withdrew from the outside world, devoting 
 himself almost entirely to certain lines of research 
 in order to distract his mind from what he con 
 sidered the ruin of his earthly hopes. Connection 
 with the social circle in which he formerly moved 
 was kept up only through correspondence and the 
 decidedly infrequent visits between himself and 
 his old-time friends. Kurk Kaleen s father was 
 one who had never allowed the solitary man to 
 drift out of the range of direct communication, 
 and had from time to time during the past twenty 
 years visited him in his secluded home. Although 
 he had in this way met and very rarely conversed 
 with his old friend s daughter, he had not con 
 sidered it incumbent upon himself to talk with his 
 son concerning her. Hence, the latter was quite 
 unprepared and much surprised to find a matured, 
 self-possessed beautiful young woman in the libra 
 ry on the day that her father had sent him there. 
 
 One day Bettina went into her father s study 
 while his young visitor was in consultation with 
 him to ask about some household matter concern 
 ing which she was in need of his advice. There was 
 a quick exchange of glances between the two young 
 people, and the involuntary blush that swept over 
 his daughter s face made the older man realize for 
 the first time that the little girl had reached a 
 marriageable age. Closely following this know- 
 
 56
 
 GROUNDED 57 
 
 ledge came the possibility of an alliance with the 
 son of a man whom he himself had always liked 
 and respected. This idea was pleasing in more 
 ways than one. He had never really known his 
 daughter very well, and instead of to some extent 
 filling the place that her mother s death had left 
 vacant in his heart, her presence seemed a con 
 stant and not a consoling reminder of his own 
 irreparable loss. Knowing that so far as wealth, 
 refinement and social standing went the young 
 man s family was beyond reproach, realizing that 
 the young man himself, so far as he was able to 
 judge, was one of whom he might be proud, and 
 being well aware that his daughter, in case a union 
 between herself and his young visitor should be 
 effected, would be well provided for, the discovery 
 that he made soon after the girl s appearance in 
 his study was rather gratifying. 
 
 After he had advised with his daughter Mr. 
 Wane looked at her earnestly and said : "I trust 
 you are spending your time profitably, Bettina, 
 during the absence of your tutor. While he is 
 rather peculiar," he went on, addressing the 
 young man, as well as the girl, "he is nevertheless 
 perfectly reliable and very capable, being trust 
 worthy in every particular and really well- 
 educated, although his pronounced egoism makes 
 it somtimes rather difficult to comprehend the 
 fact." 
 
 "If one may judge by results," Kurk Kaleen 
 declared, smilingly regarding Barney McCoy s 
 pupil, "It seems to me that Miss Bettina s tutor 
 must be, beyond question extraordinary." 
 
 The girl s fair face was suffused with blushes, 
 not so much on account of the words as because 
 of the expressive glances that had accompanied 
 and preceded them. Her father regarded her
 
 58 GROUNDED 
 
 quietly and seriously, and at length remarked: 
 I have always considered, my daughter, that you 
 resembled very closely my side of our family ; but 
 today it seems to me that I can begin to see traces 
 of your mother s charming beauty in your face." 
 
 The young man joined his senior in gazing 
 seriously upon the countenance in question, and 
 the girl her sweet lips trembling and her blue eyes 
 humid looked timidly from one to the other 
 showing plainly that she respected as well as 
 admired both her father and his visitor. At length 
 she spoke and her young voice had in its tones 
 a sound that is so seldom found on earth that, 
 when its music falls on human hearing, the 
 hearers, no matter how engaged they may be at 
 the time, pause and listen. 
 
 "I ve always, hoped," looking directly into her 
 father s face, "that I would grow to be at least a 
 little like my mother, because I thought," she hesi 
 tated and looked down, but finally went bravely 
 on, "that maybe, if I did," her gaze again was 
 concentrated upon Mr. Wane, you might perhaps 
 begin to care for me." 
 
 "Bettina," began her father, shaken out of his 
 habitual reserve by the knowledge that she under 
 stood the true state of his feelings toward her, 
 "I have always tried to be to you what, as it has 
 seemed to me, a father should be to a daughter. 
 
 "There is no doubt," she answered proudly, 
 retiring as was her usual custom when in his 
 presence, within herself, that you have fully met 
 every obligation placed upon you. I beg your 
 pardon if I have seemed presumptuous in what 
 I have just said. I do not often," she ended 
 diffidently and as if she wished to excuse herself 
 for a misdemeanor, "speak from impulse. And I 
 am well aware that I should never do so."
 
 GROUNDED 59 
 
 Perhaps we may, her father said rising and 
 drawing near to where she stood, for she was 
 about to leave the room, "after this frank under 
 standing become better acquainted with each other 
 than we have ever been. 
 
 Her eyes were raised and looked into his 
 questioningly. Brought so near to each other, 
 there was a strong resemblance. The young man, 
 who had been watching all that passed, observed 
 this similarity and always afterward remembered 
 it. 
 
 As Bettina left the room, he turned toward his 
 host and said : "I hope you will not think that I 
 am hasty, Sir, in what I am about to say. For 
 some time, I have wished to speak to you about a 
 matter that is to me of the gravest importance, 
 for my whole future hinges upon the outcome. 
 I love your daughter, Mr. "Wane," he rose and 
 stood, tall, handsome, virile, before the other man, 
 devotedly, and I desire above everything else in 
 this world or in any other world to have her for 
 my wife. You know already," practically and 
 reasonably, as if he felt that his credentials would 
 met with his auditor s approval, "the conditions 
 by which I am surrounded, and I do not suppose 
 that you will require other recommendation as to 
 my veracity and ability to make my way than the 
 one that my father will be overjoyed to give to 
 you, for I feel certain, that the proposal that I am 
 about to make would meet with his entire 
 approval. 
 
 "I ask you sir," he ended formally, "for your 
 daughter s hand in marriage."
 
 XI 
 
 One morning not long after the events narrated, 
 there was a knock, not loud and yet insistent, upon 
 the door of Mr. Wane s study. He listened a 
 moment, and as the knock was almost instantly 
 repeated and also emphasized, he rose, and going 
 to the door put his hand upon the knob, when 
 suddenly it was pushed open so that it was neces 
 sary for him to step back quickly in order to avoid 
 collision with it. Bursting in upon him, for she 
 had to "work herself up," as she expressed the 
 mental preparations she had made in order to 
 have sufficient courage to come at all, old Mar 
 garet O Keefe appeared. 
 
 "I could not slape last night, sir, an shure 
 whin I did I dramed such drames as waked me 
 up!" she began, taking up a position in front of 
 the chair in which he had again seated himself. 
 "Twas borne to me, come mornin , that you and 
 I should talk things over bechune ourselves, wid* 
 out me darlin knowin anything about it, for she 
 is only jist a wee wan yit in very manny ways an 
 I an auld woman. An you," looking at him 
 daringly, "although you hav n t often acted much 
 as if you were, are yit her father. 
 
 "Darlin is at prisent in a most peculiar fix. 
 I m wid her almost all the time," she explained, 
 noticing the look of astonishment on his features, 
 "an so I do be knowin manny things that thim 
 as niver is wid her at all might maybe do well if 
 they would be af ther thryin to find out. My wee 
 wan s heart" is bein caught, like manny ither 
 swate wild, innercint young things have been, wid- 
 
 60
 
 GROUNDED 61 
 
 out her knowin what it is that makes her want to 
 go intil the trap now bein set for her. Darlin , 
 is young an strong an beautiful; it may not be 
 that you have noticed, sir, how beautiful she is. 
 She s growin ivery day to look more like her 
 mither , sir, an thin, she s niver been away from 
 home. She is as innercent but not so knowin as 
 her mither, and could be fooled, sir, by what her 
 mither would have seen right through. For she, 
 an may she rest in pace, looking down reverent 
 ly, "although she was so young, was wiser than 
 manny who are aulder. 
 
 "Darlin , sir, has niver even seen a man excipt 
 yourself until jist lately, for no wan in his right 
 mind wud say that that spalpeen who sthruts 
 aroun an says that he s a man so manny times, 
 was railly what he says. You can see yourself, 
 sir, she s niver had a bit of trainin as to what to 
 do wid men. "Pis true ! she s read a lot in books 
 about baith men and women, but men inside of 
 books, as nigh as I can make thim out," old Mar 
 garet had never read a whole book through in all 
 her life, having great difficulty in "making out" 
 a single line of printed matter, are very different 
 indade from thim that are outside of thim. An 
 this wan who s here now is far from bein shut 
 up in a book. He s only jist as much alive as 
 annything I iver saw; he s handsome an allurin , 
 too, an that makes it all the harder on me darlin , 
 for whin a man is handsome an allurin an a 
 woman is young an strong an beautiful, it makes 
 it hard on baith of thim to have good sinse. She s 
 a swate, good girl, sir, as swate an clane an good 
 a girl as ever lived, for I have brought her up 
 mesilf an know what I be tellin of, but" the old 
 woman ended, looking at Mr. Wane knowingly, 
 "she could be fooled, sir she could be fooled."
 
 62 GROUNDED 
 
 "The young man to whom you are referring, 
 Margaret," Bettina s father s tones were serious 
 if not severe, "has asked me for my daughter s 
 hand in marriage, and if he should gain her con 
 sent as well as mine for I have given it, knowing 
 his antecedents very well why then of course she 
 will become his wife. I think, reflectively, that 
 his intentions are entirely honorable." 
 
 I don t know annything at all, at all, declared 
 .old Margaret, "ferninst his anties or his uncles. 
 The baith of thim may be all right for all I know, 
 but he s the only handsome and allurin lover the 
 girlie s iver had. The dog, who is a quick-sinsed, 
 lovin creature, won t make up wid him; an I, 
 who love her like her mither would have done, sir, 
 or like I would have loved my own wee wan, can t 
 bear to see him put his hand ferninst her little 
 fingers. But if I thought that bein his wife wud 
 make her happy, why thin ye d niver hear a peep 
 from poor old Margaret no matter what she suf 
 fered. I wud go wid her, sir, an stay wid her 
 through thick and thin, but I don t feel, somehow, 
 sir, that she wud be happy! An Bonny won t 
 make up wid him, an dogs is often wiser, sir, 
 than they are given credit for. An I can t slape 
 because I am afraid darlin s bein fooled. Whin 
 I do slape," she ended, shuddering so that her 
 heavy body shook as with an ague, "I drame such 
 drames as wake me up agin. 
 
 "I think that we will let these matters take 
 their natural course." Bettina s father had de 
 cided that the old woman s superstitious notions 
 were not worth considering. "My daughter is a 
 woman now and has had the advantage of a liberal 
 education. She should be able to determine, since 
 she is not hampered in any way by any other
 
 GROUNDED 63 
 
 person s wishes, what it would be best for her to 
 do." 
 
 Old Margaret watched him closely and under 
 stood exactly what he meant, although some of 
 his words had been, as she herself would have 
 expressed it, a little "dark" to her; she knew he 
 meant that so far as he was concerned there would 
 be no interference in the matter in which she had 
 just been trying to interest him. But although 
 she knew him to be "set," still she was not^will- 
 ing to retire, although for the time completely 
 vanquished, without making one more effort for 
 the ultimate well-being of her wee wan. 
 
 "I want to ask wan question, sir, before I lave 
 an niver afther this wan toime will I be 
 throublin ye." She came a little nearer, her 
 arms akimbo on her ample hips. "Do you belave 
 that the darlin s mither wud be f eelin only jist as 
 careless as be you, if she could be here wid us 
 now!" 
 
 No one, not even Margaret herself had ever 
 before dared to speak to Mr. Wane in just this 
 way regarding his young wife. It had been al 
 ways understood by all of those who had con 
 versed with him concerning personal matters that 
 there must always be maintained with reference to 
 this one sad and sacred subject the most respect 
 ful and inviolate silence. So now she did not hesi 
 tate, although she was beyond all doubt not only 
 badly frightened but disappointed, for she had 
 hoped that good ground would be gained for her 
 to set her feet upon, and so advance toward the 
 end she longed to reach. She waited for an answer 
 to her question breathlessly; once or twice she 
 opened her pitifully trembling and utterly help 
 less old mouth with the intention to speak to Mr. 
 Wane again, but the austerity of his manner, com-
 
 64 GROUNDED 
 
 bined with the severe accusation that rested in his 
 eyes, forbade it, and at length, overawed, humili 
 ated and crestfallen, she turned and was about to 
 leave the room when she was arrested by the 
 sound of a light, quick footstep approaching the 
 door: 
 
 "Margaret, dear !" called Bettina s fresh young 
 voice, "Margaret, dear, where are you?" 
 
 "Here s yer poor auld Margaret," answered 
 the old nurse, tottering toward the door that the 
 girl held open for her. "Here she is, an bad cess 
 to anything, shaking her fluttering old fist at the 
 air, "that thries to kape her from ye!"
 
 XII 
 
 Kurk Kaleen was both gratified and encouraged 
 by the knowledge that he would meet with no op 
 position. Upheld by this he used every means 
 through which he might secure the consent of the 
 girl whom he wished to marry. Realizing that old 
 Margaret, who could not conceal her real feelings 
 even had she desired to do so, was strenuously 
 and even in her weak way fiercely opposed to him, 
 the young man so far as possible eliminated her 
 from the problem he was trying to solve. This 
 attitude of his mind was even more pronounced 
 with regard to the girl s dumb companion. In 
 pursuance of some plans that he had formulated 
 during the night, he early one morning met Bet- 
 tina and old Margaret as they were about to start 
 upon their customary walk. 
 
 "I think," he said hurriedly, respectfully salut 
 ing the strangely matched but congenial pair, 
 that as I came out I heard someone calling with 
 considerable insistence for Margaret O Keefe," 
 knowing that the lumbering old woman would be 
 almost certain to carefully investigate the imag 
 inary summons, he confidently added, You and I 
 might go on for a little way, Bettina, and if neces 
 sary wait," for the old woman had innocently 
 swallowed the bait that he had thrown out to her 
 and was hurrying toward the house. 
 
 Having thus done away with one of his oppo 
 nents, the young diplomat gracefully and success 
 fully avoided trouble with the remaining one, for 
 Bonny was joyfully conducting the expedition, by 
 speaking in a low, placating tone of voice, and by 
 
 65
 
 66 GROUNDED 
 
 refraining from actual contact with the girl s per 
 son. Having cleared the decks for action he drew 
 near but not too near, as the girl s canine guard 
 had reported for duty, to the dainty and desirable 
 little craft that he intended to capture. 
 
 "Bettina," he began, his low tones lingering 
 over the name, "when I think of what may be in 
 store for us, together, it hardly seems to me that 
 I can wait much longer for you to say, dear little 
 girl, that you will be my wife. 
 
 The girl looked up at him, and although rosy 
 blushes chased each other over her fair face, she 
 did not say the words that, as he had very plainly 
 indicated, he wished to hear. Instead, she brought 
 the conversation back and steered her little craft 
 beyond the danger zone, into which it was about 
 to drift. 
 
 "I ve always loved the great outdoors," she 
 said. "When the air is balmy it is delightful, 
 but when there is a storm I love to brace myself 
 against the wind and feel the rain or snow 
 upon my face. Being outside, beneath the open 
 sky," looking up and around happily, "seems to 
 give me, somehow, both courage and content 
 ment. 
 
 But this, although it was to him, like every 
 thing she said or did, most interesting, was not 
 what he had meant to talk about that morning 
 according to his plans of the night before. And, 
 so, he changed the subject altogether and asked 
 her when she thought her tutor would return. 
 
 " I do not know, she answered, glancing shyly 
 up as if to find the reason for his question, "but I 
 suppose, when he is sufficiently recuperated, he 
 will again take up the arduous work laid down 
 because it had grown burdensome." She smiled 
 a little whimsically and added, * My education has
 
 GROUNDED 67 
 
 been strenuous in many ways for both my tutor 
 and myself. Having but one pupil, he has been 
 obliged to adjust his instructions to that one mind, 
 instead of having had a variety of mentalities to 
 practise upon. While I, the only one to be taught, 
 have had to endure the full, glaring force of the 
 light of his knowledge, which, according to his 
 own statement, is almost if not entirely un 
 limited. 
 
 "Barney McCoy," the young man declared 
 heartily, "has been eminently successful in the 
 performance of his work. I do not blame him for 
 his egotism. Of course, though, he must not be 
 given too much credit, for undoubtedly many of 
 your mental attainments have been acquired in 
 spite of his instructions." 
 
 "It is true," assented the girl, "that I have not 
 strictly followed in every instance the exact lines, 
 of thought into which he has directed me. 
 Alone in my father s library, I have often been 
 proud and thankful for those great mentalities 
 which, through the written words that they have 
 left behind, appealed directly to me. Through 
 their guidance I have found food that has sustain 
 ed and nourished a part of my nature which with 
 out it would have been crippled, if indeed it had 
 not perished utterly." 
 
 He looked at her speculatively, for in every way 
 that was possible for him he was making a study 
 of her. He was wondering what authors had had 
 the most influence in directing the trend of her 
 thoughts, and remembering her predilection for 
 the works of George Eliot, he said: 
 
 "I suppose you know that the author of The 
 Mill On The Floss subjected herself to rather 
 harsh criticism by the liberality of some of her 
 statements, in which she declared herself to be
 
 68 GROUNDED 
 
 against some of the established customs of the 
 time in which she lived, and that consequently 
 her genius was to some extent unappreciated or at 
 least unacknowledged, especially among those 
 whose doctrines she opposed?" 
 
 "So I have been led to understand," replied 
 George Eliot s ardent admirer, "and I have been 
 deeply grieved when I have reflected that such a 
 woman as she was obliged in any degree to be 
 hampered, held back or hurt by lack of under 
 standing, and fanatical bigotry." 
 
 At this point in the dialogue there was inter 
 ruption of a nature not to be denied. Strutting 
 along the public highway, "Armed with a little, 
 brief authority, to quote one of William Shakes 
 peare *s cryptic sentences, the two young people 
 suddenly became aware of the approach of a 
 familiar squatty figure. 
 
 "My dear young lady," announced her tutor as 
 soon as he was within hailing distance, "we must 
 get back to regular, consecutive routine!"
 
 XIII 
 
 When old Margaret O Keefe discovered that 
 Barney McCoy had returned she did not conceal 
 her annoyance, but on the other hand she did not 
 at once enter into conflict with him. In fact, for 
 reasons of her own and for the first time during 
 her acquaintance with him, she was in need of his 
 assistance; being, as she put it, "at her wit s 
 end." She was willing to call for help even from 
 her w r orst enemy. 
 
 In this desperate decision she went one day, 
 when she had reason to believe that the tutor 
 would be alone, to the door of the library, and in a 
 manner that was characteristic, knocked loudly 
 and insistently. After what seemed to her to be 
 some little time, she realized that someone was 
 slowly and stiffly approaching the door from the 
 other side. In spite of her strong resolve concern 
 ing the mission upon which she was bent, her fists 
 began to double up and her arms to set themselves 
 akimbo, for she felt certain that the person then 
 within the room was none other than "that sthrut- 
 tin y spalpeen. As the person in the library came 
 nearer and nearer the door, old Margaret felt as 
 if she were about to suffocate but still she stood 
 her ground. At length a hand was on the knob 
 and very soon the two, from their very natures 
 caustic and embittered foes, were face to face, one 
 with the other. The man stepped back in undis 
 guised astonishment and his right hand closed 
 around the fiery, pointed tuft of whiskers that 
 adorned the middle of his chin. He looked 
 straight at his uninvited guest and she in turn 
 
 69
 
 70 GROUNDED 
 
 looked back at him. He was so much surprised 
 that he was for the time being speechless, and old 
 Margaret, now that she had gained the audience 
 she sought, was from the very force of the 
 emotions that had brought her there temporarily 
 as silent. They eyed each other for a few seconds, 
 and then the tutor, feeling it somehow incumbent 
 on him as the host, broke the ice or set the fire 
 going, as the case might be. 
 
 "To what am I indebted," he began, with the 
 intent to be quite formal but then the unusually 
 pitiful and stricken look upon the ignorant old 
 woman s features appealed to his superior intel 
 ligence. Instead of going on in that strain he 
 switched] to one far milder and more human. 
 "To be brief and come directly to the point, what 
 can I do for you?" 
 
 At the same time he stepped aside and back, 
 and so invited her to enter. This she did gingerly, 
 and for her very quietly. As soon as she found 
 her bearings she enlightened him as to the visit. 
 
 It may seem quare to you that I, a lone widdy 
 woman as ye are knowin me to be, should come 
 here by mesilf to talk wid ye. But it has lately 
 been borne in on me that maybe you and I, be- 
 chune us, might be af ther doin a little bit of good 
 togither, instid of always fightin back and forth. 
 That is," she went on, seeing the look of grand 
 iloquent disdain beginning to assert itself upon 
 the man s otherwise placid, self-satisfied counte 
 nance, "if you should fer once in all yer life be 
 willin to fergit yersilf, sufficient, so as that ye 
 could be afther doin somethin for anither one 
 besides yersilf; an this wan," ignoring the bel 
 ligerent expression that was growing on the 
 tutor s face, "that I ll be afther askin ye to do 
 for, or to tell me how ye think that I could do me-
 
 GROUNDED 71 
 
 silf," for in her trouble she had grown so humble 
 that she d even stoop, as she considered it, to ask 
 advice of him, "is only jist the wan that ye yersilf 
 must care for if it do be possible for ye to care 
 for annythin at all at all, excipt yersilf. The wan 
 that I ll be afther askin ye to help me do for," 
 utter helplessness had superseded, every other 
 expression on her poor old face, "is only jist the 
 swate, an clane, an good, an innercint young 
 gurrhl that ye ve been afther tachin ever since 
 she was a wee wan." 
 
