"THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME"
Dr. Harpe was still young enough to be piqued by Ogden Van Lennop's
utter indifference to herself. He was now established in the hotel,
apparently for an indefinite stay, and they met frequently in the
corridors and on the stairs. His attitude of impassive politeness
nettled her far more than the alert hostility of the Dago Duke whom she
saw occasionally.
The slight overtures she made met no response and she minded it the more
that he made no attempt to disguise his liking for Essie Tisdale, whose
laughing good-nature and quaint humor had penetrated the reserve which
was in his manner toward every one else. He seemed even to have no
desire to take advantage of the patronizing advances of Andy P. Symes
and was content enough to spend a portion of each day reading books with
mystifying titles and to ride away into the hills to be gone for hours
at a time. He still wore the regalia of the country, the Stetson hat,
flannel shirt and corduroys that were too common to attract attention,
but the hollows in his cheeks were filling out and the tired look was
going from his eyes.
When he had been a month in Crowheart and had made not the smallest
effort to "get a job" he began to be regarded with some suspicion. The
fact that he seemed always to have money for which he did not work
inspired distrust. Then, too, as Mr. Rhodes shrewdly pointed out, he had
the long white hands of a high-toned crook. As a result of the various
theories advanced, Ogden Van Lennop came gradually to be looked at
askance--a fact of which he seemed totally oblivious. And when the
clairvoyant milliner went into a trance and declared that a desperado
was in their midst planning a raid on Crowheart the finger of suspicion
pointed straight at the uncommunicative stranger, and the Iowa Notion
Store installed a riot gun.
Dr. Harpe wondered with the rest but she did not share their ignorant
mistrust, for she had sufficient worldly wisdom to recognize the nicety
of his speech and the reticence of his manners as belonging to a
gentleman--a gentleman under a cloud mayhap but still born a gentleman.
She was intensely curious regarding his antecedents, and one day she had
her curiosity gratified. A letter which came in the morning mail from a
schoolmate in the East, read: