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No，ofcoursenot，’hemurmuredabstractedly，risingtohisfeetandcrossingtheroomtothepiano。Then，withanelaborateairoftryingtoappearverynatural，heaskedjovially：
Anythingnewtoplaytome？’
Alicearoseatonce。
Yes。IhavealittlenocturnethatIwasplayingtoMr。Calderwelllastnight。’
Oh，toCalderwell!’Arkwrighthadstiffenedperceptibly。
Yes。_He_didn’tlikeit。I’llplayittoyouandseewhatyousay，’shesmiled，seatingherselfatthepiano。
Well，ifhehadlikedit，it’ssafetosayI
shouldn’t，’shruggedArkwright。
Nonsense!’laughedthegirl，beginningtoappearmorelikehernaturalself。IshouldthinkyouwereMr。CyrilHenshaw!Mr。Calderwell_is_partialtoragtime，I’lladmit。Buttherearesomegoodthingshelikes。’
Thereare，indeed，_some_goodthingshelikes，’
returnedArkwright，withgrimemphasis，hissombereyesfixedonwhathebelievedtobetheoneespecialobjectofCalderwell’saffectionsatthemoment。
Alice，unawarebothofthemelancholygazebentuponherselfandofthecausethereof，laughedagainmerrily。
PoorMr。Calderwell，’shecried，assheletherfingersslideintosoft，introductorychords。Heisn’ttoblamefornotlikingwhathecallsourlostspiritsthatwail。It’sjustthewayhe’smade。’
Arkwrightvouchsafednoreply。Withanabruptgestureheturnedandbegantopacetheroommoodily。AtthepianoAliceslippedfromthechordsintothenocturne。Sheplayeditstraightthrough，then，withacharmandskillthatbroughtArkwright’sfeettoapausebeforeitwashalffinished。
ByGeorge，that’sgreat!’hebreathed，whenthelasttonehadquiveredintosilence。
Yes，isn’tit——beautiful？’shemurmured。
Theroomwasveryquiet，andinsemi-darkness。
ThelastraysofalateJunesunsethadbeenfillingtheroomwithgoldenlight，butitwasgonenow。
Evenatthepianobythewindow，Alicehadbarelybeenabletoseeclearlyenoughtoreadthenotesofhernocturne。
ToArkwrighttheairstilltrembledwiththeexquisitemelodythathadbutjustleftherfingers。
Aquickfirecametohiseyes。HeforgoteverythingbutthatitwasAlicethereinthehalf-lightbythewindow——Alice，whomheloved。Withalowcryhetookaswiftsteptowardher。
Alice!’
Instantlythegirlwasonherfeet。Butitwasnottowardhimthatsheturned。Itwasaway——
resolutely，andwithahastethatwasstrangelyliketerror。
Alice，too，hadforgotten，forjustamoment。
Shehadletherselfdriftintoadreamworldwheretherewasnothingbutthemusicshewasplayingandthemansheloved。Thenthemusichadstopped，andthemanhadspokenhername。
Alicerememberedthen。SherememberedBilly，whomthismanloved。Sherememberedthelongdaysjustpassedwhenthismanhadstayedaway，presumablytoteach_her_——tosave_her_。Andnow，atthesoundofhisvoicespeakinghername，shehadalmostbaredherhearttohim。
NowonderthatAlice，withahastethatlookedliketerror，crossedthefloorandfloodedtheroomwithlight。
Dearme!’sheshivered，carefullyavoidingArkwright’seyes。IfMr。Calderwellwereherenowhe’dhavesomeexcusetotalkaboutourlostspiritsthatwail。That_is_acreepypieceofmusicwhenyouplayitinthedark!’And，forfearthatheshouldsuspecthowherheartwasaching，shegaveaparticularlybrilliantandjoyoussmile。
OnceagainatthementionofCalderwell’snameArkwrightstiffenedperceptibly。Thefirelefthiseyes。Foramomenthedidnotspeak；then，gravely，hesaid：
Calderwell？Yes，perhapshewould；and——
yououghttobeajudge，Ishouldthink。Youseehimquitefrequently，don’tyou？’
Why，yes，ofcourse。Heoftencomesouthere，youknow。’
Yes；Ihadheardthat
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