 She stopped then, not so much because she had 
 finished what she had to say as because what 
 she had already said had been too much for her to 
 bear without the shedding of some tears. The 
 corners of her apron were in evidence and as she 
 wiped first one dim eye and then the other, the 
 heart of him who watched her softened, and for 
 the first time during their long and exceedingly 
 stormy acquaintance, the finer feeling that his 
 excessive self-admiration seemed sometimes 
 almost entirely to obliterate took such complete 
 possession of him that he sincerely pitied and 
 desired to bolster up this weaker mortal. With 
 this benevolent and for him unusual intention he 
 said, 
 
 I did not know that the young lady was in need 
 of anyone s assistance. She seems to me in every 
 way quite capable and eminently able to attend in 
 dependently and successfully to her own affairs. 
 Of course, if I could help in any way," he added, 
 for the stricken look was deepening on the old 
 woman s face, "I should be glad, and for that 
 matter proud, to do so. For a pedagogue, no mat 
 ter w^hat position he may hold in life, even if he 
 should be looked upon or even treated as a menial, 
 has always the deepest interest in and the most
 
 72 GROUNDED 
 
 profound desire for the mental and moral ad 
 vancement of his pupil. And, so my good woman, 
 relaxing a little the stiffness of his attitude and 
 relinquishing the oratorical tone, "let me know, 
 if you can do so, in what way I can serve the dear 
 young lady upon whose education I have spent a 
 great deal of my valuable time." 
 
 Old Margaret, having secured once more the 
 conversational floor, immediately took advantage 
 of the opportunity offered. 
 
 "It do be seemin that if we," acknowledging 
 the existence of the partnership that they had 
 tacitly entered into, "don t be afther doin some- 
 thin phutty quick for while he had been talk 
 ing it had been borne on her that she might find a 
 selfish motive for him to act on, after all "ye 
 won t be afther havin anny pupeel to be tachin 
 yer highfalutin notions til! For whin Miss laves 
 this house, an* if we don t be afther sthoppin her 
 she ll do that same, she won t be very apt to take 
 you wid her, no matter how much of a piddler s 
 gob ye be ! "
 
 XIV 
 
 Wihile Barney McCoy was studious and philoso 
 phical, he was at the same time, astute and 
 practical. Being always self-centred, these mental 
 characteristics were particularly active where 
 anything concerning himself was to be considered. 
 He looked down on even while he pitied Bettina s 
 old nurse, and yet her statement with regard to 
 the change that might soon take place in his own 
 affairs found a lodgment in his inner conscious 
 ness. And relieved of her irritating presence, he 
 thought the matter over, and made a definite 
 decision, this mental resolve was succeeded by 
 precision and dispatch. One day not long after 
 the tutor had had his eyes opened, he skillfully, 
 and at the expense of some little exertion, man 
 aged to secure for himself an hour or more of 
 Kurk Kaleen s time. The manner in which the 
 young man attempted to evade strengthened the 
 older one in his determination to have a private 
 interview. Having at length overcome and suc 
 cessfully set aside the opposition that he met, the 
 pedagogue took up his favorite position in the 
 centre of the library, for with diplomatic tact 
 and strategy he had staged the little drama amid 
 surroundings that were familiar to him, with the 
 weapons in the use of which he was adept near 
 at hand. 
 
 "My dear young friend, from certain indications 
 that have come under my observation, I am in 
 clined to believe that you are now or soon will be 
 a suitor for the hand of the young lady to whose 
 education I have been devoting a great deal of my 
 
 73
 
 74 GROUNDED 
 
 valuable time during the past several years." 
 Having made the foregoing statement he paused 
 with the intention of observing what effect his 
 words had had, and feeling satisfied after a 
 cursory examination of his companion s count 
 enance, continued with even more confidence. "I 
 wonder if you having come here from the outside 
 world, where of necessity different standards than 
 those that are militant here govern the general 
 conduct can understand the position that I, a 
 man of education and refinement have been obliged 
 to occupy here among those whose mental attain 
 ments have been, almost directly, in contrast to 
 my own ! I suppose, switching, at this juncture 
 from his customary line of argument, that if you 
 succeed in winning the heart and hand of the 
 young lady whose education I have been conduct 
 ing," the expression of firm determination sweep 
 ing over Kurk Kaleen s handsome features had 
 its influence upon the words that followed, in fact 
 it was, almost directly the cause of them, "she 
 will undoubtedly need as your wife, occupying a 
 position in society to which she will be entirely 
 unaccustomed, the advice and intellectual guidance 
 of someone who is not only familiar with the 
 ways of the world, but also well-versed in the 
 courtesies and amenities of polite society." His 
 cheeks were puffing out and his color was greatly 
 heightened. "And I wish to ask you, as man 10 
 man where you could find anywhere upon the 
 earth a person who is so eminently well-fitted 
 both in theory and practice to act in the capacity 
 of private and social secretary in the interests, 
 and for the benefit, of the lady who will be," 
 for he had decided to throw to the four winds any 
 scruples he once had, having lost sight of every-
 
 GROUNDED 75 
 
 thing except his own possible advantage, "your 
 wife as the one who now stands before you?" 
 
 After his oratorical and dramatic question the 
 little man continued to stand at attention in the 
 exact center of the room, like an animated inter 
 rogation point. At length the one he had ad 
 dressed, seeing no way by which he could diplo 
 matically avoid answering, and feeling that in an 
 affair of the importance of the one under consid 
 eration even the assistance of the self-blinded 
 tutor was not to be despised, cautiously began : 
 
 "My wife herself would of course decide all 
 such matters as the one to which you refer so that 
 I could not definitely at this time engage your 
 services no matter how much I might feel dis 
 posed to do so. However, I might say," he went 
 on, realizing more and more that it would be a 
 good idea to have Barney McCoy on his side, 
 "that so far as I am concerned I see no objec 
 tion to the arrangement that you propose; in 
 fact, the more I think of it it seems to me to be 
 very likely that Bettina," pronouncing the name 
 softly and slowly, "would probably enjoy having 
 someone with whom she had been more or less 
 familiar almost all her life, as a part of her new 
 home." 
 
 He had rambled on with the general idea of at 
 least not offending the one whom he was address 
 ing, and had no idea of the actual effect that his 
 own apparent acceptance of the offer had had 
 upon the author of it. The latter s chest had been 
 protruding more and more, until at the conclusion 
 of the young man s remarks it had swollen to such 
 proportion that the owner seemed either about 
 to burst or to tip over backwards. Stepping brisk 
 ly forward as Kurk Kaleen ceased speaking, he 
 grasped the astonished young man s reluctant
 
 76 GROUNDED 
 
 hand and holding it warmly, almost affectionately, 
 in his own, declared: 
 
 "This is an unexpected, although at the same 
 time an often longed-for pleasure! My dear 
 young friend, you see before you a man who has 
 within the last few moments reached the highest 
 pinnacle of his earthly ambition! It has always 
 been my hope even when assailed by the canker 
 of adversity, even when I have been obliged to 
 occupy, although only temporarily, an almost 
 menial position that some time I would meet and 
 exchange confidences with a human being who 
 would at least in some slight degree approach the 
 intellectual plane that has had the honor to sup 
 port my separate and independent individuality. 
 My dear young friend/ he ended, still clinging 
 to the hand that the young man was constantly 
 but carefully attempting to withdraw, "do not 
 despair! Although the time may seem to you 
 today to be far distant, although your heart may 
 almost fail you, do not allow the flame of hope to 
 die within your breast. For it may be when, of 
 course I cannot say that through intimate, daily 
 association and mutual, intelligent endeavor, I 
 may be able although doubtless at the expense 
 of almost superhuman energy to raise you, per 
 chance, to a new level.
 
 XV 
 
 Bettina felt free when occasion required her to 
 consult with her father concerning matters that 
 would from their nature be submitted to his judg 
 ment, but she very seldom talked with him about 
 her own personal affairs. However, it seemed to 
 her that anything that would make as radical a 
 change in the household as her departure from it 
 should at least be mentioned to its natural and 
 nominal, as well as actual, head ; and the girl was 
 seriously considering what was being almost con 
 stantly forced upon her attention. Her old nurse, 
 in case she herself had been disturbed by one of 
 her "distressin^ drames," did not hesitate to ap 
 pear beside her wee wan s bed at any unknown 
 hour of the night, and almost invariably the thing 
 that had crept in between her and restful sleep 
 had something to do with the "handsome an al- 
 lurin " young man whose visit to his father s 
 friend was being prolonged indefinitely. While 
 Bettina s lover himself did not fail to take advan 
 tage of every opportunity to further his own cause 
 so that the young woman, even had she desired 
 to do so, was unable to remove from her mental 
 horizon the possibility of her marriage. She had 
 not yet mentioned it to her father, although Kurk 
 Kaleen had in his own way informed her that he 
 had given his consent to their union. Hence one 
 morning with a strange feeling of aloofness from 
 her former self and the reasons that had hitherto 
 prompted the infrequent demands upon her fath 
 er s time, she went to his study, and finding him 
 alone and apparently unengaged, seated herself 
 
 77
 
 78 GROUNDED 
 
 in the chair that he courteously indicated and 
 without prelude or excuse began: 
 
 "I understand, Father/ her sweet voice car 
 essed the title, "that you have already been in 
 formed of a possible change that may soon occur, 
 and that you have given it your approval. My 
 going away would, to some extent, affect your 
 daily life.* 
 
 He looked up then, and as their glances met he 
 saw within her eyes a repetition of his own calm, 
 exclusive mental attitude toward all that was 
 around him. 
 
 "Of course," she went on reasonably, "you 
 would be relieved of much that must be now, and 
 perhaps has often, been more or less a burden to 
 you. With me away," the smile that rested on 
 her features was a little forced, "you would not 
 need a tutor or a nurse, and I have been wonder 
 ing whether, if I should decide to go, I could take 
 Margaret with me ; or if you would desire to keep 
 her here so that she might continue the little 
 household duties that she has for years considered 
 to be her own." 
 
 She stopped and her father, leaning forward, 
 his forehead on his hand, looked down as if ab 
 sorbed in earnest thought. At length, as if he 
 had come to some definite conclusion, he raised 
 his head and regarded his daughter, who in turn 
 was patiently and expectantly waiting. 
 
 Bettina, I have given my sanction to the offer 
 of marriage that Kurk Kaleen has made because 
 so far as I can see he is in every way fitted to be 
 your husband. You yourself, without let or hin 
 drance, and without undue influence one way or 
 the other, must decide as to whether at this time 
 you desire to marry. And if so whether or not 
 you would wish to marry him. There is no one
 
 GROUNDED 79 
 
 else who is wise enough or who, so far as that goes, 
 possesses the right, to settle such a question as 
 this. The matrimonial experience of one person, 
 <pr for that matter of any number of persons, is 
 no criterion, for each person has his individual 
 characteristics and the union of any two sets of 
 personal peculiarities may or may not be fortu 
 nate. Prejudices and superstitious notions," he 
 continued, for old Margaret s whirlwind opposi 
 tion to the proposed marriage had affected him 
 somewhat, although in her presence he had not ad 
 mitted the fact, * * should be entirely set aside when 
 considering a question as serious as the one we 
 .are discussing. But, as I have already mentioned, 
 your action or refusal to act is something for you, 
 and you alone, to decide upon. As to taking your 
 old nurse with you in case you conclude to enter 
 a home of your own, she would without doubt wish 
 to accompany you wherever you would go, and as 
 you have almost invariably humored her slightest 
 whim, it is very likely that old Margaret O Keefe 
 would follow in your footsteps. So, my daughter, 
 I leave this matter entirely in your hands, for it 
 concerns you as deeply and intimately as it can 
 concern no one else." 
 
 Realizing that he would not in any way assist 
 her in making her momentous decision, and feel 
 ing she thoroughly understood the position he had 
 taken, the girl arose and going near him, stood 
 beside his chair and looked calmly and deliber 
 ately at him. This was an attitude that she had 
 many times assumed when, as a little child, she 
 had been sent by her old nurse to say good-night. 
 So she stood now, a woman, it is true, and yet 
 as much a little child in very many ways as she 
 had ever been. Her isolated life, her utter lack of 
 experience as girls of her age have almost always
 
 80 GROUNDED 
 
 had, her freedom from the influences of associa 
 tions with anyone except her father all these and 
 many other unusual, coiitribubting conditions 
 combined to make her morally a child-like woman, 
 one whose heart was free from guile, hypocrisy 
 or any foul uncleanliness. Her tastes led her 
 where fair flowers, in nature and in literature, 
 were blooming, where noble thoughts were spread 
 in language that she understood, upon the pages 
 of the book. And he who sat there in that chair 
 observed that this was so. Yet he did not say 
 the things he might have regarding the great 
 change that she was contemplating ; he did not ask 
 her if she loved the man to whom he had given 
 his own consent provided she gave hers; he did 
 not try to take her mother s place, to frankly talk 
 with her. She did not understand what marriage 
 meant and he could not have told her what it 
 meant if he had tried. And so Bettina Wane stood 
 there beside her father s chair, a little child and 
 yet a woman, and said to him : 
 
 "I want to ask you one thing, Father, before I 
 go for it may be that I shall go. Two pairs 
 of steady eyes were gazing, one into the other. 
 "Is it because my dear young mother died in 
 bringing me into the world that you have never 
 cared for me?" 
 
 He threw his folded arms upon the table, bowed 
 his head upon them, and sadly, in a muffled voice 
 she heard him say: 
 
 "Bettina, my poor child I do not know!"
 
 XVI 
 
 There is in human life a more or less symmetri 
 cal sequence of events. This sequence seems to 
 be inevitable, and is almost always clothed in 
 mystery. What sometimes seems a separate, in 
 dividual circumstance is often really the result of 
 what has gone before. It is not always possible 
 to trace preliminary proceedings that lead up to 
 and cause what seem to be mere happenings, for 
 human beings are but finite, with intellectual limi 
 tations that render them incapable of following 
 the infinitesimal ramifications which as imper 
 vious to the meddlesome manipulations of mortals 
 as are the gossamer threads of sunbeams fit into 
 each other and with eventual equalization govern 
 earthly affairs. 
 
 Nature s laws partake sufficiently of the omnip 
 otence of Him, Who, in the beginning, put them in 
 motion, so that they cannot with impunity be set 
 aside by those who come beneath their ruling. 
 The breaking of any one of nature s laws, particu 
 larly if one individual infringes even slightly upon 
 the rights and privileges of another, brings about 
 its own consequential punishment, although the 
 latter may be long delayed. 
 
 Kurk Kaleen decided that he wanted and must 
 have, regardless of whatever might attempt to in 
 terfere, complete possession of the fair young 
 girl in accordance with the laws of man and with 
 the sanction of the church. He took into account 
 his own desires first and foremost for his own 
 desires were powerful and he had given them 
 almost invariably free rein, so that they had 
 
 81
 
 82 GROUNDED 
 
 - v - .- . -y^/ , 
 
 grown stronger as he had grown older, until they 
 really ruled his life. These mainsprings that 
 moved him to action were not always ignoble, or 
 base ; had they been so, the innocent and unsoph 
 isticated charms of face and form and mind of 
 the daughter of his father s old friend would not 
 have appealed to him just as they did. But he 
 would not have longed to hold her in his arms and 
 kiss her virgin lips, as he had never longed for 
 anything before; he would not have been willing 
 to sacrifice his own ambitions in order to at 
 tain to the position that he coveted; he would 
 not have looked forward with joy and glad 
 ness to the time when he could take the one who 
 once had been Bettina. Wane into his former home, 
 among his old-time friends, and introduce her as 
 his chosen earthly companion. He had always 
 been, since he had reached the age of manhood, 
 both "handsome an allurin ," and had been 
 sought after both by managing mothers and by the 
 ones they managed. Although his heart had been 
 more than once deeply touched, it had not gone 
 entirely beyond his own control until he had vis 
 ited the large and well-selected library of Walter 
 Wane. 
 
 The fact that Bettina kept him at a distance, 
 even when she was alone, only made him more 
 persistent and more determined. One day, after 
 having arranged matters to his own satisfaction 
 with reference to the many hindrances that had 
 been often in his way, he was seated comfortably 
 and very cosily upon the couch, among the many 
 cushions where he had first seen the girl. He 
 had expected that she w r ould soon come into the 
 room. She was surprised to find him there, for 
 she was not acquainted with the plans that he 
 had made, and startled, stepped back quickly as
 
 GROUNDED 83 
 
 if about to go away, her blue eyes wide and won 
 dering. He rose at once and intercepted her, plac* 
 ing himself between her and the door. She looked 
 around as if to find some way by which she might 
 escape. 
 
 Observing closely the expression of her face, the 
 young man said, "Dear little girl, do not be 
 afraid ! You are safer here alone with me than 
 in any other position you might occupy, because 
 you are with one who would defend you with his 
 life. You are with one who loves you more than 
 he loves memories of the past, all that he is pos 
 sessed of now, all his hopes and his ambitions for 
 the future more than the whole wide world with 
 out you more, far more, than his own life, him 
 self. " He came a little nearer and placed the 
 fingers of one hand gently, reverently, upon her 
 shoulder, and looked down into her face. For a 
 long moment they stood thus, these two young 
 beings with almost all of human life before them, 
 and they knew that they were standing at a door 
 which, once passed through, would close and shut 
 from them forever what they were then. The girl 
 shrank back, as if she did not wish to pass beyond 
 but the man moved yet a little nearer as he whis 
 pered, "Do not be afraid, Bettina. I love you, 
 and I know that you love me ! 
 
 Bettina Wane was every whit a woman, strong, 
 affectionate, warm-blooded, one in whom the 
 latent forces of her nature had rested pure, un 
 tarnished, unaroused. She herself had no concep 
 tion of the passionate, electrical attraction that 
 lay dormant, without form or feeling, in her 
 nerves, and in her blood, beneath her soft, smooth 
 skin, within the deep, unfathomed pools of blue 
 that were her eyes, in the vibrant, trembling tones 
 of her young voice and all, all waited only for
 
 84 GROUNDED 
 
 answering forces of equal intensity to become at 
 once things of life, masterful and mystifying, 
 sweeping every other sentiment, principle or feel 
 ing on and ever on before its own resistless might. 
 This that was within her had never been depleted 
 or in any way misused, and when it was for the 
 first time in all her strong unsullied life called 
 forth, it became at once the paramount and con 
 trolling power of her whole being. She did not 
 know the meaning of this force, nor where the 
 tide would carry her, but she did know that when 
 Kurk Kaleen whispered to her not to be afraid 
 she had never felt as safe, as buoyant and as free 
 as she did then. 
 
 His arms went round her and one of his strong, 
 supple hands was placed beneath her chin, so that 
 her face was raised to meet his own, pale intense, 
 compelling, bending above it. Her sweet, soft 
 lips that never yet had touched the lips of any 
 man were quivering beneath his virile mouth. Her 
 lover half lifted and half led the girl until she was 
 reclining on the couch, among the many cushions 
 that were waiting to receive her. Kurk Kaleen 
 knelt down upon the floor before her, and looking 
 up into her face exclaimed: 
 
 You must know now, Bettlna, that we two were 
 intended for each other!" 
 
 He bowed his head until it rested on her lap, 
 and when he felt her fingers on his hair he knew 
 that she had answered him, and that her answer 
 had been yes.
 
 XVII 
 
 Old Margaret and Bettina started out one morn 
 ing rather earlier than usual, for ever since the 
 girl had indeed been a wee wan her old nurse 
 had taken her out into the morning air, believing 
 that through this and other means that she em 
 ployed her charge would grow to be a strong and 
 healthy woman. As they walked along the well- 
 known path the younger woman looked search- 
 ingly at the one who trudged beside her. And 
 after a few moments spent in earnest reflection, 
 remarked as if casually: 
 
 "It may be, Margaret, dear, that you and I will 
 not be traveling over this familiar road much 
 longer. 
 
 The old woman cringed as if she had received 
 a blow that, while not unexpected, was hard to 
 bear. But straightening up and squaring her un- 
 wieldly shoulders as if a heavy burden had been 
 laid upon them, she presently replied : 
 
 "Wheriver it is that ye 11 be afther goin , dar- 
 lin , ye 11 foind auld Margaret along wid ye. All 
 yer life she s followed afther whin yer little, tod- 
 dlin feet went totterin an slow, an whin ye 
 learned to walk an run. An now, me own, I ve 
 long been manin to tell ye something I have niver 
 mintioned yit to annyone. Whin I was young my 
 skin was only jist as fair as yours be now. My 
 cheeks were always rosy an I was not so heavy. 
 I was only jist as light and quick to move as ye 
 are yersilf. It may seem quare to you, but whin 
 I was as I ve been afther tellin ye I had a lover 
 as handsome an allurin as this young man who s 
 
 85
 
 86 GROUNDED 
 
 stayin here wid us. I liked his looks an liked 
 his ways, an liked the things he said til me about 
 mesilf. An so wan day that I ll be always well 
 remimberin , I went wid him an stood there by 
 the side of him as innercint an unbeknownst as 
 iver anny ninny cud; an listened tremblin an 
 afraid, an yit as happy as a queen, til the praste. 
 An niver did I hear a single word he said, but 
 whin he had stopped talkin for a praste is very 
 free wid words an this wan used that day some 
 that have iver since been dark to me Tim 
 
 Keef e, bad cess til him, grabbed hold of me wid 
 hands as soft and gin tie as a cat s paws is whin 
 she is only jist about to swallow down a innercint 
 an unsuspicted mouse, an says til me, says Tim 
 O Keefe, My dear, swate gurrhl! My darlin 
 wife ! An that was quite the wan last toime that 
 Tim O Keefe towld me I was swate or yit his 
 darlin ." 
 
