lips, and he wended his way back to find Sedgwick.




CHAPTER VII.

A DINNER PARTY.


And Sedgwick, what of him? He had gone, as he said, "to see Jack through,
as Jack had stood by him in Ohio," but when Grace Hamlin--or Grace
Meredith, which was her real name--at their summons entered the parlor he
was transfixed. Just medium height was she, slight but perfect in form,
with darkish-brown eyes and clear-cut features, a golden chestnut curly
mass of hair, the hand of a queen, and the hand-clasp of a sincere, true
and happy woman. And poor Jim was lost in a moment.

He called up all his self-possession, and did the best he could, but
he seized the first opportunity to get away where he could think. Once
outside the house, he hailed a cab, told the driver to jog around for
an hour or two, and then land him at the ---- Hotel. Once started, he
settled back and began to cross-question himself, and to moralize over
the situation.

"I have seen prettier girls than this one, seen them in Ohio, in Texas,
in Virginia City, and they never gave me an extra heart-beat. What is the
matter with me now? When that girl smiled up in my face, welcomed me as
her brother's friend, and told me she was glad I had come with him, all
the clutches broke off my cage, and I thought I would in a moment bring