Beview of Reviews. 1/3/13. JHE BOOK OF THE MONTH. 



83 



queer manners. Bettina is happily ex- 

 cited, and is urged on to sing, and even 

 to show the action dances her mother 

 had taught her. 



THE WARNING. 



But the man who takes Sister in is 

 moved to pity, perhaps for the only 

 time of his life. Seating her on a 

 lounge, he says : — • 



There ! Now can you sit quite still 

 for a few minutes? xAs still as if I were 

 taking }'Our picture?-' I said I supposed 

 I could. ' And must I looked pleasant ?' 

 I laughed. He hesitated, and then : 

 'How good are your nerves?' he asked. 



" ' Very good,' I boasted. 



" But he was grave. 



" ' Have \ou ever fainted ?' 



" ' Never !' I said, a little indignantlv. 



" ' Could you hear something ver\^ im- 

 expected, even horrible, and not cry 

 out?' 



" ' You know something ! ' I thought 

 of an accident to mother. 'You have 

 news for me. 



" ' Careful,' he said in a sharp whis- 

 per. ' You told me you could keep per- 

 fectly still. If you can't, I won't go on.' 

 I begged him to go on, and I kept my 

 face a blank. He turned his head 

 slightl}' and took in the group at the 

 other end of the room. He sat so a 

 moment, with his eyes still turned away, 

 while he said : ' Everything — more than 

 life — depends on your self-control dur- 

 ing the next few minutes.' 



"I sat staring at him as still as stone. 



" ' Have you any idea where you are?' 

 ■ — and still he looked not at me. but to- 

 wards the others." 



Then the " sad- faced man " told 

 Sister in what kind of a house she was, 

 that the woman, so like a grey hawk, 

 was not really her aunt, whose house 

 was at least twenty minutes distant by 

 taxi — how impossible it was for him to 

 do anything, or for her to get Bettina 

 away. He would get Sister out through 

 the door, and she must rush for a taxi 

 and go to the real aunt in Lowndes 

 .Square for help. 



"He was domg all he could to calm 

 and steady me, he said. And certainly 

 he tried to make me feel that what to 

 me was like a maniac's nightmare, an 



abysmal horror beggaring language and 

 crucifying thought — it was all a com- 

 monplace to men and women of the 

 world. 'Human nature!' 'Human 

 nature!' — like the tolling of a muffled 

 bell. Bishops and old ladies imagined 

 you could alter these things. Take 

 India — •' I've been there. I knew an offi- 

 cial who'd had charge of the chaklas.' 



" ' Now ! now !' I hardly noticed that 

 he took his blood-stained handkerchief 

 out of mv hand. For Bettina had come 

 forward and stood poised, holding her 

 green skirt with both hands, like a child 

 about to curtsey. I stood up. All the 

 room was dancing with my little sister. 

 I got to the door. 



' Where are you going to . . . ?' 



Betty sang. But she was too amused 

 and excited to notice me. 



" My companion had crossed the 

 room, and was bending over the Grey 

 Hawk. -She looked round at him sur- 

 prised, mocking . 



" -Some power came to help me across 

 the threshold. A footman started up 

 out of the floor and stood before me. 

 'Where are you going?' he echoed 

 Betty. 



" ' I am waiting for — one of the 

 crentlemen,' I said, and I steadied mvself 

 against a chair. If Betty's song stopped 

 I should know we had failed." 



The rush is made. Sister takes a cab 

 to Lowndes Square. Alas ! in her agony 

 she is not capable of consecutive 

 thought. 



" I stood ringing. I thundered at the 

 knocker. I beat the door with m\- fist. 



" An old man 0])ened at last. 



THE V.\IN .-APPEAL. 



" ' Mrs. liarborough ! Where is she ?' 

 The old man tried to keep me out. But 

 he was gentle and frail. I forced my 

 way past. 



" At last ! A room where a woman 

 sat alone — reading by a shaded light. 



"'Who are you?' 1 cried out. She 

 laid her book in her lap. 'Are you 

 Mrs. Harborough ? Then come — come 

 quickly. . . . I'll tell you on the 

 way— — ' 