 " Margaret, dear," said Bettina, pityingly, 
 "you ve often told me that you are a widow; 
 your husband hust have died while you were still 
 quite young." 
 
 "He may be livin yit, an doin damage yit, 
 for all that I ll be afther knowin ! Darlin ," she 
 went on tenderly, looking with steadfast affection 
 at the girl, darlin , ye are as innercint as I whin 
 
 1 married Tim O Keefe. Ye ve niver had no 
 trainin whin it comes to men, howiver much that 
 spalpeen may have taught ye about books. Tim 
 O Keefe," reverting to her own experience, "af 
 ther tellin me that I was swate wint right on 
 tellin gurrhls that they was swate, the same as 
 he d been doin before ever he towld me that I 
 was his darlin wife. An wan day, afther there d 
 been black trouble brewin for some time bechune 
 us, he wint away. An niver do I hope to see his
 
 GROUNDED 87 
 
 handsome an allurin face again in this world, 
 or in anny ither!" 
 
 Bettina, who had never even heard of such 
 "black trouble/ hardly knew just what to say, 
 and so they both were silent. Bonny came and 
 walked between them, as silent as they. It was 
 as if the three were thinking over all that had been 
 said and trying to decide just what to do. The 
 dog looked up first at one face and then the other. 
 They had been walking three abreast for some 
 time, when suddenly the hair upon the back of 
 Bonny s neck began to stiffen, and she uttered a 
 low, protesting growl, at the same time changing 
 her position so that Bettina was between old 
 Margaret and herself. Then and only then the 
 two women heard a quick, light step approaching, 
 The girl s face grew as rosy as the dawn, and 
 although old Margaret did not growl it could be 
 seen that she too would have been most willing 
 to have done so. As Kurk Kaleen came up he 
 smilingly advanced until he was beside Bettina, or 
 as nearly as he could be with Bonny there between 
 them. It could be seen that he was much annoyed 
 by the dog, for he looked at her and scowled. 
 Then he looked away and bit his lower lip. At 
 length old Margaret, mindful of this little by-play 
 and thoroughly enjoying it, remarked: 
 
 "It do be seemin that we are not used to havin 
 gintlemen aroun , me darlin . Bonny niver pays 
 attintion to yer piddler s gob," both of the young 
 people looked at her in amazement, but she, feel 
 ing that she had referred to Barney McCoy with 
 distant dignity because she used her interpreta 
 tion of a title of which he was evidently very 
 proud, went blithely on, "but thin she knows as 
 well as I do that he is not a gintleman." 
 
 The young man had every reason to believe that
 
 88 GROUNDED 
 
 the girl s feeling for him was far more than 
 friendly, and he ventured to voice a mild remon 
 strance. 
 
 "Do you suppose, Bettina, that this dog will 
 become accustomed to me, or will you have to 
 choose between us?" Bonny knew that he d re 
 ferred to her, and from his manner also knew that 
 the reference was not friendly. Also he had in 
 gratiatingly come a little nearer to her mistress, 
 and the dog displayed two unbroken rows of 
 strong white teeth, and at the same time looked 
 fiercely at him. 
 
 "I don t see how, Bettina, if you care for me 
 as I believe you do, you can tolerate her attitude 
 toward me!" 
 
 The girl looked down at Bonny, keeping pace 
 with her as she had done at some time during 
 almost every day for many years, and the dog 
 looked up, returning her affectionate regard with 
 interest as she waved her plume-like tail. 
 
 The girl was evidently perturbed, and finally 
 she said: "I do not understand why she feels 
 toward you as she surely seems to. I hope that 
 we," blushing shyly, "will be able to teach her 
 that you are her friend as well as mine. She has 
 been with me ever since she came into this world 
 and she has never before shown a decided an 
 tipathy to any human being. She loves me dear 
 ly and," courageously, "I love her." 
 
 He came a little nearer to Bettina in spite of 
 Bonny s protest; and stretching out one hand was 
 about to lay it gently on her arm when the collie 
 leaped up lithely and closed her teeth upon his 
 fingers. Instantly his anger flamed and in a cold, 
 metallic voice he said: "I see that you will have 
 to choose, Bettina. I do not think this brute and 
 I will ever be good friends."
 
 XVIII 
 
 "It do be seemin , sir," said old Mlargaret one 
 day when she had cornered Kurk Kaleen, "that 
 no matter how ye thry ye are goin to have a hard 
 job on yer hands if ye iver do succeed in makin 
 up wid Bonny. A dog is a quare creature, sir. 
 I knew wan once that took a notion ferninst a 
 man who wanted to become a number of the fam 
 ily that the dog was in. The man was careless- 
 like and didn t thry to make up wid the dog, an 
 wan day," carefully watching her victim, "the 
 two of thim come togither, the baith of thim at 
 the same toime, to where the one they baith loved 
 was standin . The man stretched out only wan 
 hand, she could see that her listener was becom 
 ing more and more interested in spite of himself, 
 "an the dog grabbed his fingers in its mouth. 
 An from that day the dog an man hated each 
 ither worse than poison-ivy, an niver wud make 
 up wid each ither. An the reason of it, sir, was 
 only jist that the dog had had a taste of blood," 
 looking sharply at a scratch on the back of the 
 young man s hand, "and there was hatred be- 
 chune the owner of the blood an the dog that had 
 got a taste of it." 
 
 "Do you think," the young man asked, for he 
 had really had a great deal of anxiety about this 
 matter, that your young mistress will insist upon 
 taking this vicious brute," with scornful empha 
 sis, "into her new home I" 
 
 "Ye do be askin the only wan in all this house 
 who cud be tellin what ye want to know, sir." 
 Her questioner had pleased her for the first time 
 
 89
 
 90 GROUNDED 
 
 during their acquaintance by deferring to her 
 judgment. "Yis! I niver did belave, sir, in usin 
 more words than is essintial. I knew wan woman 
 who wud talk and talk and talk, and niver be 
 afther tellin annything at all, at all. She was an 
 auld woman, sir, as auld as I mesilf an as I 
 have said to me darlin manny times, if age don t 
 bring ye sinse, what will?" 
 
 "Wjhat makes you think that she will want to 
 take the dog with her? When a woman goes from 
 her father s house she generally leaves behind 
 all her childish playthings." 
 
 "Ye don t be afther knowin me darlin yit, at 
 all, at all. Whin she says she loves annything she 
 manes it. She told yersilf, sir, whin I was stand- 
 in by, that she loves Bonny. An the dog loves 
 her, sir, as annyone can see. My girlie s heart is 
 very tinder, sir ; why, whin she was not more than 
 a wee wan, I wud sometimes be missin her an 
 whin I d foind her for I niver rested widout 
 doin only jist that same she d be thryin to 
 make some poor thing happier than she thought 
 that it could be widout her. She niver did care 
 much for playthings like ither wee wans do," go 
 ing to the latter part of the remark that she had 
 given him time to make, "for maist of thim as 
 soon as they can grab will shake a rattle or pound 
 on annything that they can reach, to make a noise. 
 For they seem to think, sir, the maist of wee wans 
 do, that they were sent into this world only jist 
 for divilment and throuble, an they turn their 
 main attintion to the makin of the same. Young 
 people sildom realize whin they do be thinkin of 
 startin up a family, how many different kinds 
 of throuble bechune the wee wans an theirsilves 
 they do be layin up. There was a young man 
 once who had iverything that annyone cud wish,
 
 GROUNDED 91 
 
 excipt one thing. He wint wan day an give 
 iverything he had for the wan thing that he 
 wanted, an took it home wid him. An whin he 
 started to take it through his door he saw that 
 there was nothing there at all at all, for ivery 
 thing he had he d give for his wan thing. So the 
 young man wint an asked the praste to tell him 
 what to do. The praste attimpted to console him,* 
 as prastes maist always do, by findin all the fault 
 wid him that he could find ; he told him iverything 
 he d done was wrong an that it was too late to 
 make it right, an thin he told him only jist to go 
 some\vhere an cross himsilf, an say his prayers 
 an make the best of it. An T so," she ended, 
 looking straight at Kurk Kaleen, who flinched and 
 looked away, whin a young man thinks that he 
 must have a certain thing to make him happy, 
 sometimes the thing he thinks he wants is only 
 jist the very thing that will, whin it belongs til 
 him, take iverything he had before away from 
 him an fill his life wid misery ! 
 
 But the young man to whom she spoke was dif 
 ferently minded, as could be seen by the expres 
 sion on his face, and when old Margaret s almost 
 ceaseless flow of utterly inadequate and self- 
 repeating language stopped, he hastened to fill in 
 the pause: 
 
 * I only wanted you to tell me what you thought 
 about the dog. I did not ask for your opinion of 
 our marriage which," he ended, regarding her 
 with sternness not unmixed with animosity, "will 
 very soon take place." 
 
 Defeat, and resignation to what she could not 
 change were plainly written on the poor old 
 woman s flabby features. They visibly sagged 
 down, while her poor old heart was evidently 
 shriveled by the white-hot javelin that her tor-
 
 92 GROUNDED 
 
 mentor gladly thrust into it; and he twisted it 
 around within the wound that he had made by 
 adding cruelly: "My wife will not be apt to take 
 into the home that I will make for her anything 
 that she has here, as I am well prepared to fur 
 nish her with all that she will need. 
 
 But he had gone too far with the old nurse ; her 
 motherly instincts were up in arms at once. The 
 fear and weakness that had quite concealed her 
 courage left her face and falling, as if it had been 
 but a mask, revealed the latent fierceness that the 
 wild things of the forest feel when danger is 
 threatening their young. Rising to her feet, she 
 advanced heavily, determinedly upon him, her 
 arms akimbo, her dim blue eyes ablaze : 
 
 "There do be wan thing that me darlin will 
 take wid her whereiver she may go, no matter 
 who or what may be wid her, as long as this old 
 heart that ye have thried to break kapes batin ! 
 There do be wan thing that will always stand 
 bechune her an annything that thries to do her 
 harm even wid her own consent! Me poor wee 
 wan is so innercint, so clane, an swate an un- 
 suspicted that she might be afther walkin right 
 straight intil a trap! But I," now she sobbed, 
 "will go along wid her no matter what she walks 
 intil! An thin," she cried, "bad cess til him, 
 whoiver he may be if he do be prepared to fur 
 nish her wid coachmen an wid footmen, an wid 
 kerridges an coats of arms if he should iver 
 make me poor girl suffer !
 
 XIX 
 
 One day after Walter Wane and his visitor had 
 been engaged in earnest conversation for some 
 time concerning various matters, the latter sud 
 denly and yet with evident premeditation said : 
 
 Sir, I wish to apprise you formally of the fact 
 that your daughter has given her consent to our 
 marriage." 
 
 The older man received the announcement 
 quietly, and yet it could be seen that he was deep 
 ly stirred. Leaning forward, he stretched out his 
 right hand, upon the upward-turning palm of 
 which his visitor immediately placed his own. The 
 two men looked silently into each other s eyes for 
 a long moment; then Mr. Wane allowed his eye 
 lids to droop and with bowed head, in a voice that 
 trembled with emotion, said: 
 
 "She has, for twenty years, been the chief con 
 sideration of my whole existence. With her elim 
 inated from it, the problem of my life remains 
 indeed unsolved. My being here upon the earth 
 has always been to me a mystery; my daughter s 
 care and education were duties plainly placed 
 upon me and insofar as I have been able, I have 
 performed them. With her marriage these duties 
 come automatically to an end, although of course 
 I should always be willing to consult with her 
 concerning the conduct of her life. But the daily 
 routine that has gone on here for years, for her 
 sake, will cease when she leaves my home to enter 
 yours. This naturally will affect me greatly, so 
 much so," he ended, slumping down in his chair, 
 so that he suddenly appeared prematurely old and 
 
 93
 
 94 GROUNDED 
 
 feeble, "that I cannot now determine how I shall 
 be able to proceed at all." 
 
 Kurk Kaleen regarded his companion with 
 wonder, for he had not been prepared to witness 
 such a display of emotion on the part of the re 
 served and almost taciturn man. At last, as if 
 wishing to brighten the prospect ahead of the 
 older man, he declared: 
 
 "We shall have need of your companionship and 
 advice without doubt very often, for we are both 
 young and in many ways entirely inexperienced. 
 
 The older man smiled sadly, as if he fully un 
 derstood the attitude the other had assumed, and 
 the reason. 
 
 Since my daughter s birth my own experience 
 has not extended very far beyond the walls of my 
 home. Prior to that event, however, I mingled 
 rather widely with my fellowmen, having as an 
 incentive the carrying on of a study in which at 
 the time I was much interested, a study that even 
 now occasionally I long to complete. In order to 
 gratify this studious desire a great deal of travel 
 ing was necessary, both in my own country and 
 beyond. In this way my acquaintance with human 
 nature became more extensive than it would other 
 wise have been and I was able, almost at a glance, 
 to divide men into certain classes with such ac 
 curacy that I was very seldom deceived in them 
 upon further acquaintance. However, as you are 
 well aware, it is the exception that proves the rule, 
 .and so it was in my own case. After years de 
 voted to the study to which I have referred, I was 
 enabled to perceive, far in advance of me, vast, 
 apparently unlimited vistas of thought through 
 which, as it seemed to me, I might wander. 
 
 The young man regarded his host with the re 
 spect to which, as he had long understood, he was
 
 GROUNDED 95 
 
 entitled. It had been explained to him that the 
 father of the woman he was about to marry had 
 sacrificed, smothered, or at any rate held in check, 
 a most absorbing and decidedly worthy ambition 
 in the pursuit of which there was very little com 
 petition on account of the strenuous and unusual 
 preparation, as well as subsequent exertion, 
 necessary in order to overlook the development 
 of the life for which the woman he loved had 
 given hers. As he looked at his companion, the 
 clear, strong light that is the light of illuminating 
 understanding broke in upon him and glorified 
 the vision of his inner consciousness, so that he 
 realized as he had never done before what that 
 long-suppressed and closely shut-in ambition had 
 meant to the lonely, self -disciplining student. With 
 the wider knowledge that had just been bestowed 
 upon him came also a deeper sympathy that went 
 below his own desires, and stirred within his na 
 ture feelings of which he had never before been 
 conscious. Moved by these masterful and hither 
 to unknown forces, he laid one hand over the hand 
 of his host as it rested on the arm of his chair, 
 and without any thought of possible results for 
 himself, in a low and earnest tone of voice said: 
 
 "It may be that these years of seemingly en 
 forced quiet and almost utter solitude were as 
 necessary to the perfection and ultimate comple 
 tion of the work upon which your youthful energy 
 was expended as were the years of activity that 
 preceded them." 
 
 Mr. Wane leaned forward as the other man, re 
 moving his hand from his, sat once more erect, 
 and placing the tips of his fingers upon his vis 
 itor s knee, took up the thread of conversation 
 where the latter had dropped it: 
 
 "It is true that psychical advancement is so
 
 96 GROUNDED 
 
 mystifying that it is quite beyond the comprehen 
 sion of the ordinary, indifferently trained intel 
 lect. It may be, as you have hinted, I had gained 
 all that, for the time being, I was fitted to receive 
 from almost constant contact with my fellow-men 
 that I needed time for deep reflection upon what 
 had already come under my observation ; also, that 
 it had become necessary for me to fix my atten 
 tion upon my own inner consciousness simply 
 make a study of myself. But why a mentality in 
 every way as capable and eager as my own had to 
 be obliterated so far as earthly affairs are con 
 cerned has been to me a horrifying and unanswer 
 able question. " 
 
 Kurk Kaleen became aware, and even then but 
 dimly, of the depth and vitality of an exclusive, 
 all-absorbing material love. It was in many ways 
 beyond his comprehension, in spite of the fact 
 that he himself was at the time experiencing an 
 entirely new and strange, to him, humility. He 
 was moved to speak intimately. 
 
 "The fact that your daughter, sir, without 
 doubt inherited many of your unexampled traits 
 of character, as well as your noble and uplifting 
 tendencies toward the contemplation of higher 
 and broader fields of thought, may to some extent 
 explain the self-effacing, reverential, even ador 
 ing devotion that she has, much to my surprise, 
 aroused in me."
 
 XX 
 
 After the return of Barney McCoy, Bettina 
 again began to study. In fact, the mere presence 
 of the fussy, oneidea d pedagogue inhibited the 
 devotion of that portion of her time to any other 
 purpose. He always mapped out for his pupil 
 a yearly course of study, which he invariably sub 
 mitted to his principal, Bettina s father, for suit 
 able provision for an annual vacation, he system 
 atically and strenuously insisted upon following it 
 out, letter by letter, precept by precept. This 
 method established a daily routine which, as he 
 believed, laid the foundation for healthy, vigor 
 ous mental growth, not only because it regularly 
 added new and practical, as well as idealistic 
 knowledge to that already laid away in the men 
 tal storehouse of the person under training, but 
 also because in this way the forces of the mind 
 were almost continually being called into action. 
 In spite of the knowledge he had already received, 
 with regard to the girl s probable marriage 
 since his employer had not yet notified him that he 
 no longer required his services he went on with 
 his work as he had done for many years, efficient 
 ly, even if also vaingloriously. 
 
 One day as Bettina quietly entered the library 
 where her tutor had already established himself 
 at his desk, with a long line of ponderous volumes 
 drawn up in front of him, she observed that he 
 was unusually nervous and absent-minded, for 
 while he acknowledged her entrance by his cus 
 tomary curt, officious greeting, he did not follow 
 it up with admonitions as to her memory on the 
 
 97
 
 98 GROUNDED 
 
 work of the preceding day, or even forecast the 
 work that they were then about to do. Instead 
 he gazed at her with an anxiety which he was evi 
 dently trying to conceal beneath an air of seren 
 ity. She came and stood beside his desk, as she 
 had done on many previous occasions, waiting for 
 him to take the initiative with regard to the les 
 sons that she had prepared for his inspection. 
 The little man was seemingly much perturbed, 
 and very much in doubt ; so much so that it finally 
 became necessary for him to leave his chair and 
 take up his position in the center of the room. 
 Here, having steadied himself as usual by firmly 
 taking hold of the fiery, pointed tuft of whiskers 
 that grew in the middle of his chin, he oratorically 
 and yet somewhat hesitatingly began : 
 
 My dear young lady, you are approaching an 
 important and a decidedly unique turning-point 
 in your life. Thus far in our acquaintance I have 
 been engaged solely in furthering your intellectual 
 advancement and in so doing I believe that I 
 have served you faithfully and well. I know that 
 I have employed in this more or less successful 
 labor the full force of my not inconsiderable men 
 tal powers, not sparing myself in any way or al 
 lowing my own tastes which naturally demanded 
 what would be entirely beyond your limited com 
 prehension to govern my selection of the sub 
 jects to be brought under your consideration. I 
 natter myself, my dear young lady, that your edu 
 cation is on a parity with that of any other person 
 of your age and ability, even in some ways supe 
 rior to it, for when a man as capable and erudite 
 as I devotes his entire time and stupendous energy 
 to any one cause, it must even though in itself 
 weak and inconspicuous acquire a certain bor 
 rowed dignity and, enhanced by reflected glory
 
 GROUNDED 99 
 
 due to continued association with greatness, be 
 come at least in some small degree, similar to the 
 one who has sacrificed himself in order to advance 
 it. But in spite of this pleasing condition," he 
 went on, with heightened color and increased ani 
 mation, "it will be necessary for you, no matter 
 what position you may occupy in your future life, 
 to have always at hand someone who thoroughly 
 understands not only your mental attainments 
 but also your individual characteristics. This per 
 son should be one who has been familiar for a 
 longer or shorter period of time with all of your 
 surroundings; also, he should be one who has 
 known with some degree of intimacy your respect 
 ed father. Now, my dear young lady, although 
 such a course would necessitate a great deal of 
 self-sacrifice on my part, as well as the expendi 
 ture of almost superhuman energy, yet because of 
 our long and harmonious association and because 
 looking after your interests with the exception of 
 those requiring menial service has become a 
 matter of habit with me, in spite of the fact that 
 a man of my culture and refinement would not 
 naturally be expected to consent to such a posi 
 tion, yet I Barney McCoy here and now offer 
 myself to you, my dear young lady, in the capa 
 city of private and social secretary, providing, of 
 course, that satisfactory terms as to salary and 
 Jiving expenses could be settled upon between us." 
 During all of this tirade Bettina had continued 
 to stand beside the desk of her tutor, expecting 
 momentarily that either from lack of words with 
 which to express his thoughts, or from a dearth 
 of thoughts to put into words, he would perforce 
 come to the end of his exhortation. She had 
 grown accustomed to listening to his self-praise, 
 and egotistic boasting, and was not surprised, or
 
 100 GROUNDED 
 
 even shocked by anything that he had said along 
 that line. But she had certainly not been pre 
 pared through any previous experience to hear 
 him intimate that, in some way unknown to her, 
 he had become possessed of definite information 
 regarding the proposed change in her future life. 
 This condition of affairs was not pleasing to the 
 diffident, retiring girl. She was confident that her 
 father had not enlightened anyone with regard to 
 her possible marriage, as his reticence was equal 
 to if not greater than her own ; that old Margaret 
 should confide in the tutor, even had she been 
 made aware of the facts, was entirely out of the 
 question. This narrowed the possible sources 
 through which the information evidently possess 
 ed by her instructor could have been gained, so 
 that the girl began to suspect that her lover him 
 self might have talked the matter over with Bar 
 ney McCoy. This suspicion grew upon her until 
 she finally determined to find out the truth con 
 cerning it. Acting upon this determination she 
 said: 
 
 "You have been employed by my father as my 
 tutor, and have acted in that capacity for years. 
 Why do you wish to change the nature of your 
 work; what leads you to think that I need a sec 
 retary?" 
 
