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mind. They say, 'It's only Johnnie Carter; what do you expect?'
But one of the girls--you know her, Laurie Flagg--cut a dance with him
last night and told him exactly why. Of course, Carter was furious. He
was sober enough to think he had been insulted; and what do you

suppose he did?" "What? what?" exclaimed Condy, breathless, leaning
toward her. "Went about the halls and dressing-rooms circulating some
dirty little lie about Laurie. Actually trying to--to"--Travis
hesitated--"to make a scandal about her." Condy bounded in his seat.
"Beast, cad, swine!" he exclaimed. "I didn't think," said Travis, "that
Carter would so much as dare to ask me to dance with him--" "Did he?
did--did--" "Wait," she interrupted. "So I wasn't at all prepared for what
happened. During the german, before I knew it, there he was in front of
me. It was a break, and he wanted it. I hadn't time to think. The only
idea I had was that if I refused him he might tell some dirty little lie
about me. I was all confused--mixed up. I felt just as though it were a
snake that I had to humor to get rid of. I gave him the break." Condy sat
speechless. Suddenly he arose. "Well, now, let's see," he began,
speaking rapidly, his hands twisting and untwisting till the knuckles
cracked. "Now, let's see. You leave it to me. I know Carter. He's going
to be at a stag dinner where I am invited to-morrow night, and I--I--"
"No, you won't, Condy," said Travis placidly. "You'll pay no attention
to it, and I'll tell you why. Suppose you should make a scene with Mr.
Carter--I don't know how men settle these things. Well, it would be told
in all the clubs and in all the newspaper offices that two men had
quarreled over a girl; and my name is mentioned, discussed, and
handed around from one crowd of men to another, from one club to
another; and then, of course, the papers take it up. By that time Mr.
Carter will have told his side of the story and invented another dirty
little lie, and I'm the one who suffers the most in the end. And
remember, Condy, that I haven't any mother in such an affair, not even
an older sister. No, we'll just let the matter drop. It would be more
dignified, anyhow. Only I have made up my mind what I am going to
do." "What's that?" "I'm not coming out. If that's the sort of thing one
has to put up with in society"--Travis drew a little line on the sofa at
her side with her finger-tip--"I am going to--stop--right--there. It's
not"--Miss Bessemer stiffened again--"that I'm afraid of Jack Carter
and his dirty stories; I simply don't want to know the kind of people
who have made Jack Carter possible. The other girls don't mind it, nor
many men besides you, Condy; and I'm not going to be associated with
people who take it as a joke for a man to come to a function drunk. And
as for having a good time, I'll find my amusements somewhere else. I'll

ride a wheel, take long walks, study something. But as for leading the
life of a society girl--no! And whether I have a good time or not, I'll
keep my own self-respect. At least I'll never have to dance with a
drunken man. I won't have to humiliate myself like that a second time."
"But I presume you will still continue to go out somewhere," protested
Condy Rivers. She shook her head. "I have thought it all over, and I've
talked about it with Papum. There's no half way about it. The only way
to stop is to stop short. Just this afternoon I've regretted three functions
for next week, and I shall resign from the 'Saturday Evening.' Oh, it's
not the Jack Carter affair alone!" she exclaimed; "the whole thing tires
me. Mind, Condy," she exclaimed, "I'm not going to break with it
because I have any 'purpose in life,' or that sort of thing. I want to have
a good time, and I'm going to see if I can't have it in my own way. If
the kind of thing that makes Jack Carter possible is conventionality,
then I'm done with conventionality for good. I am going to try, from
this time on, to be just as true to myself as I can be. I am going to be
sincere, and not pretend to like people and things that I don't like; and
I'm going to do the things that I like to do--just so long as they are the
things a good girl can do. See, Condy?" "You're fine," murmured
Condy breathless. "You're fine as gold, Travis, and I--I love you