The Breaking Point

He went out, holding himself very erect and looking very cheerful until

he reached the corner. There however he slumped, and it was a rather

despondent young man who stood sometime later, on the center of the

deserted bridge over the small river, and surveyed the water with moody

eyes.

In the dusky living-room Nina was speaking her mind.

"You treat him like a dog," she said. "Oh, I know you're civil to him,

but if any man looked at me the way Wallie looks at you--I don't know,

though," she added, thoughtfully. "It may be that that is why he is so

keen. It may be good tactics. Most girls fall for him with a crash."

But when she glanced at Elizabeth she saw that she had not heard. Her

eyes were fixed on something on the street beyond the window. Nina

looked out. With a considerable rattle of loose joints and four

extraordinarily worn tires the Livingstone car was going by.