 Fearing that he had made a mistake in bringing 
 the matter to her attention in just the way he 
 had, and wishing to set himself ri^ht with her at 
 whatever cost, the little man, looKing keenly at 
 her, explained : 
 
 "When a man has been given discriminating 
 judgment so that, becoming conscious of certain 
 premises, he will accurately and logically arrive 
 at the resulting conclusion, he does not need as 
 might be the case if he were possessed of less
 
 GROUNDED 101 
 
 acumen to be told that any situation actually 
 exists in order to be made aware of the fact. If, 
 added to the mental condition already described, 
 a man has had the advantage of a wide and varied 
 social experience, he can often see at a glance 
 what would be entirely hidden from a person of 
 less perspicacity. I have watched, my dear young 
 lady, many much more complicated situations 
 than the one evidently in existence here, and so 
 going from cause to effect I feel as I have 
 already said, that you have reached a turning- 
 point in your life. However," he ended, sudden 
 ly assuming again the air of the pedagogue, "we 
 will resume our regular work and permit the 
 future to take care of itself."
 
 XXI 
 
 Among the many women with whom Kurk 
 Kaleen had been upon terms of more or less in 
 timacy prior to the visit that he made in his 
 father s stead, on his father s old friend, was one 
 who, possessed of undoubted personal charm, 
 combined with it the added attractiveness of be 
 longing to a distinguished and socially prominent 
 family. She had every advantage that wealth, 
 education and an extensive experience gained 
 through traveling among the peoples of various 
 countries could give to her. She was herself a 
 native of another land than the one in which the 
 young man met her, having gone to England with 
 her father, who occupied a recognized and respect 
 ed official position. Mr. Burton was welcomed 
 everywhere, both in business and social circles, 
 not only because of his own presence, which was 
 commanding and unusual, or of his wealth, which 
 equaled if it did not exceed that of any of his 
 acquaintances, but also because he represented as 
 consul the United States of America. His wife 
 and only daughter shared with him his privileges 
 and prestige and the honor of meeting the Amer 
 ican consul and his family was one that was much 
 sought after. Kurk Kaleen considered himself as 
 very fortunate when a mutual friend introduced 
 him to them, and his acquaintance with Lena Bur 
 ton soon ripened into friendship. Those particu 
 larly interested in the young couple frequently re 
 marked the probability of a matrimonial alliance ; 
 the young man s father had hoped for many rea 
 sons that his son and the consul s daughter would 
 
 102
 
 GROUNDED 103 
 
 be united in marriage, so that Kurk s letter an 
 nouncing his prospective union with the daughter 
 of his old friend was a distinct shock as well as 
 a keen disappointment. So much so that he has 
 tened to send a remonstrance so pronounced that 
 it amounted almost to a protest. On receipt of 
 this the young man immediately made arrange* 
 ments to return to his home, fearing that his 
 father had become cognizant of other reasons than 
 those already stated to his son for his decided 
 objection to the latter s marriage with Bettina 
 Wane. Before terminating his visit, however, he 
 made definite arrangements for the ceremony that 
 was to unite his future life with that of the inno 
 cent girl, reflecting that he could cancel them 
 should it become necessary to do so and desiring 
 greatly to receive the full benefits of the victory 
 he had so dearly won. Realizing, too, that a short 
 separation would be apt to increase rather than 
 diminish the strong, magnetic current then estab 
 lished between his own being and that of the girl 
 whom he wished to make his wife, he went about 
 his preparations for departure deliberately and 
 without taking anyone into his confidence as to the 
 real reasons for his going. On the last morning of 
 his stay he had a conference with Mr. Wane that 
 proved to be more momentous than, at the time 
 seemed likely. The older man had asked him to 
 come into his study and, as soon as they were 
 both comfortably seated announced: 
 
 "I wish to send through you a verbal message 
 to your father." The young man s face showed 
 that he welcomed, while he wondered at his 
 statement. "There is a matter that will require 
 our mutual attention, and in order that it may 
 receive it it seems to me it would be better for 
 him to come here to my home than for me to visit
 
 104 GROUNDED 
 
 him. At the same time I will not insist upon this 
 exact arrangement, but will leave the place of our 
 meeting undetermined, allowing him to exercise 
 his judgment in this respect. The time however 
 must be soon, and certainly previous to my daugh 
 ter s marriage." 
 
 There was a silence of some duration after Mr. 
 Wane ceased speaking. Both men looked thought 
 ful. At lenght the younger, regarding his host 
 gravely, said: 
 
 Although I am entirely ignorant as to the 
 nature of this message, sir, I understand that it 
 is important and shall deliver it verbatim. I hope 
 to return shortly myself, and it is possible my 
 father will accompany me. n 
 
 After that came the leave-taking with Bettina, 
 almost tragic in its earnestness. He himself had 
 not known until that time how necessary to his 
 happiness his daily association with the girl had 
 grown. As she in almost wild abandon clung to 
 him, not knowing why but impelled by forces 
 stronger than she, he whispered to her softly and 
 yet with great intensity : 
 
 "Dear little girl, it will not be long now until 
 I will have the right to claim you, utterly. Your 
 life will soon be joined to mine in such a way that 
 we need nevermore, while both live upon the earth, 
 endure the bitterness that is at the same time a 
 sweet, and almost overpowering happiness of 
 parting. 
 
 The girl then raised her face from his shoulder, 
 and with one soft white hand pushed gently back 
 a dark and wavy lock of hair that drooped above 
 his brow, while with her blue eyes gazing directly 
 into his own, she said: 
 
 * * I did not know that I could care so much for 
 anyone, or anything, as I care now for you ! I
 
 GROUNDED 105 
 
 have never known what love meant until you came 
 to me! If you should not return," putting her 
 brown head down once more upon his shoulder, 
 * I think that I, clasping her hands together be 
 hind his neck, should die ! I know that I should 
 wish to do so." 
 
 He went away as bravely as he could and left 
 her leaning forward, with clasped hands and part 
 ed lips, gazing mournfully after him. 
 
 Old Margaret found her so, and realizing how 
 she felt relieved the situation in her own peculiar 
 way : 
 
 "I do be afther seein ye re downhearted, an* 
 I be minded how I felt whin Tim O Keefe, bad 
 cess til him, once, wint away an left me standin 
 only jist as sorry and forlorn as you be now. It 
 seemed to me I cud not live anither day widout 
 his handsome an allurin face to look at! This 
 wan who has been stayin here wid us do be 
 remindin me of Tim in manny ways. Tim O Keefe 
 had only jist as foine an smooth an slippery a 
 tongue as this wan has, an he had jist such dark, 
 allurin an desateful eyes as this wan too, an 
 whin he spoke to me his voice was only jist as 
 s-a-f-t as vilvit or a cat s fur be, the same as this 
 wan s was whin he towld ye whatever it was he 
 has jist been tellin ye. But thin, his voice was 
 jist as different as a voice cud be the last toime 
 that he iver addrissed himself til me. It sounded 
 only jist as much like thunder as he cud make it 
 sound whin he roared out . . . but what he 
 called me thin was nather swate nor darlin , 
 an I hope that niver in this world nor yit in anny 
 ither world will ye be afther hearin anny man say 
 the burnin , scorchin , witherin words that Tim 
 O Keefe yelled out til me at partin !"
 
 xxn 
 
 Kurk Kaleen was anxious and perturbed as he 
 drew near the home that he had left a few short 
 weeks before, without the most remote thought of 
 what the immediate future held. As the distance 
 between himself and Bettina Wane s sweet 
 presence kept increasing it seemed as if the intan 
 gible all-pervading bond that was between them 
 became constantly more and more apparent; it 
 seemed to him that he could almost see her as she 
 stood, sorrowful, almost in despair, gazing long 
 ingly after him. She was the same sweet, innocent 
 and loving girl, and yet so strangely different, 
 than the one that he had found among the cushions 
 in the library of Walter Wane upon a day that 
 now seemed very far away and yet at the same 
 time very near. He could almost see the wide, 
 startled, beautiful blue eyes through which she 
 had looked out at him that day; he could almost 
 hear her fresh, clear, girlish voice, that had grown 
 deeper and been much intensified as their ac 
 quaintance had progressed. The conquest he had 
 made of her young heart had in it an element of 
 triumph, bordering upon awe that was new in his 
 experience with women, for most of those whom 
 he had met before were very far from being as 
 "innercint an unsuspicted" as she. He knew 
 that he had been the very first man who had ever 
 come so near to her, that she had felt his mascu 
 linity, and he knew too that she had latent in her 
 nature, a magnetism, as powerful as was his own. 
 She was no weakling, he reflected, and then he 
 smiled, for he remembered that old Margaret 
 
 106
 
 GROUNDED 107 
 
 attributed her perfect health and strength to the 
 fact that she had never laid her as a "wee wan" 
 down upon a spot of ground where angry men had 
 spilled each other s blood. And then his vision 
 of her changed again, and he beheld her as she d 
 looked that morning, clinging to him, lingering in 
 his embrace, thrilling him and thrilled herself by 
 the strength of her unacknowledged, yet slumber 
 ing emotions ; and then, with enthusiastic delight, 
 he thought of her as she would be when really 
 his own. So he dreamed and awakening from his 
 dreams, arrived at home and stern reality. 
 
 His father had been anxiously waiting for the 
 young man s coming, and as soon as they were 
 entirely alone plunged at once into the subject 
 that had been the chief cause of the letter that 
 had brought his son to him. 
 
 * I was very much surprised, he began, holding 
 his auditor s entire attention by the earnestness 
 of his manner, 1 and, I may add, not a little pained, 
 by the announcement in your recent letter. 
 Walter Wane, although he has been my personal 
 friend for very many years, is not only exceedingly 
 eccentric but also is unfortunately reputed to be 
 somewhat mentally unbalanced. He at one time 
 devoted his entire energies to the following up of 
 a Quixotic and utterly fruitless quest ; the pursuit 
 of this strange and unheard-of idea was kept up 
 by him even after his marriage but ended, so far 
 as any of his friends have discovered, with the 
 birth of his daughter, which event was followed 
 almost immediately by the death of his wife. 
 Since that time he has lived the life of a recluse, 
 attending only to such affairs as absolutely 
 demanded his consideration, shutting himself up 
 within his own mentality to the exclusion of almost 
 all outside affairs. So that, while yet upon the
 
 108 GROUNDED 
 
 earth, he has not mingled with his fellowmen much 
 more than if he had already left this plane of 
 existence. How many of her father peculiarities 
 or how much of his inexplicable nature his 
 daughter may have inherited I do not know, but 
 it is probable that she in some respects resembles 
 him. However this may be, one fact I am assured 
 is certain : the girl has had no social training and 
 would not be prepared in any way to fill the place 
 that your wife would be expected indeed, com 
 pelled to occupy. As you are well aware, your 
 future financial success as well as your individual 
 happiness depends largely upon the kind of mat 
 rimonial alliance that you make. Your wife should 
 be a woman well versed in the ways of society, if 
 possible she should have had a wide and varied 
 social experience, so that she would be able to cope 
 successfully and easily with any situation that 
 might come up, however complicated or unusual. 
 You must have, as your life-partner a woman who 
 is your equal," looking admiringly at his son, 
 "educated, refined, experienced both at home and 
 abroad, one whose family as well as herself would 
 reflect credit upon you and give you the benefit of 
 the advantages that they themselves had gained 
 instead of leaning and being a drag upon you if 
 not a positive hindrance. I want you to under 
 stand, "he ended earnestly and affectionately," 
 that I have been actuated in what I have been 
 saying by a strong desire for your well-being, and 
 not by prejudicial belief with regard to the 
 daughter of Walter Wjane for she is no doubt a 
 good, honest, innocent and, very likely, modest and 
 retiring, girl." 
 
 "I cannot doubt the sincerity and kindness of 
 your motive," the young man started out, seeing 
 that he was expected to say something, "and I
 
 GROUNDED 109 
 
 presume that all you have said of Mr. Wane is 
 strictly true, although he seems to me and I have 
 been in his society considerably during the past 
 few weeks a studious, extremely sensible, practi 
 cal and kindly considerate gentleman. As for his 
 daughter," he went on, rising to his feet and 
 beginning to pace rapidly back and forth across 
 the room, * * as I told you in nay letter, I love her, 
 dearly, and wish in fact, intend to make her 
 my wife." 
 
 "I want you to consider carefully," the other 
 argued diplomatically, what you are about to 
 do before you take a step that will be 
 irrevocable. Marriage is a serious affair, and 
 should not be entered into without deep reflection. 
 1 wish that you would observe other opportunities 
 of which you might take advantage before you 
 attach to yourself a young woman who, while she 
 may be very charming, cannot possibly be adapted 
 to the position that your wife must fill. Besides/ 
 he ended resolutely, as if determined to bring the 
 matter to a crisis, "not only I, myself, but many 
 other of your friends, believed that you were 
 practically bound, if not actually engaged, to Miss 
 Lena Burton before I sent you, a little bitterly, 
 "to visit Walter Wane." 
 
 Kurk Kaleen did not believe in useless argu 
 ment, nor did he deem that it would be his wisest 
 course to hastily and definitely decide a matter 
 that affected him as vitally as this. Recalling that 
 he had a verbal message to deliver to his father, 
 he quietly overlooked the intimation that had just 
 been made. 
 
 "As I was leaving the home of Mr. Wane," he 
 said, he asked me to bring a message to you. He 
 told me that there was a matter of importance that 
 would require your mutual attention. He said he
 
 110 GROUNDED 
 
 would prefer that you visit him, so that you might 
 consult together, but that he would leave the place 
 of meeting to be settled according to your judg 
 ment. He made it quite imperative that the time 
 of this meeting should be soon, certainly before his 
 daughter s marriage."
 
 XXIII 
 
 One evening not long after his return Kurk 
 Kaleen, with other members of his family, was 
 privileged to be among those to attend a large, 
 exclusive gathering of prominent and even noted 
 people. As he entered the room more than one 
 pair of eyes was turned in his direction, for his 
 handsome appearance, affable, easy manner and 
 his engaging reserved smile, together with the 
 distinguished air that seemed always to accom 
 pany him made him unusually attractive wherever 
 he went. He was soon sought by some of his 
 intimate acquaintances, who had missed him dur 
 ing his absence and welcomed his return. 
 
 It was not long before the young man came to 
 the group of which Lena Burton was the accepted 
 leader, both because of the position that she 
 occupied as her father s daughter and her own 
 personality. As the young girl became conscious 
 of his presence she acknowledged it in many 
 different ways. Greeting him courteously, she 
 made room for him among those near to her. Her 
 expressive gray eyes, that had perceptibly bright 
 ened at his approach, were turned toward him; 
 her countenance became even more animated than 
 it had been before his coming; and a soft, rosy 
 flush crept slowly up from her smooth young neck. 
 Her voice as she addressed him had in it tones not 
 often there. In fact a man, received as he was 
 then, could not fail to know that Lena Burton, 
 proud and independent, experienced and exclusive, 
 honored, feted, courted by those who might be 
 considered socially his superiors, had selected him 
 
 ill
 
 112 GROUNDED 
 
 as one upon whom to bestow especial favors. She 
 soon withdrew a little from the group that had sur 
 rounded her, and beckoned to him to follow her. 
 When they were seated at some little distance 
 from the rest she said: 
 
 I hear that you have just enjoyed a visit in the 
 country. I hope you are refreshed and rested. I 
 know that / have often longed to be at least for 
 a few weeks or months away from the confusion 
 and the crowds. Were very many other people 
 there, where you have been ... or, that is 
 . . ." and then, with an embarrassed but a 
 perfectly frank and natural little laugh, she ended, 
 "I beg your pardon! I was just rambling on be 
 cause it seemed the proper thing. 
 
 "I was visiting an old friend of my father s," 
 Kurk Kaleen explained, with his usual well-poised 
 conventionality. No one, except the members of 
 his immediate family, was there. His residence 
 is situated in a very beautiful, although decidedly 
 isolated, English environment. There is a certain 
 charm, Miss Burton, about a country place in Eng 
 land, and I hope that you may some time have an 
 opportunity to come beneath its influence your 
 self." 
 
 "I think that I should enjoy a visit in the coun 
 try here, very much. Perhaps before I return to 
 America I may have that pleasure. I do not sup 
 pose, though, she went on mischievously, for she 
 had now at hand not only her customary self-pos 
 session but her usual daring as well, "that I 
 should be fortunate enough to bring back with me 
 from a visit to the country such a trophy as the 
 one that you unless reports have been greatly ex 
 aggerated have in your possession." 
 
 Although he had already had some experience 
 with her, he had not expected this direct attack
 
 GROUNDED 113 
 
 from her, at least in just the way it had been made, 
 and it was his turn to hesitate. He reflected that 
 though he himself had had no hand in it, his en 
 gagement had perhaps been rather widely adver 
 tised among those who were acquainted with him 
 and if so Missi Burton probably had been told all 
 that had been learned to date. This idea was 
 followed by the thought that it might be well for 
 him to know what had been, said. 
 
 "Reports are often so distorted that they do 
 not in any way resemble the facts. I have often 
 noticed that a story several times repeated loses 
 identity. As to trophies, : for his resolve not to 
 make any revelations was growing stronger all 
 the time, "I think that I could show you some 
 dried wild flowers, pressed carefully between the 
 pages of a notebook. 
 
 She laughed aloud and as she watched amaze 
 ment grow upon his face she kept on laughing. 
 
 "Wjhy! I have known about Bettina Wane for 
 years, and years and years! Her father and my 
 father became great friends when Mr. Wane was 
 traveling in America! It was through a letter 
 from him that I was made aware" quite primly, 
 of your engagement to his daughter. The idea ! 
 You and your wild flowers ! laughter again tak 
 ing complete possession of her. l Now that I have 
 told you, dabbing at her eyes with a bit of cam 
 bric, for she had laughed until she cried, "what 
 you really wanted to know, perhaps you will be 
 nice and tell me all about Bettina, and her home, 
 and all the little twists and turns that I will need 
 to know about so that I too may go into the 
 country, and gather wild flowers, and press them 
 in a book!"
 
 XXIV 
 
 Not long after Kurk Kaleen s departure Bettina 
 Wane, one afternoon, was in her favorite position 
 among the cushions in the corner of the library, 
 Bonny curled up beside her, and one of her highly 
 esteemed books in her hand. She was not reading, 
 although the book that she was holding open had 
 upon its pages the written expression of thoughts 
 that were to her intensely interesting. It was as 
 if the author of the book had been describing her 
 own recent awakening from childhood, to woman 
 hood; she wondered if the author had passed 
 through a similar experience, and if so whether 
 loneliness and longing had followed it; she won 
 dered whether loneliness and longing always fol 
 lowed the attainment of great happiness and if, if 
 that were so, it were not better to be denied great 
 happiness and so escape its inevitable result. Yet 
 the girl was not a coward nor was she altogether 
 selfish ; she simply stood where two roads met, and 
 hesitated before passing from one into the other. 
 
 At that moment a heavy, shuffling step re 
 sounded in the hall, then fumbling fingers felt their 
 way along the wall and stopped when they had 
 reached the door. Bettina knew whose step it was 
 and so did Bonny, for the latter s ears went sharp 
 ly forward and were at the same time lifted, while 
 her bright eyes showed anticipatory joy and her 
 plume-like tail began to wave. 
 
 "Come right in, Margaret dear! I m here and 
 so is Bonny ! 
 
 The old woman needed no second invitation, but 
 as soon as she could crowd through the doorway 
 
 114
 
 GROUNDED 115 
 
 appeared before her youthful charge, excitedly 
 waving a letter. 
 
 The post do be afther lavin this wid us, Miss 
 darlin !" she exclaimed. "It has a furrin look 
 til me, peering at it curiously. " I r m anxious to 
 be afther seein what s widin it!" 
 
 Bettina took the letter, and glancing at it hur 
 riedly, immediately opened it. Her face grew rosy 
 as she read, and looking up at her old nurse, who 
 was watching her expectantly and fearfully, she 
 said : 
 
 "It is from the daughter of my father s old 
 friend, Mr. Burton ; she wishes to make us a visit ; 
 and so, Margaret dear, we must at once prepare 
 for her coming." 
 
 From that time until the arrival of Lena Burton 
 there was so much bustling activity in and about 
 the home of Mr. Wane that his daughter did not 
 have much opportunity for deep reflection, but 
 during the night after she came Bettina lay awake 
 for hours, staring into the darkness with sensitive 
 nerves so keyed up that they responded to the 
 slightest sound, her inner consciousness utterly 
 refusing to be dulled into somnolence. It almost 
 seemed to her that she could hear, over and over 
 in endless repetition, the gay, careless voice of her 
 visitor as she had said: 
 
 I understand, dear, that you are going to mar 
 ry Kurk Kaleen. I wonder if you know how many 
 women he has jilted. But then," the gay voice 
 had trailed off into almost boisterous laughter, "I 
 don t suppose he knows himself how many women 
 he has said that he would marry and then 
 changed his mind. You are a brave girl, my dear, 
 a very brave and daring girl. 
 
 The gay voice sometimes took on clarion pro 
 portions, there in the stillness of the night, so that
 
 116 GROUNDED 
 
 the girl who listened started up as if a tocsin had 
 been sounded. And so indeed it had, and with 
 intent to do the very work that it was doing. 
 Bettina in her kindly innocence did not for a mo 
 ment dream that this was so, for she knew nothing 
 of intrigue or any kind of hypocritical, malignant 
 scheming. As she lay tossing upon her own soft 
 bed, where she had always slept since she could 
 remember having slept at all, the one who d thrust 
 the javelin of unrest into her inmost soul slumber 
 ed sweetly. Lena herself, had had some restless 
 nights about this very matter, but having settled 
 on a method of procedure and carried out the 
 plans, the tension of her nerves had lessened as, 
 in exactly corresponding ratio, that of her victim s 
 had increased. 
 
 Bettina Wane did not arrive, as under such un 
 fortunate conditions is almost always the case, at 
 any definite conclusion during her hours of rest 
 lessness, but arose unrefreshed and heavy-eyed 
 the next morning in spite of her healthy youth. 
 Old Margaret, noticing that this was so, insisted 
 peremptorily that she should go at once into the 
 open air. So they started out as usual upon their 
 morning walk and just as they were leaving their 
 visitor arrived upon the scene. 
 
 "I have been told," smiling reminiscently, 
 "that there are many lovely wild flowers to be 
 found near here. England seems to me so small 
 as compared with my own country, and there are 
 so many people everywhere, that I don t see where 
 the wild flowers find even a place to grow. 
 
 Old Margaret had been closely watching her and 
 at the same time waiting, and as soon as the girl 
 ceased speaking she began : 
 
 "It do be seemin that you two standin there, 
 the baith of ye togither, be as like as two peas
 
 GROUNDED 117 
 
 baith in the same pod to two wild flowers yer- 
 silves! I always has been minded whin I looked 
 at my darlin of blue violets and field daisies too, 
 for whin a violet looks up til me like that wan 
 there, pouncing upon a flower and bearing it in 
 triumph to Bettina, who smilingly presented it to 
 her guest, "it seems to me like the darlin s eyes. 
 An whin a violet is only just a little wet wid dew 
 it do be makin me remember how, whin my girlie 
 was a wee wan, her blue eyes looked whin they 
 was wet wid tears. I niver see a daisy lookin 
 up, so modest like an yit so phutty too, but I think 
 that it is only jist like my darlin s face. Young 
 gurrhls do be like flowers in manny ways, gazing 
 admiringly at the two who were in front of her. 
 They do be standin sthraight an slim an frish, 
 as free as anny flower that iver grew an only jist 
 as beautiful but whin a hot hand picks them off 
 the stim they do be growin on they do be wither- 
 in ." She sighed and shook her head, "Ah, yis, 
 they do be withe rin ! " 
 
 Just then Bettina thought she heard someone 
 approaching, but as the others did not seem to 
 notice anything she decided that her hearing was 
 somewhat abnormal because her nerves w r ere yet 
 unstrung from lack of sleep. She did not look 
 around. Had she done so she would have seen a 
 very much surprised, in fact a startled and an 
 almost terrified, young man. Having been told 
 that Bettina and old Margaret had gone out for 
 their customary morning walk, Kurk Kaleen, who 
 had unexpectedly arrived, had followed them and 
 he was much astonished when he saw that Lena 
 Burton had forestalled him as it were, and was 
 walking there demurely beside Bettina Wane. As 
 soon as he recovered he assumed as nearly as he
 
 118 GROUNDED 
 
 could his usual air, and hurrying forward called 
 out cheerily : 
 
 The top o the morning to you, ladies ! I hope 
 that you are all as well and happy as you 
 look!"
 
 XXV 
 
 Shortly after the termination of Lena Burton s 
 visit in the home of Walter Wane she spent an 
 evening with her father, of whose companionship 
 she had always been very fond. Her recent visit 
 had been freely commented upon, and in the course 
 of the conversation Mr. Burton asked : 
 
 "Did you notice anything peculiar about Mr. 
 W^ane ? That is, did he seem strange or abnormal 
 to you in any way?" 
 
 The girl spent a few moments in quiet reflection 
 before she answered: 
 
 "He wasn t a bit like you, Dad; I felt sort of 
 queer and out of place in his society, and what did 
 seem odd to me was that his own daughter seemed 
 to feel just as I did. It may be that he don t 
 like women," she ended, smiling up into her 
 father s face, from where she sat on a low hassock, 
 or, anyway, young women." 
 
 1 i I know that he loved his young wife devotedly, 
 and she I think loved him. As Mr. Burton spoke 
 he laid one hand upon his daughter s heavy hair, 
 "I saw them more than once together, and I donH: 
 believe I ever saw a happier or more congenial 
 couple. I have been told," he went on contem 
 platively, that he has never been the same since 
 his wife s death. They say that he is mourning 
 for her constantly, and that he keeps even his own 
 daughter at a distance." 
 
 "She isn t like me then, is she, Dad?" asked the 
 girl, resting her head upon his knee. "You could 
 not keep me off at arms length if you tried. 
 Bettina is a sweet girl, too," thoughtfully adding 
 
 119
 
 120 GROUNDED 
 
 with some solicitude, "she must be very lonely, 
 for she has no one of her own kind near her." 
 
 "Judging from what her father wrote me re 
 cently," casually and as if the subject under dis 
 cussion had no especial interest either for himself 
 or for the girl who sat beside him, "I conclude 
 that she will soon be under different circum 
 stances." 
 
 "Yes, indeed," agreed the young woman with 
 out lifting her head from her father s knee, "un 
 der very different circumstances that is, if the 
 contemplated! marriage is ever really consum 
 mated. 
 
 "What leads you to suppose that this will not 
 take place?" her father asked, for he had ob 
 served an unnatural tone in his daughter s usually 
 frank and hearty voice. "From what you have 
 told me of the girl she is educated and refined. 
 Her mother was a pretty woman and her father 
 is, beyond all doubt, a capable, scholarly, cour 
 teous man. 
 
 * You are not very well acquainted, though, with 
 Kurk Kaleen," said Lena Burton, her eyes still 
 hidden from her father s questioning glance. 
 You know, looking up and quickly down again, 
 "it always takes two to complete, as well as just 
 to make, a bargain. 
 
 " It is true that especially attractive young men 
 are also sometimes fickle," stated the man, patting 
 lovingly the shining masses of golden-brown hair 
 beneath his hand, "but I see no reason why he 
 should be so in this case." 
 
 "Do you think, Dad," the girl asked suddenly, 
 looking directly into his eyes, "that men and 
 women ever act reasonably, when they re in 
 love?" 
 
 Mr. Burton had had considerable experience
 
 GROUNDED 121 
 
 with men and women. After a thoughtful silence, 
 during which his hand still rested on the head, 
 upon his knee, he replied : 
 
 "There are so many different emotions spoken 
 of as being love that it is very difficult to make a 
 general statement. In the case we are now con 
 sidering, however, it seems to me that any honor 
 able young man, having gone so far as to propose 
 matrimony to a girl such as you describe the 
 daughter of Walter Wane to be would not be apt 
 to repudiate the bargain he had made." 
 
 "Yet some men gather women s hearts, Dad, as 
 others gather flowers to be admired and enjoyed, 
 and after the novelty of possession has ceased to 
 thrill them, to be thrown away. It seemed to him 
 that there was a trace of bitterness in her young 
 voice. "I sometimes think," she went on a little 
 wearily, that modern men are not much like the 
 men used to be. I can t think, Dad, that you 
 yourself were ever just a hunter . . . going 
 through the world, seeking spoils, gaining what 
 you could for your selfish benefit without regard 
 or pity for those to whom you brought great suf 
 fering, whose lives perhaps you wrecked, so that 
 instead of happiness they would find only pain and 
 disappointment and regret. Young men nowa 
 days," she ended, reaching up and taking one of 
 her father s hands in both of hers, and placing it 
 beneath her soft, round cheek where it rested, 
 against his knee, enjoy the chase, it seems to me, 
 as did the ones who used to roam at will across 
 the rolling plains and through the pathless forests 
 of our country, Dad. Only now, instead of hunt 
 ing buffalo and bear and mountain lion, they hunt 
 women s hearts. And after they have captured 
 them," she added, snuggling her cheek down closer
 
 122 GROUNDED 
 
 yet within the hollow of her father s hand," they 
 do not always care to keep them. 
 
 "Do you think, my daughter, that manly love 
 has vanished from the earth?" 
 
 * * I think that manly love, she answered sadly, 
 "that is steadfast, reverential manly love is 
 very rare. 
 
 "Am I then to infer," he asked gravely, "that 
 you believe the young man of whom we have been 
 speaking is false, fickle, incapable of honorable, 
 uplifting, steadfast love?" 
 
 1 i His record in society would lead me so to be 
 lieve and he is so fascinating ! His success as a 
 hunter of hearts is not to be wondered at, after 
 all." 
 
 She laid her bright head down again, and her 
 father regarded her with solicitude and even anxi 
 ety. At length, as if he had decided upon some 
 thing that it seemed to him he ought to do, Mr. 
 Burton, leaning forward, almost whispered : 
 
 "Tell me, Lena, are you personally interested 
 in this young man? Because," he went on loving 
 ly, "if this were so it might be well for you to 
 go back to America at least for a while. 
 
 "Do you think," asked the girl, straightening 
 up and leaning back with hands clasped about her 
 knees, that your daughter is a coward and would 
 run away like that? You know me better, Dad! 
 Even if I were in love with Kurk Kaleen," her 
 voice shook a little as she pronounced the name, 
 * I would not be afraid to meet him anywhere ! 
 
 "I know you are courageous, Lena, I do not 
 think," he went on calmly and with firmness, 
 "that you could be my daughter or your mother s 
 daughter, and be otherwise. But in the case of 
 which we have been speaking you are not the only 
 girl to be considered. Bettina Wane is motherless
 
 GROUNDED 123 
 
 and in many ways is not situated as you are. I 
 am sure that you would not wish to be the cause 
 of bringing into another woman r s life the bitter 
 ness and sorrow which, as we have just agreed, 
 may come to any trusting woman who gives her 
 life into the keeping of a fascinating but fickle 
 man." 
 
 The girl looked at him, but in her bold, bright 
 glance was neither affirmation nor denial.
 
 XXVI 
 
 When Kurk Kaleen definitely decided upon a 
 certain course he went deliberately toward the 
 end that he desired, without regard to minor in 
 cidents that might have swerved a less deter 
 mined person from the path that he was follow 
 ing. He continued to make preparations for his 
 marriage, although he knew that his father stren 
 uously opposed it. He did not confide in his asso 
 ciates concerning the change that he was contem 
 plating, and yet he was very well aware that the 
 matter was being more or less freely discussed. 
 Most of them had never met Bettina and he did 
 hot intend that they should, until she had become 
 his wife. 
 
 One day he visited a large art gallery where 
 many paintings offered for sale were upon exhibi 
 tion, with a view to making some selections for 
 the walls of the home that he was planning for 
 the reception of his bride. He had wandered 
 back and forth among the pictures, stopping from 
 time to time to examine one of them carefully and 
 critically. Finally he settled down upon a divan 
 that had been placed at a convenient angle, in a 
 little, secluded nook where there were several 
 paintings which pleased his fancy. He had been 
 there but a short time when he was surprised to 
 hear, almost at his elbow a flute-like and a well- 
 known, vibrant voice: 
 
 "Absorbed in making plans, and dreaming of 
 your future!" the voice exclaimed, while at the 
 same time there came into view a vision of per 
 fectly gowned, perfectly poised, radiant young 
 
 124
 
 GROUNDED 125 
 
 womanhood. "I wonder, now," she went on 
 lightly as he courteously made room for her be 
 side him on the divan, "if you would not like to 
 have some superlative assistance in making your 
 selections ! Because, if so, I would be very glad 
 to furnish it, both for your own sake," smiling, 
 frankly and cordially, "and for the sake of my 
 iown little friend, Bettina. In fact," she ended, 
 daringly, regarding him with something that was 
 even warmer than mere friendship, I might per 
 haps, since she is not here with you today, take 
 her place to some extent. Women s tastes are 
 apt to be somewhat alike at least, so far as paint 
 ings are concerned." 
 
 The young man was somewhat "put to it," as 
 the old saying goes, for words, and actions too. 
 He was not quite prepared, at least just at that 
 time, to carry on a wild flirtation with Lena Bur 
 ton, and yet as she sat there beside him, smiling, 
 cordial, frank, and most enticing, it was as natural 
 for him to pick up the gauntlet that she d thrown 
 down as it had been for her to cast it at his feet. 
 He compromised by treating her, as nearly as he 
 could, as if she had been Bettina s sister, or as if 
 he himself had been although he did not succeed 
 effectually in carrying out this pretense her 
 brother. 
 
 "It is true that I am greatly in need of expert 
 assistance, he began, adroitly increasing the dis 
 tance that had somehow narrowed between them, 
 on the divan, * for I have been sitting here now for 
 some little time trying to decide as to which of 
 these two paintings," rising to his feet and going 
 over to stand for a few moments before first one 
 of them and then the other, "I like the better. 
 Sometimes I think that it is this," regarding it 
 closely and critically, while he stood gracefully
 
 126 GROUNDED 
 
 before it ; * and then, * * going over to the other and 
 carefully inspecting it, "it seems to me that I like 
 this! Now which, 7 he ended, stepping back in 
 order to allow her to pass in front of him, "would 
 be your choice?" 
 
 The girl arose, for she had remained upon the 
 divan, and as she passed before him the young 
 man was poignantly conscious of the subtle per 
 fume that emanated from the floating and artis 
 tic garments that only half concealed the free, 
 lithe movements of her supple, slender figure. 
 Her fingers touched his hand. Instantly those 
 soft white fingers, as if without volition except 
 their own primitive desire closed about the hand 
 that they had touched; and it, also, as it seemed 
 without volition other than its own, clutched and 
 clung to hers. So they stood. Both were con 
 scious of the force that held them ; each had a dis 
 tinct idea as to whither it would lead. Yet they 
 clung there as if holding to a spar, with wild, 
 tempestuous waters swirling all about; and then 
 it seemed to Kurk Kaleen as if he saw Bettina s 
 pale and earnest face, as if he saw her great, 
 blue eyes looking up into his own, while she said 
 as he was leaving her, "If you should not return 
 to me I think that I should die." He loosed his 
 hold upon the soft white fingers that were cling 
 ing to his hand and the girl, realizing that the 
 spell was somehow broken, passed on until she 
 stood alone before a painting. 
 
 "After all, I don t suppose that I can help you 
 very much. I think that you would find Bettina s 
 taste quite different than mine, at least with refer 
 ence to pictures. Sometimes," she went on easily 
 and almost indifferently, "a young girl who seems 
 pliable and yielding will develop into a very 
 strong-willed, even almost domineering, woman.
 
 GROUNDED 127 
 
 Sometimes," she ended, turning toward him now 
 and smiling as frankly and cordially as was tier 
 wont, "a mere outsider cannot judge or greatly 
 help two lovers." 
 
 After that they talked of immaterial matters. 
 They did not speak of marriage or of love, or of 
 Bettina Wane, or even of themselves.
 
 (I 
 
 XXVII 
 
 I 
 
 I ll go wid ye, darlin ," cried old Margaret 
 O Keefe, her face with its many criss-cross 
 wrinkles convulsed with weeping. "I ll go wid 
 ye, ferninst anything that thries to sthop me, 
 right up to the stips of the altar itsilf, an whin 
 ye do be comin down off of thim stips afther ye 
 have laid yer swate young life widin the hands 
 that do be graspin afther ye, only jist as soon as 
 ye begin to come to yer right sinse ye will be 
 afther findin auld Margaret waitin fer ye." 
 
 Bettina had wished to have the ceremony that 
 would unite her to the man who had awakened 
 within her the strongest emotions that she had 
 ever thus far known, performed upon the spot 
 where they had met. In accordance with this it 
 had been arranged to have the marriage take 
 place in the library of her home, with only those 
 as witnesses who were closely associated with the 
 contracting parties. Old Margaret, when she saw 
 that there was nothing else to do, withdrew her 
 open opposition to and actively engaged in mak 
 ing preparations for the wedding; Mr. Wane, 
 after having held the conference with Kurk 
 Kaleen s father upon which he had insisted, set 
 tled back apparently into the grooves to which he 
 had become accustomed through years of com 
 parative isolation. He seemed, although the head 
 of the house, without much thought as to what 
 was going on within it; Barney McCoy, since his 
 services as tutor were no longer required had, at 
 least for the time disappeared. The two young 
 people were left very much to themselves and so 
 
 128
 
 GROUNDED 129 
 
 had ample opportunity to become better acquaint 
 ed with each other although, as is often the case 
 with lovers, they did not take advantage of it. 
 One afternoon shortly before the day that had 
 been chosen they were seated upon the couch, 
 among the cushions, in the corner of the library. 
 The young man had just been telling his prospec 
 tive bride about some of the well-known places of 
 great interest which he hoped soon to visit with 
 her; she had been particularly anxious to know 
 how much time would be required to complete 
 the journey they intended to take immediately 
 after their marriage. Evidently surprised at this 
 attitude on her part, he with some emphasis 
 asked : 
 
 "Why should you care, little girl?" He added 
 lovingly, "We will be together. 
 
 "Margaret will be anxious to have me with her 
 again," she answered calmly, "and I know that 
 Bonny will miss me sadly." 
 
 He looked at her curiously, as if considering 
 what it would be best for him to say. Before he 
 spoke he took her hand gently but firmly in his 
 own and held it so, occasionally stroking the back 
 of it with the fingers of his other hand while he 
 said: 
 
 Do you not think, Bettina, that my love, alone 
 could fill your life?" 
 
 She did not take her hand from his warm clasp, 
 and somehow, instead of trembling as it had often 
 done beneath his touch, it rested there, cool, calm, 
 capable. At length, and in her voice there was 
 a sound that was new and strange, she said : 
 
 "It does not seem to me that love could ever 
 wholly take the place of duty. I do not think that 
 I would have the right to desert old Margaret and 
 Bonny now, even if I wished: Margaret held me
 
 130 GROUNDED 
 
 in her arms when I first came into this world, 
 and has always loved and cared for me; I have 
 separated Bonny from the balance of her kind 
 and made her daily needs and expectations quite 
 different than those of ordinary dogs. As they 
 both grow older, the two who are dependent on 
 me will need my understanding care more even 
 than heretofore and I must give it to them. It 
 is the duty of the strong," her blue eyes did not 
 quail beneath his glance, that now was almost 
 stern, "to shield the weak. These two of whom 
 I have been speaking are pitifully weak in many 
 ways, and I," she ended proudly, almost distant 
 ly, "as compared with them, am strong." 
 
 He saw that she was very much in earnest, and 
 in the haughty, impenetrable atmosphere that it 
 seemed she was about to throw around herself he 
 recognized a likeness to her father s cold aus 
 terity. He shuddered and almost involuntarily 
 sprang to his feet. He began to pace rapidly back 
 and forth, at some little distance from the couch 
 where the girl quietly remained ; then all at once 
 the tension seemed relieved by some arresting 
 thought, and softly, almost humbly, he came and 
 stood before her. 
 
 "Bettina," he began, "I am not worthy of you. 
 Are you certain that you love me well enough to 
 marry me ? It is not even now too late, he went 
 on, not waiting for an answer, "for you to send 
 me from you if you wish to do so. 
 
 The girl, as if suddenly galvanized into action, 
 rose, and moving swiftly started toward the door 
 as if about to leave the room. He did not try to 
 hinder her, unless the appealing glances that he 
 sent after her could be interpreted as hindrances. 
 Her hand was on the doorknob, but before she 
 turned it, as if shaken by a wave of tenderness,
 
 GROUNDED 131 
 
 she faced about, and though her lips and chin 
 were trembling, her voice was steady as she said : 
 
 1 1 If you desire to be released from our engage 
 ment I wish that you would say so, frankly. I 
 have been told," she went on desperately, for he 
 stood still as if he had been frozen into silence, 
 that you have more than once refused to marry 
 someone, after having promised. . . " 
 
 But Kurk Kaleen had heard enough to satisfy 
 him that it was pride and not her lack of love for 
 him that stood between him and the happiness he 
 craved. He did not let her finish all that she had 
 evidently meant to say, but smothered the last 
 few words that were indeed already on her lips, 
 against his breast. Holding her closely within the 
 circle of his arms, between the kisses, he showered 
 on her soft, red lips, he whispr red: 
 
 1 Dear little girl, we must never allow anything 
 to come between us again! There is nothing in 
 this world big enough to overshadow love. Pride 
 must fall, jealousy flee, before it! My love for 
 you is the strongest and purest emotion of which 
 I am capable ! Even if we should grow very old 
 together I would not then have time enough to 
 prove to you how much I love you The love that 
 you in your sweet innocence have given me is the 
 most precious jewel I have ever had, can ever 
 have, in my keeping ! There is nothing anywhere 
 in this wide world, or yet in any world beyond 
 this one, that I would accept in exchange for you. 
 Let us never again torture each other by even 
 thinking of separation! As I told you long ago, 
 dear little one, we two were intended, from the 
 very beginning, each for the other. And soon/ 
 he ended, holding her at arms length and looking 
 rapturously into her animated, blushing face, we 
 will belong, utterly, to each other !
 
 XXVIII 
 
 On the day that was to be her wedding day Bet- 
 tina Wane rose even earlier than usual. She left 
 the house quietly, with the intention of taking 
 alone a sort of farewell view of the scenes with 
 which from her earliest recollection she had been 
 most familiar. She had not gone far however 
 before she heard the quick patter of agile feet, 
 and a cold nose just touched her hand in passing 
 as Bonny bounded into the path that was before 
 her, and frisked along well pleased at the prospect 
 of the morning ramble. The girl called her pet 
 back and told her to walk beside her, which she 
 did soberly, suiting her pace to that of her young 
 mistress. After a little the dog s ears were point 
 ed sharply forward, raised a little as if she were 
 listening intently, and soon her bushy tail began 
 to slowly wave. Bettina was as sure then as if 
 she had been told in actual words that her old 
 nurse had discovered her absence, and was in 
 pursuit. Soon she descried the old woman s 
 clumsy form approaching, and turning about the 
 girl went back over the path she had just 
 traversed. Almost before she was in hailing 
 distance old Margaret began: 
 
 "I do be minded, darlin , of how once, whin 
 you were a wee wan, ye shlipped away from me 
 for you were only jist as full of mischief as ither 
 wee wans an afther I had hunted ivery where 
 an couldn t find ye anny where, I found ye here, 
 toddlin along as bold as annything, yer blue eyes 
 shinin , wid a flower that ye d pulled off of its 
 stim, all withered up an dyin , in yer hand. 
 
 132
 
 GROUNDED 133 
 
 "Margaret dear," the girl said softly, "Mar 
 garet dear, I caused you lots of worry, didn t I?" 
 
 "Darlin ," cried the old woman fervently, "I 
 wish wid all my heart that, instid of bein at this 
 ind of the journey we ve wint togither, we cud be 
 at the beginnin of it! I don t now remimber a 
 single stip I iver took for yer swate sake I wudn t 
 take agin wid joy! I do be afther wonderin , 
 manny toimes I do be afther wonderin , will ye 
 iver forget the manny good toimes that we ve had, 
 the baith of us at the same toime, togither I" 
 
 You can remind me of them, Margaret dear, 
 Bettina answered cheerily and lovingly, "in case 
 you think that there is any danger that I ll forget 
 them. As I Ve often told you, Margaret dear, you 
 will be always near me. r 
 
 "Darlin ," Margaret O Keefe s old hands, as 
 well as her old voice, were shaking, " I do be afther 
 askin ye wan question that I niver yit have asked 
 do ye be afther thinkin that, if yer mither cud 
 be here wid us this day, if yer mither cud be 
 standin here," for in her earnestness she had 
 come to a complete and cumbersome standstill, 
 "instid o me, she wud be doin annything for her 
 wee wan that auld Margaret cud do an has not 
 done?" 
 
 "Margaret dear," the girl said, putting her 
 hands on the old woman s shoulders and looking 
 affectionately into her eyes, "if I had been your 
 own wee wan, you could not have been kinder to 
 me, more thoughtful of me, than you have been. 
 My mother, as I hope," she added solemnly, "is 
 watching over me today, and could she speak to us 
 I think that she would thank you for the care 
 that you have given me and tell me never to 
 allow anything, while we both live, to keep me 
 permanently from you."
 
 134 GROUNDED 
 
 As the three companions turned toward the 
 house they ascended a little knoll from which 
 considerable of the surrounding country could be 
 plainly seen. When they had reached the top of 
 it Bettina Wane stood still, and with folded arms 
 looked about her ; the old nurse watched her, weep 
 ing as silently as she could; and the wondering 
 dog stood between the two women, looking first at 
 one of them, then at the other. Bonny knew that 
 something that would greatly affect the lives of 
 all three was about to happen. She did not know 
 Avhat it was or how it would affect them, but she 
 felt the tenseness of the mental atmosphere and 
 was conscious of suppressed excitement. After 
 a short time during which no word was spoken, 
 the girl, followed by her two companions, passed 
 quietly along the well-known path in which the 
 three had so often walked before. 
 
 Just at midday Bettina Wane and Kurk Kaleen 
 stood before the few persons assembled in the 
 library where the girl had spent so many hours 
 of her maidenhood, and took upon themselves the 
 vows that made them man and wife. Almost im 
 mediately after the ceremony the few guests dis 
 persed. Arrangements were made for the depar 
 ture of the young couple upon their contemplated 
 journey, and until these were completed all was 
 bustle and activity in and about the place. When 
 all the preparations had been finished and the 
 time decided upon had not yet actually arrived, 
 there was a lull. 
 
 Walter Wane had witnessed the marriage of his 
 daughter with an outward appearance of what 
 almost any disinterested onlooker would have said 
 approached indifference; after the nuptial cere 
 mony had been performed he had acted, as the 
 father of the bride, with native dignity and easy
 
 GROUNDED 135 
 
 grace. WJien the outsiders went away he retired 
 to his study with scarcely the exchange of a pri 
 vate word with either his daughter or her hus 
 band ; there he quietly remained until just before 
 the arrival of the time for Bettina s going away 
 from her childhood s home. Then, swiftly and yet 
 without haste, he appeared before the young cou 
 ple. As Mr. Wane approached they moved for 
 ward to meet him, Bettina s features displaying 
 the great respect, amounting almost to reverence, 
 that she had always felt toward him. Upon the 
 young man s countenance there was some slight 
 embarrassment, it is true, but this was far out 
 weighed by another and much more powerful emo 
 tion, that indeed dominated and directed the whole 
 force of his being. This was the sort of triumphant 
 buoyancy that almost invariably accompanies the 
 attainment, by a human being, of an end that has 
 been greatly desired; this emotion gave an added 
 brilliancy to his fine dark eyes, and made his face 
 seem older and more sedate, while at the same 
 time it had never before appeared so vitally young. 
 It was as if he carried with him an enchanted, 
 most magnetic atmosphere by which he himself 
 was so completely surrounded that the magic in 
 fluence reached out and enveloped even those with 
 whom he came in contact. Mr. Wane was con 
 scious of the strength of this emotion, and recog 
 nized in it a feeling he himself had known. He 
 stopped, directly in front of the young pair and 
 regarding them seriously, said with great candor : 
 " You are now upon the threshold of an intimate 
 companionship such as neither of you have, before 
 this, known from your actual experience. Mar 
 riage is different than any other relation that can 
 exist between two people. You two are now to 
 gether, set apart from the rest of your kind. You
 
 136 GROUNDED 
 
 have declared openly, before the world, that you 
 prefer each other to everything else of which you 
 are conscious. It is now possible for each of you 
 to bring to the other supreme happiness and at 
 the same time it is also possible for you to bring, 
 each to the other, untold suffering and lasting 
 sorrow. The way in which this marvelous power 
 can be exerted by you is for you, alone, to dis 
 cover. No two individuals are sufficiently alike to 
 warrant me for I am but another human be 
 ing in giving you exact advice."
 
 XXIX 
 
 With funds furnished by his father, Kurk Ka- 
 leen had provided a comfortable and in some 
 respects luxurious abiding place to which he in 
 tended, a few weeks after their marriage, to 
 return with his bride. Bettina had arranged to 
 have old Margaret repair to the new home soon 
 after she herself had left her father s house, as 
 she felt certain that the old woman would be 
 happier during her absence, busily engaged in 
 preparing for her return, than she would if left 
 to brood beside the nest, from which the one for 
 whom she cared had flown. 
 
 On the morning the old nurse arrived at the 
 new domicile she, feeling the importance of the 
 position that she occupied as the representative 
 of the mistress of the place, made a deliberate 
 survey of the premises ; she was accompanied upon 
 this tour by one who was as curious and at the 
 same time anxious as she herself. The collie nosed 
 out everything that had been even handled by 
 Bettina and when, as sometimes happened, she 
 came upon some of the girl s own personal belong 
 ings, she gave unmistakable evidence of her great 
 satisfaction, followed up each clue she thought 
 she d found, and showed her disappointment when 
 she failed to find her mistress after each search 
 was ended. There was one room particularly at 
 tractive to both the woman and the dog. To this 
 they would return from time to time, and settle 
 down as if they felt more natural and at home 
 there than in any other part of the commodious 
 dwelling. About the middle of the forenoon they 
 
 137
 
 138 GROUNDED 
 
 had wandered back to what, as it appeared to 
 them, was the safest and best place that they could 
 find. Old Margaret was seated in a low, wooden 
 rocking-chair and Bonny stood beside the chair, 
 with her long, sharp muzzle resting on her good 
 friend s lap. The old nurse had been upon the 
 verge of tears, and as the collie s great, brown, 
 sympathetic eyes looked up into her face she 
 gently stroked the golden head, and lifted up a 
 corner of her apron, wiping first one dim eye and 
 then the other as she said : 
 
 " I do be af ther wonderin where our own darl- 
 in* is this day, an if she do be remimbrin ! I do 
 be mindin how, whin she had only been away an 
 hour or so, she wud go runnin through the house 
 an out intil the yard, annywhere an iverywhere 
 at all, at all, until she d find us, baith of us at the 
 same toime togither, you an me ! I do be wonder- 
 in why it is that dogs and women have to suffer 
 so, an only jist because they do be afther lovin 
 something else besides thimselves ! If she onct 
 sint for us we d go to her, the baith of us at the 
 same time togither, through fire an flood, an 
 thick an thin, an burnin turf, an even holy 
 water," she startled herself by this last assertion, 
 but did not retract it. "But here we be like two 
 big ninnies, widout a thought bechune us baith 
 but only jist to mourn. An thin we do be afther 
 thinkin how twill be whin she wid her blue eyes 
 shinin an her swate voice callin , will be wid 
 us again! An so," she ended, as she arose from 
 the chair, and closely followed by the dog was 
 about to leave the room, "as long as there do be 
 such unsuspicted ninnies as dogs and women, 
 annywhere, there will be sufferin an love. An 
 yit," she added, as if she felt that she should 
 modify the statement she had made, "our darlin
 
 GROUNDED 139 
 
 is so swate an clane that nayther wan of us shud 
 be called a ninny only jist for lovin her." 
 
 She had almost reached the door and as she 
 was about to open it she turned and idly looked 
 behind her, catching sight dimly of her own re 
 flection in a long mirror that had been placed be 
 tween two windows in such a manner as to ex 
 actly face the door. Instantly she crouched upon 
 the floor in as small a heap as she could make her 
 self, threw her apron over her head and began 
 to rock back and forth, croning a queer little, 
 broken lullaby in a high, cracked voice, the accents 
 of which evidenced her superstitious fears and 
 penitential pleading. Bonny took no part in this 
 remarkable performance, but stood quietly at some 
 little distance from the old woman, watching her 
 with great interest, as was shown by the animated 
 expression of her face and the cocked condition 
 of her sensitive ears. At length the song, if so it 
 could be called, dwindled down; finally came to 
 an end, and then old Margaret, wallowing around, 
 awkwardly, managed after awhile to get upon her 
 lumbering old knees. In this prayerful attitude, 
 with hands clasped together and held up until 
 they were about even with her chin, eyes tightly 
 closed and twitching nervously, she lifted her 
 voice in supplication: 
 
 "I do be afther askin ye, dear hivinly Father, 
 to kape from my poor wee wan the danger that 
 do be afther threatenin her swate loife! Bring 
 her back til me, dear hivinly Father, bring my 
 own darlin back til me an I do be afther prom- 
 isin that niver, from the toime that I set these 
 auld eyes on her swate face again, will Margaret 
 O Keefe spake annything excipt with great re- 
 spict concernin holy water. I do be afther know- 
 in what ye mane, dear hivinly Father, by sindin
 
 140 GROUNDED 
 
 me the warnin that I ve only jist resaved ; I know 
 my wee wan is in danger, an if auld Margaret 
 cud kape it from her she wud gladly put hersilf 
 bechune it an her darlin . I hope that there will 
 niver be necissity to sind amther warnin to auld 
 Margaret, but whin ye do be sindin her anither 
 one, I do be afther askin ye, dear hivinly Father, 
 I do be afther askin ye to plaze sind down a 
 better-lookin angel wan that do be not so wild 
 an scairt an sinseless as the wan ye sint today." 
 
 On the day it was expected that the bride and 
 groom would enter their new home Margaret 
 O Keefe was very busy. Bonny followed her pa 
 tiently from place to place, but did not interfere 
 with any of her numerous activities. She picked 
 up every broom, both large and small, that she 
 could find, and carried them to a spot that she 
 had selected as the safest one available for tem 
 porary concealment. 
 
 "There!" she exclaimed, partly to herself and 
 partly to her canine companion, me darlin can t 
 stip over anny of thim now!" 
 
 She herself made the bride s cake that was to 
 be served as a portion of the first meal of which 
 the newly married pair would partake under their 
 own roof; she carefully measured and tested the 
 ingredients of this cake, putting in just the right 
 kinds and amounts of spices and fruits as well as 
 other necessary materials, so that, as she believed, 
 the young wife would have every opportunity to 
 find variety as well as happiness in her new life. 
 She spent considerable time and energy in col 
 lecting old shoes, and she had quantities of rice 
 for use at a moment s notice. She made these 
 preparations with the hope that in this way she 
 would prevent Bettina from ever being footsore 
 or hungry. She diligently made preparations so
 
 GROUNDED 141 
 
 that, no matter in what way the bride would ap 
 proach the house, she would enter her own door 
 for the first time by passing over a pathway lined 
 with flowers. 
 
 AVhen the young couple actually did arrive, the 
 old nurse had been stationed for some time where 
 she could command a complete view of the street, 
 so that she w r as at the outer door when they 
 reached it. The first thing they saw when they 
 opened this door was a small, bright basin that 
 old Margaret was holding out toward them with 
 as much dignity and solemnity as she could mus 
 ter for the occasion. In this basin was a small 
 quantity of holy water which, as they entered, she 
 emptied upon them, believing that in this way she 
 kept evil spirits from crossing their own threshold 
 with them. 
 
 11 Margaret, dear!" cried Bettina, settling down 
 for a few moments in a little w r ooden rocking- 
 chair, "it surely seems like home to me to find 
 you two for she had taken Bonny s face be 
 tween her hands, and was looking deeply into the 
 great brown eyes " waiting for me here."
 
 When Kurk Kaleen appeared socially for the 
 first time with his wife they were the cynosure of 
 many eyes. Among those who sought an intro 
 duction to the bride were some who were actuated 
 almost exclusively by curiosity, while others really 
 wished to become acquainted with the diffident 
 but exceedingly attractive girl who had, without 
 openly entering the lists at all, won a heart and 
 hand over the attainment of which many fierce 
 although often silent battles had been fought. 
 Among the first were Lena Burton and her father. 
 They came up together and after congratulations 
 had been easily and gracefully given the two girls 
 naturally began to converse together, while Mr. 
 Burton addressed himself particularly to the 
 young man. After a time, however, the older 
 man spoke directly to the young wife: 
 
 "I met your mother," he said kindly, "when 
 she was traveling in America with your father." 
 
 The expression of Bettina s face, that had up 
 to that moment been one of polite interest, 
 changed at once. Her eyes became brighter, the 
 color in her soft cheeks deepened, her entire 
 countenance became more animated and she lean 
 ed a little toward the speaker, as if she did not 
 wish to lose the sound of a single syllable of what 
 he chose to say. When he had ceased speaking 
 she asked earnestly: 
 
 "Do you think that I resemble her in any way? 
 I have never known," she explained to the other 
 members of the little group, "anything of my 
 
 142
 
 GROUNDED 143 
 
 mother s personal appearance except what my 
 old nurse has told me." 
 
 Your mother," he began, "was a smaller 
 woman than you. I remember that the top of her 
 head barely came to your father s shoulder. Your 
 mother s age must have been about the same that 
 yours is, the last time I saw her, although I be 
 lieve she appeared somewhat older than you do. 
 Her eyes were considerably darker than yours 
 are, but your hair is almost exactly the color that 
 hers was ; your voice, he ended, * resembles hers 
 greatly. 
 
 "Do I," she then inquired eagerly, "seem to 
 you at all as my father did, when he was young 
 and happy?" 
 
 Mr. Burton looked at her, smiling reminiscently. 
 
 I have never met a more determined and yet a 
 more conservative young fellow than your father. 
 He had very decided opinions anr 1 was frank in 
 expressing them, even if he knew that they would 
 meet with strenuous opposition. He was ideal 
 istic, yet practical and reasonable. He was a 
 charming conversationalist, a fluent and interest 
 ing talker. He was an ardent humanitarian, a 
 consistent believer in the rights of everything 
 that lives. I never knew anyone who seemed to 
 be as anxious as was he to meet and study into 
 the mentalities of other human beings. Yet they 
 tell me that he has for years led a secluded and 
 almost a solitary life." 
 
 "I wonder," said Bettina, shaken out of her 
 usual diffidence by this description of the one 
 whom she had always almost worshipped, "if un 
 der circumstances similar to those that surround 
 ed his upbringing I might have developed a per 
 sonality that resembled his!" 
 
 "Your daily association with him," reasoned
 
 144 GROUNDED 
 
 Mr. Burton in spite of a warning glance his 
 daughter cast in his direction, "must have over 
 come to a great extent the dissimilarity in your 
 childish surroundings. By the way," he went on, 
 obtusely disregarding his daughter s well-meant 
 endeavors to stop him, "is your father continu 
 ing the study in which he was formerly so much 
 interested, or has he laid it aside for something 
 else. And if so, what line of thought is he now 
 engaged upon?" 
 
 Kurk Kaleen had been watching the expres 
 sions that came and went on his young wife s face, 
 and seeing a baffled, cornered look begin to take 
 the place that had been filled by satisfied pride 
 and affectionate longing, decided it was time for 
 him to interfere. Accordingly, without giving 
 Bettina an opportunity to answer the question 
 addressed to her, he himself, speaking as care 
 lessly as possible, replied: 
 
 "I believe that Mr. Wane has been quietly 
 carrying on the study to which you refer ; that is, 
 he has been following out certain lines of research 
 closely connected with it. I think," he went on, 
 gratified to see the helpless look upon the face 
 that he was watching give place to an expression 
 of mild wonder, "that he will soon return to the 
 same field of endeavor in which he was working 
 at the time you met him in fact, I hope that we," 
 smilingly indicating the other member of his new 
 family, "may be able to assist, perhaps accom 
 pany him, in this work." 
 
 "I am sure it is a worthy one," asserted Mr. 
 Burton, and added, smilingly regarding Walter 
 Wane s daughter, "you and your father have an 
 efficient helper now." 
 
 After the exchange of appropriate courtesies, 
 Lena Burton and her father moved on to other
 
 GROUNDED 145 
 
 groups, but not before the American girl had sent 
 another barbed shaft winging its way toward the 
 defenseless heart of Kurk Kaleen s bride. Just 
 before they separated she whispered: 
 
 Do not be surprised, Bettina, if your husband 
 is often away from home." 
 
 The young man was pleasantly satisfied to find 
 how easily he had adjusted himself to the rela 
 tions that he had so recently assumed, and turn 
 ing to his companion when they were again for a 
 few moments, alone, said to her in a guarded tone 
 of voice: 
 
 "Dear little girl, I hope that I may be always 
 at hand when you need my protection." 
 
 Bettina did not answer him in words, but her 
 eyes were dark and humid, and the long look they 
 gave him was full of faith and human love. 
 
 The girl was like a sturdy, vigorous young tree 
 that has been always solitary, spreading its 
 healthy, glistening leaves beneath the wide blue 
 sky, sending its roots deep down into the yielding 
 and life-giving earth, finding only strength and 
 beauty in both sunshine and rain, without support 
 and needing none; until at length it is trans 
 planted to an entirely different atmosphere ; until 
 it feels upon its delicate and untried twigs the 
 impact of strange upbuilding or destructive 
 forces, until it trembles or is powerfully shaken 
 by the approach of sudden storms. Then, if it find 
 nearby another sturdy, vigorous young tree 
 already acclimated, it gladly leans against it. And 
 the branches of the two intertwine, so that they 
 are united and together meet whatever winds may 
 blow.
 
 XXXI 
 
 Kurk Kaleen had never been compelled to earn 
 his own livelihood, and yet he had not been en 
 tirely dependent upon his parents for support, as 
 a maternal ancestor had willed him a steady in 
 come. His education had been liberal and during 
 its acquisition he had met those who had opened 
 certain social doors that otherwise might have re 
 mained closed. Once inside he had not needed 
 other aid than his own natural gifts. His father, 
 having been held back as he believed because he 
 had to depend in every way upon his own efforts, 
 was very ambitious as to his son s career and 
 hoped that, through the latter r s association with 
 the sons and daughters of diplomats and states 
 men he might with his own extremely fascinat 
 ing personality and the fact that he was not handi 
 capped by poverty as he himself hadbeen advance 
 until he had reached a position of high honor, pos 
 sibly even fame. It seemed to the father that a 
 suitable matrimonial alliance would greatly assist 
 Kurk in forging ahead of the majority of those 
 with whom he was associated, and as Lena Bur 
 ton, besides being the daughter of the American 
 ambassador, was in every way that wealth, edu 
 cation and personal advantages could make her, a 
 perfect match for his handsome and gifted son. 
 The girl was particularly desirable as the boy s 
 life partner. Hence it was that he had tried in 
 every way to hinder and failing in this, had ac 
 cepted with great dissatisfaction, his marriage to 
 Bettina Wane, whom he recognized only as a 
 modest, gentle, virtuous and well-intentioned girl. 
 
 146
 
 GROUNDED 147 
 
 After the conference, with her father, upon which 
 indeed the latter had insisted, he had for her a 
 deeper respect than he had had before, but he was 
 still far from being reconciled to her as a daugh 
 ter-in-law. In fact, the more he thought about the 
 matter, the more displeased he became with an 
 arrangement that had been carried out against his 
 will, although he himself had been the unwitting 
 cause of the meeting that had led up to it. 
 
 One day not long after Kurk Kaleen s marriage, 
 Lena Burton, much to her amazement, was handed 
 his father s calling card. As soon as he was 
 ushered in he took advantage of the fact that he 
 happened to find her alone, by speaking with the 
 utmost frankness. 
 
 "I wish to ask you something, Miss Burton 
 that may sound strangely coming from me, espe 
 cially at this time. I want to ask you, Miss Bur 
 ton, whether or not my son ever definitely made 
 a proposal of marriage to you? I am asking you 
 this," he explained without waiting for a reply, 
 * so that I may know how to govern myself con 
 cerning a matter that will very soon be presented 
 for my consideration. I wish to assure you that 
 any information you may give me will be looked 
 upon as sacred." 
 
 At this one time, in all her ife, the girl s almost 
 unlimited self-assurance came near to failing her. 
 She moistened her red lips as if to find a passage 
 for the words that she was having some difficulty 
 in mustering into her service. At length, as if 
 she had just managed to bring her forces into 
 battle formation, she looked at her visitor wonder- 
 ingly, and exclaimed: 
 
 "I didn t suppose that anyone this side of the 
 Atlantic would say a thing like this ! I wonder, 
 she went on, regarding him sharply," if you are
 
 148 GROUNDED 
 
 altogether sane! I tell you what I ll do," going 
 over to a house telephone, "I ll call my father," 
 taking down the receiver, "and let him talk to 
 you ! 
 
 She called her father, but while she was waiting 
 for his answer she heard someone come into the 
 hall. Rushing to the door that opened into it 
 she saw that he had just entered the house. 
 
 "Dad!" she cried excitedly, "Dad! Come, I 
 want you!" 
 
 "What is it, Lena?" asked Mr. Burton placidly 
 as he entered the room, expecting to find as usual 
 some insignificant cause for the attitude she had 
 taken. Tell me all about it, daughter ! " he went 
 on, realizing that her face was pale and that her 
 hands as they clung to his arm were trembling. 
 "Tell your dad all about it." Then, noticing for 
 the first that they were not alone, he addressed the 
 other man, "Did you wish to see me, sir!" 
 
 Kurk Kaleen s father knew that he had crowd 
 ed himself into a very uncomfortable corner, into 
 a place it would be hard to get out of gracefully. 
 He looked at his interrogator soberly, for a long 
 moment, before he answered him: 
 
 "I came here to ask Miss Burton for some 
 information that I wished, very much, to gain. 
 She, however," evidently with keen disappoint 
 ment, "does not seem disposed to tell me what 
 I want to know." 
 
 Mr. Burton looked inquiringly at his daughter, 
 and then appraisingly at her visitor. After a 
 while, addressing the latter, who lingered as if 
 still hoping to gain the end he sought, he said : 
 
 "I must leave my daughter s decision in this 
 matter to her own good judgment. She has had 
 considerable experience and is usually very just 
 and reasonable. However," he ended, noting that
 
 GROUNDED 149 
 
 an expression almost of despair was settling over 
 the other man s countenance, "if she wishes to 
 consult with me we will talk the matter over when 
 we are alone. And, if we decide that it is best, we 
 will communicate with you. 
 
 To say that Kurk Kaleen s father was crest 
 fallen would not adequately express the condition 
 of his mind, for he had counted a great deal upon 
 this interview, and as it appeared now it had been 
 a complete failure. He therefore turned, sadly 
 and silently, and bowing courteously to the am 
 bassador and his daughter was about to leave the 
 room, when suddenly the ringing accents of the 
 girl s clear voice arrested him: 
 
 "What he wanted me to tell him, Dad, was 
 whether his son, who is now married, had ever 
 asked me to marry him!" and then, the humor 
 of the situation striking her, she went off into 
 peal after peal of musical laugher, so infectious 
 that the two men in spite of everything began to 
 smile sympathetically. 
 
 After she had gone clear to the top of the scale 
 of harmonious tones, and down to the bottom 
 again, over and over, she suddenly ceased laugh 
 ing and going across the room to where her caller 
 was standing, stupidly staring at her, stopped ex 
 actly in front of him. Dropping a curtsy, she 
 declared, "It grieves me sorely, sir, to be obliged 
 to inform you that your son has never really 
 out-and-out in so many irrevocable words, asked 
 me to marry him. If he had," she ended saucily, 
 and yet also almost seriously, "you might have 
 had I do not say you would have had, and yet, 
 who knows? the honor to be my father-in-law."
 
 XXXII 
 
 Walter Wane, although he had led a secluded 
 and almost a solitary life, had become accustomed 
 to certain sounds in and about his dwelling- 
 place. Bettina s fresh, clear voice, calling in the 
 hall, outside his study-door, her quick, light steps 
 up or down the stairs had been intimately pleas 
 ant noises to which he had listened, if uncon 
 sciously, gladly. The collie s cheerful bark, ac 
 companying or welcoming her mistress, the quick 
 patter of her agile feet, were sounds that indicated 
 to the lonely man youth and strength and happi 
 ness. Old Margaret s lumbering tread and the 
 quavering, indefinite tones of her cracked voice, 
 whether running on like a babbling brook, mon 
 otonously and more or less conversationally, or 
 raised and lowered rhythmically, according to her 
 interpretation of harmonious, lilting melodies, 
 were considered by him a part of the machinery 
 of his household. Barney McCoy had felt called 
 upon to report to him, at regular intervals, the 
 progress of his pupil s intellectual advancement, 
 and for this reason if for no other even the 
 egotistic little tutor s absence from the place was 
 greatly felt by the owner of it. Walter Wane dis 
 covered that his almost empty house cried out to 
 him as if it were protesting against its own empti 
 ness, as if its hollow voice were demanding, voci 
 ferously, the return of that which had gone out 
 from it. 
 
 One day the father of Bettina, some little time 
 after her marriage, heard a quick, light tap upon 
 his study door, as if it had been made by a strong 
 
 150
 
 GROUNDED 151 
 
 and steady, and yet a delicate and nervous hand. 
 Rising from his chair he crossed the room hastily, 
 fully expecting, when he opened the door, to see 
 his daughter before him. lie was somewhat sur 
 prised therefore, to meet Lena Burton s cool gray 
 eyes. He held the door wide and stepped back, 
 thus silently inviting her to enter, which she did 
 at once, tripping lithely to a chair that faced the 
 one in which he usually sat. When they were both 
 comfortably seated the visitor began, without pre 
 liminary excuse. 
 
 "Dad has often told me, Mr. Wane, what he 
 could remember concerning a certain study in 
 which you were engaged when he met you in 
 America. I have always been much interested in 
 what I have been able to learn about this, and I 
 should like very much to understand it more fully 
 than I have thus far been able to do. You are the 
 only one, so far as I know, " looking at him appeal- 
 ingly, who could enlighten me and I have been 
 wondering if you would be willing to do so." 
 
 She stopped and looked at the one addressed, as 
 if she wished to see what effect she had had upon 
 him. After a moment s inspection, as if satisfied 
 with the progress she had made, although she had 
 not succeeded in eliciting any remark from her 
 host, she continued : 
 
 "Of course, I would not expect regular lessons 
 or anything like that, but I thought that maybe," 
 she hesitated, for even her nonchalance was af 
 fected by the aloofness of his manner, "you would 
 give me some ideas as to what books to read, so 
 that I might at least gain the rudimentary knowl 
 edge as a foundation for further understanding. 
 Sometime you might again visit America, and if 
 so I might be able to assist you in some way, if
 
 152 GROUNDED 
 
 bnly I knew how to go about it. And so," she 
 ended a little lamely, it is true, and still, with con 
 siderable remaining spirit, "I thought perhaps 
 you would be willing to help me find the way." 
 
 The man who faced her had not been pursuing 
 the study in which she had just professed so great 
 an interest altogether fruitlessly, for as he looked 
 upon her animated countenance and listened to the 
 eager, even anxious, tones of her smooth voice he 
 sought for and discovered beneath the surface of 
 her personality what seemed the underlying mo 
 tive that had prompted her in the daring step 
 that she had just taken. This motive was not en 
 tirely a worthy one; in fact, the more carefully 
 he examined into it the more fully he became con 
 vinced that it was almost altogether if not quite 
 unworthy. His fatherly instinct, which was per 
 haps even stronger on account of its long sup 
 pression, warned him that in some way his own 
 daughter s happiness or at the least her peace 
 of mind was at stake. Taking all this into con 
 sideration he guardedly and appraisingly said: 
 
 "The study to which you refer is of so com 
 plicated and far-reaching a nature that very few 
 could, in an ordinary life-time, gain sufficient mas 
 tery of it to enable them practically to use the 
 knowledge furnished through its consideration. 
 I may sometime," he went on courteously, as if 
 the matter to which he had barely referred had 
 been entirely disposed of, "visit America again 
 and in that case I should certainly try to renew the 
 very pleasant acquaintance that I had the honor 
 to have with your father." Rising as if he con 
 sidered the interview about to be closed, "I have 
 some very vivid memories of the splendid hos 
 pitality that Mr. Burton extended to my wife and 
 to myself."
 
 GROUNDED 153 
 
 Either Walter Wane had never met an Amer 
 ican girl who was the exact counterpart of the one 
 who stood before him, for she had risen when he 
 had done so, or he had forgotten what is generally 
 accepted as a national characteristic of her coun 
 trymen, for he was evidently unprepared for and 
 considerably shocked by the ease with which she 
 overlooked his dignified attempts to evade the on 
 slaught she had made upon what he considered his 
 own private affairs. She walked toward the door, 
 politely conducted thither by her host, but just 
 before they reached it she stopped, and meeting 
 directly his detached and coldly distant gaze de 
 clared : 
 
 "I ll have Dad come down here with me soon, 
 M!r. Wane, and perhaps in the meantime you will 
 be kind enough to make a list of the books that you 
 think I ought to read in order to seriously begin 
 the study that we have been speaking of. I m sure 
 that you ve been very good, smiling brightly into 
 his puzzled face and extending her hand to him 
 cordially, l to bother with me at all ! I must seem 
 very ignorant to you but I really want to learn.
 
 XXXIII 
 
 Human beings are sometimes so blinded by 
 what seem to be perfectly natural and even un 
 avoidable emotions that they go along a certain 
 path for some distance before they fully realize 
 whither it is leading. Almost any new environ 
 ment holds within itself, through its very strange 
 ness, a sort of mysterious, enticing glamor that 
 may be but a thin, well-polished veneer or, on the 
 contrary, some reflection of dependable, lasting 
 qualities that are beneath. 
 
 Despite old Margaret s many affectionate pre 
 cautions, and even the depth and intensity of the 
 passionate admiration that she felt for her young 
 husband, Bettina Kaleen sat one day in the low 
 wooden rocking-chair that was part of the fur 
 nishings of her own room and looked down, fig 
 uratively, at a little heap of dull gray ashes that 
 represented to her all that remained of the light 
 and warmth of a faith so perfect and beautiful 
 that it had mounted almost to the height of a 
 religious fervor. This faith, judged according to 
 the standards of the pure-minded, innocent girl 
 that Bettina Wane had been, was now but a 
 caustic and most disquieting memory. She had 
 looked upon everything that Kurk Kaleen had told 
 her as absolute truth, because she herself was 
 truthful. After they had been actually united in 
 marriage, so that they too were in the eyes of the 
 law and of society as one, she had built up, 
 through the aid of her imagination an imposing 
 and artistic structure in which they two alone 
 could dwell. Within this was to be, according to 
 
 154
 
 GROUNDED 155 
 
 the builder s plan, harmonious and lasting love, so 
 strong and true that it would but grow stronger 
 if it should be assailed by any outside influence. 
 Those inside this dwelling could look out upon the 
 world readily and easily, but its windows were so 
 cunningly constructed that they became at once 
 opaque if anyone outside attempted even casually 
 to inspect any portion of the interior. The pri 
 vacy of the two who were within the structure 
 was complete. This dwelling that Bettina Kaleen 
 had built was when she had finished it to her 
 entire satisfaction, fireproof so that anger or 
 envy or malice not only had no effect upon its 
 stability, but were effectually turned away if for 
 any reason they came near; it was also burglar- 
 proof as there was no way by which a thief could 
 enter it except through the connivance of one of 
 its occupants. She had named this structure mar 
 ital faith, typifying what alone could make the 
 union of the two beautiful, or for her even pos 
 sible. The girl had given herself wholly to her 
 husband, because she w r as a strongly sexed, mag 
 netic, perfectly normal girl, and he had aroused in 
 her because of his fascinating personality and the 
 manly love he professed, a wild and passionate, 
 but hitherto dormant, primitive desire. 
 
 At the same time she was possessed of a keen, 
 although so far little-used sagacity. This quality 
 of her mentality was so canny that it could ferret 
 out as if instinctively the most minute and care 
 fully hidden facts, if her will power were allowed 
 full sway over her understanding. And it was her 
 sagacity that called her attention to a danger that 
 was threatening to destroy the dwelling which, as 
 she supposed, was built entirely of indestructible 
 material. All the strength of her untarnished, 
 wifely love flew at once to the defense of her mar-
 
 156 GROUNDED 
 
 ital faith, and she even tried to hoodwink her sa 
 gacity into believing it had been mistaken as to the 
 threatened danger. But when doubt once as 
 sumed the place that had been occupied by con 
 fidence, a light was thrown upon what her sagacity 
 had discovered, so that it stood out clearly and she 
 could no longer be mistaken as to its nature. She 
 was too young and naturally well poised to give 
 herself over wholly to despair, and in spite of 
 positive proof to the contrary there would from 
 time to time creep into her mind a hovering hope 
 that she would somehow soon awaken from what 
 seemed to her an ugly dream. Her inner life, up 
 to the time of her marriage, had been so solitary 
 that it did not occur to her to consult with anyone 
 concerning what had happened. 
 
 Today old Margaret came in, as was her fre 
 quent custom, and seeing the young woman sit 
 ting quietly there, without apparently being en 
 gaged in any way, looked sharply at her, but not 
 icing no indications of physical illness upon her 
 wee wan s face made no comment. Bettina, how 
 ever, as her old nurse was about to leave the room, 
 said: 
 
 " Margaret, dear, do you think that you would 
 like to go home with Bonny and me tomorrow? 
 I do not know exactly how long we might stay." 
 
 "Yu do be afther knowin , clarlin , that I wud 
 go wid ye wheriver ye wud say, an all that I wud 
 iver ask wud be to look at your swate face! To 
 see ye sit there so solemn-like an sthill makes me 
 remimber how I felt that day whin Tim O Keefe 
 wint off for good and all. But thin," she ended 
 shrewdly, as if trying to do away with the implica 
 tion she had made, bad cess til him no wan iver 
 said that Tim O Keefe was a born jintleman." 
 
 The girl was silent and the smile with which
 
 GROUNDED 157 
 
 she tried to dismiss old Margaret was somewhat 
 forced. As soon as she was again alone she re 
 turned to the contemplation of the little heap of 
 dull, gray ashes that, as it seemed to her, was 
 lying there before her. After a time she arose and 
 began quietly and systematically, to make prep 
 arations for the journey she had decided upon. 
 
 While she was so engaged she heard a quick, 
 strong step approaching. This sound had hither 
 to been welcome, but now it brought a pang of such 
 intensity and bitterness it seemed to the young 
 wife she could not bear it without expressing in 
 some way the agony. It seemed to her that she 
 could not meet him, but this condition did not last 
 for soon her innate courage and the consciousness 
 of her own innocence made her brave. She did not 
 go to meet him. at the door as had been her habit, 
 but instead sat quietly in the low rocker. He 
 crossed the room with his usual buoyant confid 
 ence ; then noticing the attitude she had assumed, 
 he dropped upon his knees beside her and taking 
 her listless, unresponsive hands in his firm, mag 
 netic grasp, he asked her anxiously: 
 
 "What is it, little girl? Are you ill? She 
 looked at him calmly and as if from a great dis 
 tance. He went on, 1 1 Have you had bad news con 
 cerning your father? Has something happened 
 here to worry or alarm you!" He arose and be 
 gan to pace back and forth in front of her. "Tell 
 me, Bettina, he cried, stopping for a moment, and 
 standing tall and handsome, looking down at her, 
 with wonder that bordered upon fear in his dark 
 eyes, tell me what it is ! " 
 
 "There is nothing," she began, and was sur 
 prised to find how politely conventional and 
 strange her voice sounded, even to herself, "that 
 you can do now. It may be," she went on as
 
 158 GROUNDED 
 
 coolly as she could, although she could not keep 
 her lips and chin from trembling pitifully, "that 
 my father will wish to consult with you concerning 
 certain matters that will need attention later on. 
 But I," she ended, answering the look dawning in 
 his eyes, "must fight this battle out alone. I have 
 always been alone, you know, she added, as if in 
 explanation of the statement she had made, "until 
 just lately. 
 
 "What battle do you mean, Bettina?" he de 
 manded. "What trouble can have come to you 
 that your husband cannot share ? Dear little wife, 
 do not torture yourself needlessly. Let us talk 
 this matter over, whatever it is, and face it to 
 gether. Don t you think it is your duty," he 
 ended, for he had found that that short word held 
 a powerful leverage with her, "to let me know 
 about this and so end my suspense as soon as 
 possible?" 
 
 "Legal marriage is only the outward expres 
 sion of a tie that has nothing to do with the laws 
 men have made; when this tie is broken, when it 
 no longer binds two human beings together, then 
 in reality the marriage is at an end then in 
 reality the two human beings are irretrievably 
 separated." 
 
 She looked down and the man, gazing at her 
 pale, sad features, understood but was deter 
 mined not to seem to do so. Raising her from the 
 floor he lifted her until her eyes were on a level 
 with his own and cried : 
 
 "There is no one who has a right to come be 
 tween us ! I belong to you, and you," holding her 
 close to his wildly throbbing heart, "belong to 
 me!" 
 
 But his passionate embrace met with no re 
 sponse this time; instead, she extricated herself
 
 GROUNDED 159 
 
 determinedly from his arms, and when she was 
 again upon her feet she said in a steady voice : 
 The tie that was between us has been broken.
 
 XXXIV 
 
 Old Margaret had never felt entirely at home in 
 the new abode, of which nevertheless she had 
 cheerfully made herself a part. The prospect of 
 going "home," though perhaps for but a short 
 time was very pleasing to her. She went about 
 preparations for the journey with alacrity, and 
 kept them up almost unceasingly from the hour 
 in which Bettina had told her until she was com 
 pelled through bodily weariness to retire for the 
 night. She was up betimes the following morning, 
 for it had been borne in on her that she should 
 personally attend to several matters before her 
 departure. Now she was closely companioned by 
 Bonny who, knowing that some change in which 
 she was interested was about to take place, was 
 keenly alert. Suddenly Margaret s attention was 
 attracted to a figure that was cautiously if not 
 surreptitiously drawing near; it seemed to her 
 that there was something familiar about its ap 
 pearance and when she saw the collie advancing 
 toward it, waving her plume-like tail as if to give 
 a friendly welcome, she recognized her ancient 
 enemy, Barney McCoy. As the little man came 
 toward her he raised his hat and smiled ingratiat 
 ingly, but did not risk attempting to communicate 
 with her through the medium of spoken words, 
 for she was standing stockstill, arms akimbo, fists 
 doubled up and eyes that glared defiantly at him. 
 He kept smiling and after a while the old woman, 
 not meeting with any opposition or hearing any 
 declaration of war, relaxed a little her martial at 
 titude. Taking advantage of this cessation of 
 
 160
 
 GROUNDED 161 
 
 probable hositilities the tutor with for him con 
 siderable meekness of demeanor, said : 
 
 "I have been expecting for some time to re 
 ceive notice from my former pupil, or her hus 
 band, apprising me of their readiness to usher 
 me into my new position (which I was to occupy 
 in the capacity of private, or social, secretary). 
 Failing to receive this I have concluded that it 
 must have gone astray, in some manner, and feel 
 ing that complications might arise in consequence 
 of my absence I decided to eliminate any pos 
 sibility of the miscarriage of a formal notification 
 by presenting myself here in person." 
 
 Bonny had gingerly sniffed the new arrival as if 
 to confirm the testimony of her ocular sense, and 
 apparently satisfied as to his identity had taken 
 up a position at some little distance from the two 
 human beings, where, sitting upon her haunches, 
 she was placidly watching them. Old Margaret 
 had listened with considerable equanimity to the 
 effusive statement made her. In the first place, 
 she was rather gratified to observe that although 
 she was his only auditor, the former tutor had not 
 hesitated to call to his aid some excessively elab 
 orate and to her exceedingly "dark," nomencla 
 ture. This attitude together with the humility 
 that his entire personality seemed to radiate, bol 
 stered her growing belief that finally, after long 
 years of ineffectual struggling, she was about to 
 gain the whip-hand over him, to be in a position 
 where she could do the dictating, instead of being 
 treated with distant dignity as if she were an 
 ignorant underling. Washing to treat her van 
 quished foe with generosity, she started out in her 
 new character with moderation: 
 
 " I do be af ther thinkin that what we expict an 
 what we do be layin our hands on, in this wurrld,
 
 162 GROUNDED 
 
 are two entoirely siparate affairs; an whin we 
 die we may expict to go to Hivin, an play wid 
 harps an walk on strates of gold but accordin 
 til the praste we ll be more likely only jist to see 
 the shinin strates of Hivin as we re passin by, 
 an what we ll lay our hands on will be burnin 
 coals an pitchforks. An as to this position that 
 ye do be afther wantin ," folding her arms across 
 her breast and standing so straight she leaned a 
 little backward, "I don t see why the darlin shud 
 need a sicretary now, anny more than she did whin 
 ye was her piddler s gob!" He winced as she ap 
 plied this appellation to him and she felt that she 
 had scored another triumph. In gineral, I shud 
 say it wud be better to presint yersilf in anny 
 ither way excipt in person but howiver that may 
 be, presintin yersilf whin darlin is away won t 
 do ye anny good!" 
 
 At that moment Kurk Kaleen came hastily out 
 of the house and started toward the street, but was 
 arrested by a voice that was so anxious as to be 
 almost appealing. From what old Margaret had 
 just said Barney MjcCoy feared that the only re 
 maining member of the new family was about to 
 escape him, and adding as much dignity as he 
 could muster to his natural self-assurance, he hur 
 riedly accosted him: 
 
 "My dear young gentleman, it is with great 
 pleasure that I find you up and about at this early 
 hour of the morning. The air at this time of the 
 day has a bracing quality that, as I am well aware 
 from my own experience, has a stimulating and 
 exceedingly beneficial effect upon that mysterious 
 psychological thing the human intellect. But I 
 have come, my dear young gentleman, to assume 
 the duties that will indubitably attach to the posi 
 tion which, in accordance with the understanding
 
 GROUNDED 163 
 
 that I had with you before your marriage, I am to 
 occupy here. 
 
 Kurk Kaleen had always, so far as able, taken 
 advantage of every bit of flotsam or jetsam that 
 had drifted in his direction, especially if he could 
 make use of it for his own benefit. Under the 
 peculiar conditions by which he had suddenly 
 found himself surrounded, it occurred to him that 
 he might at some future time need the assistance 
 of someone who had been closely connected with 
 the family of his young wife. Here before him 
 stood a human being who might with proper man 
 agement assist him in extricating himself from the 
 labyrinth into which he seemed to have stumbled. 
 Hence, instead of sending the little man scorn 
 fully away, as he might under pleasanter circum 
 stances have done, he signalled to him to follow 
 him, and when they were out in the street said 
 guardedly : 
 
 1 I am in great haste this morning, and will not 
 be able to talk this matter over thoroughly at any 
 time today. l He bit his lip and looked down ner 
 vously, but presently added, * If you will be here 
 tomorrow evening at eight o clock, I will arrange 
 to be at libertv then."
 
 XXXV 
 
 As soon as Margaret Keef e had removed the 
 cumbersome cloak and throttling headgear that 
 she considered proper traveling accoutrement, 
 once again in the home of Walter Wane, she be 
 came busily and officiously engaged in examining 
 into everything that had been done during her 
 absence. She felt as if she had been forced, 
 through her love for her wee wan, out of her 
 natural element, and now she fairly disported 
 herself in the midst of familiar scenes and con 
 genial surrounding. 
 
 Bettina went at once to her father s study, and 
 without wasting time upon unnecessary explana 
 tions, or giving way to fruitless emotion, de 
 clared : 
 
 * My mariage was a mistake. My husband and 
 I are permanently estranged. I wish to know 
 what you think I ought to do." 
 
 Father and daughter regarded each other seri 
 ously and silently, for a long moment; each read 
 in the eyes of the other unswerving devotion to 
 truth, undaunted courage and the ability to hold 
 unfalteringly to a purpose, or to take an unalter 
 able resolve. Before he spoke Walter Wane 
 moved his chair a little nearer the one in which his 
 daughter sat. 
 
 "There is but one thing for you to do, my 
 daughter. If you can no longer remain in the 
 home that your husband has provided for you, 
 you will return at once to the shelter of the roof 
 under which you were born. Certain matters will 
 require adjustment, but all that is necessary at 
 
 164
 
 GROUNDED 165 
 
 the present time is that a perfect understanding 
 should be established between you and me, so that 
 we may meet together whatever contingencies may 
 arise. I do not wish to know your reasons for the 
 decision that you have made, except insofar as 
 they will affect my attitude toward the man whose 
 name you bear, as well as the members of his 
 immediate family. I would like to know one thing, 
 Bettina," he looked directly, and with reassuring 
 kindness into her dark and troubled eyes, "have 
 you become convinced that your husband has been 
 untrue to his marriage vows?" 
 
 Her blue eyes filled with tears she was not 
 wholly able to restrain, and with her long brown 
 lashes, even her soft cheeks, wet with them, she 
 sadly but firmly replied: 
 
 "I could not doubt the evidence that was pre 
 sented to me. I tried to make myself believe," 
 her low, sweet voice was trembling, "that I had 
 been mistaken. But I do not think that Kurk 
 Kaleen," and even in her gentle tones there was 
 a trace of bitterness, "was ever really true to any 
 thing! It seemed as natural for him to lie as it 
 has always been for me to speak the truth. I did 
 not know that men could be like that, Father," 
 she ended pitifully. "I supposed that they were 
 all like you." 
 
 "I deeply regret my inability, Bettina," his 
 strong voice shook with suppressed feeling, "to 
 have saved you from the bitterness of this ex 
 perience; it goes to show how limited and liable 
 to err is my human understanding. I have always 
 tried to shield you, ever since as a helpless infant 
 you were given into my care, and yet when for 
 the first time in your life you really needed pro 
 tection, I was unable to give it to you. Because 
 we were both blinded by outward appearance so
 
 166 GROUNDED 
 
 that we did not recognize the character of that 
 which lay beneath them. I hoped at one time to 
 gain the power to penetrate the masks that human 
 beings almost always wear, to watch the working 
 of the underlying motives that are the causes of 
 the actions that we see, and are apt to judge each 
 other by. I still hope," he went on more cheer 
 fully, as if a sudden thought had heartened him, 
 * that I may be able through the practical applica 
 tion of certain theories that I have recently been 
 permitted to study to add to the efficiency of my 
 perceptive faculties. It may be, my daughter," 
 he concluded, giving her somehow a sense of com 
 radeship with him such as she had never felt be 
 fore, "that I shall be able, now that you have re 
 turned to me, to proceed with this study to which 
 I had decided to devote my life before you came 
 into this world." 
 
 The pallor of the girl s young face, the dark cir 
 cles beneath her eyes and the shadow that lay like 
 a storm-cloud within the eyes themselves, testified 
 to the fact that she had writhed in agony, as ten 
 der women always do when those they love are 
 lost to them. They showed that she had spent 
 sleepless nights, tossing restlessly back and forth 
 trying to unravel the skein that had been hopeless 
 ly entangled before it had been even placed within 
 her human hands ; proved that she had shed sear 
 ing, scathing, unavailing tears. Yet the fact that, 
 having made a definite decision, she had acted 
 upon it immediately instead of dallying with the 
 verdict and thus prolonging but not assuaging 
 the torturing suspense, exhibited the strength as 
 well as the purity of her character. She looked up 
 now, steadily and frankly, as if indeed she herself 
 had been separated for the time being from all 
 that had thus far come into her human life as if
 
 GROUNDED 167 
 
 the powerful emotions that had been holding her 
 beneath their sway had wrenched her entirely out 
 of herself as if all that had gone before was but 
 a background, dimly seen and constantly receding. 
 Her father recognized this mental attitude, and 
 wishing to encourage it announced : 
 
 "I think that I myself will direct your studies 
 henceforth. The education you have already had 
 has of necessity been to a certain extent of a rudi 
 mentary or preparatory nature. You are now, 
 for some mysterious reason, separated from your 
 own kind, so that you can be like an onlooker in 
 stead of an actor, watching but not taking part in 
 the conflicting emotions that govern human life; 
 thus you will form unbiased opinions, and reason 
 calmly from cause to effect. I believe, Bettina, 
 that everything that comes to us is sent to us for 
 some definite purpose which we can further by 
 adjusting ourselves as congenially as possible to 
 conditions and taking advantage of every step 
 that plainly leads toward progress. " 
 
 That night Bettina, like a wounded dove, crept 
 into the soft, warm nest that her old nurse had 
 lovingly prepared for her ; it was almost as if she 
 w r ere a little child again, for Bonny came and stood 
 beside her bed as if to say that she would be on 
 guard. 
 
 The girl was very weary, like a traveler who 
 has journeyed far, and she slept as one who, after 
 journeying has found his way back home. 
 
 "Miss darlin ," called old Margaret the next 
 morning, before the young woman was fairly 
 awake, "I do be afther thinkin the violets an 
 daisies will be glad to see the two of us, baith at 
 the same time togither! An I hope," she mut 
 tered, sotto voce, "that niver in this wurrld nor 
 yit in anny ither wurrld will ye be afther meetin 
 anither handsome an allurin man!"
 
 XXXVI 
 
 Kurk Kaleen s father was secretly elated, 
 although apparently perturbed, when he received 
 from Walter Wiane the formal announcement of 
 the arrival of his daughter. The dignified and dis 
 tant courtesy of this announcement was charac 
 teristic of its writer, and was understood by the 
 one to whom addressed as a final notification. 
 
 Father and son then held a long and serious 
 consultation, during the course of which the for 
 mer said : 
 
 I trust that you will not allow this unpleasant 
 experience to greatly interfere with your future. 
 Young men frequently make unfortunate matri 
 monial alliances, but usually, after they are legally 
 freed from uncongenial entanglements, they do not 
 feel any deleterious effects. In this particular 
 case the great seclusion and pronounced pride of 
 the family with which we have to deal preclude 
 the possibility of unnecessary notoriety. Finan 
 cially, affairs can be arranged readily and without 
 friction/ 
 
 "I have not yet," the young man declared, his 
 dark eyes flashing dogged determination, "aban 
 doned hope of reconciliation. My wife, on account 
 of her youth and inexperience, has been deeply af 
 fected by what is not really a very grave matter. 
 I hope that after she has had time for reflection 
 and fully realizes the change that she would be 
 making in her life if she remained in her father s 
 home, she will decide to return to me. I shall use 
 every possible effort," looking boldly and signifi 
 cantly into his father s face, "to bring about this 
 result." 
 
 168
 
 GROUNDED 169 
 
 The older man looked at him, quizzically and 
 thoughtfully. Finally, as if he had come to some 
 definite decision, he said: 
 
 " There is a matter concerning which you are 
 as yet in ignorance that might perhaps have some 
 weight with you. You no doubt remember that 
 Walter Wane insisted upon having a conference 
 with me prior to your marriage. He bound me 
 strictly to secrecy concerning the information that 
 he gave me, at that time, and had your marriage 
 proved a happy one I should probably never have 
 divulged it. Under the present circumstances it 
 seems to me that I may honorably consider myself 
 freed at least so far as you are concerned, from 
 the promise I made him/ He walked over until 
 he was standing near his son, who had impulsively 
 risen, preparatory to leaving the room, and plac 
 ing one hand on the younger man s shoulder con 
 tinued, * I think I have told you that Walter Wane 
 was considered at one time by many of his asso 
 ciates as somewhat mentally unbalanced. What 
 he told me when I went to see him at his request 
 would tend to confirm rather than refute any 
 statement of this nature. He said to me that he 
 believed that the human intellect progresses as 
 the bud expands, until in due time it becomes the 
 blossom; when it has reached a certain state of 
 perfection whether through the endurance of 
 excruciating bodily pain or the bearing of intense 
 mental agony, refining the mind as the crucible 
 purifies the metal that in its crude condition has 
 been thrown into it it leaves its physical environ 
 ment and without perceptible or at least conscious 
 change, continues to progress. He wanted me to 
 know," looking impressively at his son, "that he 
 was not in sympathy with many of the orthodox 
 forms of religious belief, although he admitted
 
 170 GROUNDED 
 
 that he had always complied with them in every 
 important particular. 
 
 The young man had listened carefully to all that 
 had been said and when his father ceased speak 
 ing he came a little nearer to him even than 
 they had been before, and resting both his hands 
 on the older man s shoulders, looked directly and 
 earnestly into his eyes. 
 
 "I think I understand your motives, and I know 
 that you have always my best interests at heart. 
 But I must be allowed to use my own judgment. 
 I do not consider that Mr. Wane s peculiar be 
 liefs, for or against prevailing forms of religion, 
 can have any bearing upon my individual family 
 relations. 
 
 Realizing that further argument in this direc 
 tion would be useless, and knowing the stubborn 
 ness of his son s disposition, Kurk Kaleen s 
 father forbore to aggravate the situation, but on 
 the contrary endeavored to emphasize the friendly 
 feeling already existing between the younger man 
 and himself. In pursuance of this desire he earn 
 estly declared: 
 
 " I do not wish to seem to dictate in any way ! 
 I only wanted you to know everything that I my 
 self had been made aware of, that might more or 
 less affect you." Then, wishing to change the 
 subject, he cast about in his mind in search of a 
 suitable theme for conversation. Finally, as if he 
 had found the very idea, he continued, ( l Have you 
 seen Miss Burton lately? I met her father re 
 cently and found him a very interesting, sagacious 
 man. She herself is without doubt a very bright, 
 attractive and decidely original young woman. 
 I have never met a more courageous, sensible per 
 son than she the buoyancy of her nature is de 
 lightfully refreshing !
 
 GROUNDED 171 
 
 He waited, hoping that his son would take up 
 the subject he had introduced, but as he did not 
 seem inclined to do so he as casually inquired : 
 
 1 Have you ever thought that you would care to 
 visit America? " 
 
 The young man reluctantly replied: 
 
 "I expect to go there sometime. As you know, 
 I have traveled very little except in my own and 
 adjacent countries. That part of my education 
 has been to a great extent sadly neglected, and I 
 must remedy the matter whenever suitable oppor 
 tunities are offered me. It seems to me that travel 
 is apt to broaden one s view, give one fresh ideas 
 and shed new light upon beliefs that one already 
 holds." 
 
 Kurk Kaleen s father was not without spirit, 
 although the meekness with which he had been 
 bearing his son s numerous evasions might lead 
 one w^ho did not know him to think so. Feeling 
 that nothing could be gained by further concilia 
 tory measures and determined to find out some 
 thing that he very much desired to know, he de 
 cided to throw discretion to the winds. 
 
 "I am going to ask you a question which 
 you may consider impertinent, but to which never 
 theless I expect a direct answer. The young man 
 recognized the tone of voice as being one with 
 which he had been more or less familiar during 
 his boyhood. "Have you ever seriously consid 
 ered whether or not you \vould marry Miss Lena 
 Burton?" 
 
 The expression of Kurk Kaleen s countenance 
 as he silently regarded his father was kindly, even 
 affectionate ; at length, speaking firmly and stead 
 ily, he said: 
 
 " I do not think that one man has a right to ask 
 another a question of that sort."
 
 XXXVII 
 
 Many of the acquaintances of Kurk Kaleen who 
 had met his retiring young wife pitied her pro 
 foundly when they heard of the separation of the 
 young couple, for they immediately concluded that 
 he had wearied of the sameness of domestic life 
 and had voluntarily sent her away from him, his 
 reputation as a fascinating as well as fickle lover 
 having been well earned. Sometimes, however, a 
 stream which has rippled beneath many a light 
 and shifting breeze is suddenly strongly and deep 
 ly stirred by a force so mighty that all that has 
 gone before is obliterated by it ; and so it was with 
 the emotional nature of the dark, eager, alert, 
 young fellow who early one morning arrived at 
 the home of Walter Wane. As he had hoped 
 would be the case he found that Bettina, accom 
 panied as usual by her old nurse, had gone out for 
 a walk. He started in the direction in which he 
 felt sure they had gone and soon caught sight of 
 them, the young woman moving along so slowly 
 that old Margaret had no difficulty in keeping 
 pace. As he came within earshot he distinctly 
 heard Bettina s sweet voice saying: 
 
 Margaret, dear, you do enjoy being out in the 
 country again, don t you ? 
 
 The tones of her voice had never sounded sweet 
 er or more musical than they did then ; to see her 
 moving along there before him, so near and yet 
 so very far away, was hard for his impatient 
 strength. He longed to speak to her but dreaded 
 the possible reception that might be awaiting him. 
 
 172
 
 GROUNDED 173 
 
 While he hesitated he heard quick, pattering foot 
 steps behind, and was convinced that Bonny was 
 approaching. To avoid complications with the 
 collie, which he knew from experience might arise, 
 he hurried forward and, placing one hand, gently, 
 on Bettina s arm, whispered : 
 * Dear little girl, I missed you ! I had to come ! 
 Flesh and blood are marvelous conductors of 
 magnetic force ; this fact is being repeatedly prov 
 en in many ways. "The laying on of hands" is 
 proverbial; any human being who attempts to 
 calm, control or influence any earthly creature, 
 knows the advantage to be gained by actual con 
 tact If a person who is trying to govern the ac 
 tions of any other has already had experience with 
 the creature in question that experience will be 
 advantageous to him, and Kurk Kaleen s mem 
 ories of the warmth and intensity of his young 
 wife s affectionate, passionate and almost entirely 
 hitherto suppressed nature were very vivid, very 
 compelling. It did not seem possible that her 
 sweet lips, yielded as they had been to him alone, 
 would be f orevermore withheld ; it did not seem to 
 him that he would nevermore be electrified and 
 thrilled by the clasp of her soft arms. Bettina 
 herself was conscious of the power of his pres 
 ence ; the tinglingly delicious, surging ecstasy that 
 instantly and without her own volition registered 
 itself upon her flesh and all of her sensitive, an 
 swering, normal nerves would have apprised her 
 of the fact that he was there, without his spoken 
 words. But the forces that appeal to body and 
 blood alone, once understood and classified, are 
 not permitted to direct the action of a refined and 
 reasoning human being. Other magnetic currents 
 more powerful than those that can be conducted 
 only through an earthly body were set in motion
 
 174 GROUNDED 
 
 when the young wife knew that the man into whose 
 keeping she in her innocence had given the first 
 flower of her womanhood was near her. These 
 latter currents are constantly above, beneath and 
 around every living being with an intelligence that 
 is capable of rising above the demands of merely 
 physical appetites. That part of Bettina Wane, 
 through which alone the stronger currents can 
 find their way and so exert their influence, had 
 been from the very beginning of her mortal exist 
 ence whether through inheritance or not, I am 
 not able to determine particularly sensitive. 
 Through education and environment they had 
 been developed to such an extent that they com 
 pletely overcame or effectually deflected those 
 lower forces that might now have guided or tem 
 porarily controlled her. Bettina Kaleen had taken 
 into her married life the high ideals, the unbroken 
 and beautiful aspirations, and the fresh, untar 
 nished and devoted faith of her girlhood. She 
 had placed all these within the structure in which 
 her husband and herself alone could dwell 
 their marital faith; under the protection and in 
 the safety of this dignified and imposing dwelling 
 she had expected that they too would remain 
 while their human hearts continued to beat and 
 while the warm, responsive blood continued to 
 flow through their human veins. When this struc 
 ture that she had builded began to exist for her 
 alone, as represented by the little heap of dull, 
 gray ashes, the powerful physical currents had for 
 the time being been made comparatively inactive. 
 So that when the electrifying human hand of Kurk 
 Kaleen lay once more upon the arm of her who 
 was even then legally his wife, the current that it 
 immediately established was met, counteracted
 
 GROUNDED 175 
 
 and eventually grounded by the action of a force 
 beside which it was powerless, even puerile. 
 
 1 i I am very sorry if you have had to suffer too/ 
 Bettina spoke quite calmly, having been able al 
 most at once to recover from the shock his unex 
 pected presence had given her. "Yet I believe 
 you will soon find you do not miss me very much. 
 There was no sound of self-pity or regret in her 
 steady tones. "I surely hope that this will be so. 
 I," she went on coolly, as if she were discussing 
 some little accident that had recently involved 
 them both, * expect to turn my attention to serious 
 study, perhaps travel, with my father." 
 
 Old Margaret had been trudging along, a silent 
 but openly curious spectator of the scene. The 
 belligerent expression that had spread itself over 
 her countenance as soon as she had realized to 
 whom the quick, strong step that she had heard 
 belonged, gave way to one of pleased surprise that 
 soon developed into proud, triumphant satisfac 
 tion when she "sensed" Bettina s attitude, and 
 listened to the clear, calm tones of her sweet 
 voice. When these had ceased, however, and the 
 silence had become oppressive to her, she ex 
 claimed, ignoring the young man s presence alto 
 gether : 
 
 "I do be afther thinkin , darlin , that we, the 
 baith of us at the same toime, togither, will be 
 afther havin a foine toime whin we do be afther 
 crossin the say an inspictin all thim furrin 
 lands that ye Ve been afther readin , an I Ve been 
 dramin about iver since we knew that we cud 
 walk, at all, at all. 
 
 "Yes, Margaret, dear," the girl s tones now 
 were tender and protecting, l l I think we shall see 
 much that is interesting and beautiful." 
 
 By the time that Bonny had come up with the
 
 176 GROUNDED 
 
 little group the young man was a little behind the 
 others, so that Bonny, although she recognized 
 him perfectly, did not molest him. Indeed, as her 
 great eyes solemnly regarded him, there was more 
 of pity than malignity in their brown depths; it 
 was as if she knew that the sins that she had 
 all along suspected had found him out, and that 
 he was being sent away because of them. Bonny 
 was naturally a gentle creature, and her inborn 
 instincts prompted her to help all those she knew 
 to be unfortunate. Kurk Kaleen at that moment 
 glanced in her direction and instead of growling 
 at him as she had done more than once before 
 she smiled at him, a little sadly it is true, and 
 began to wave her plume-like tail. 
 
 Perhaps in acknowledgment of this change in 
 her attitude toward him he included her in the 
 sweeping glance of his flashing dark eyes when he 
 said: 
 
 "I will no longer intrude. I wish you a very 
 good morning." 
 
 THE END.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-50m-7, 54 (5990) 444
 
 PS 
 3313 
 
 G9155gro 
 
 JB " "Illllllfl