CHAPTER

I. Sharp Practice

II. Camilla

III. New York

IV. The Forbidden Way

V. Diners Out

VI. Mrs. Cheyne

VII. Braebank

VIII. The Brush

IX. The Shadow

X. Triton of the Minnows

XI. Discord

XII. Tea Cups and Music

XIII. Good Fishing

XIV. Father and Son

XV. Infatuation

XVI. Old Dangers

XVII. Old Rose Leaves

XVIII. Combat

XIX. The Lady in Gray

XX. *La Femme Propose*

XXI. *L'Homme Dispose*

XXII. Private Matters

XXIII. The Intruder

XXIV. Gretchen Decides

XXV. The Crisis

XXVI. The Call of the Heart

XXVII. General Bent

XXVIII. Household Gods--and Goddesses

*THE FORBIDDEN WAY*

*CHAPTER I*

*SHARP PRACTICE*

The young man in the swivel chair drummed with his toes against the

desk, while he studied the gaudy fire insurance calendar on the wall

before him. His pipe hung bowl downward from his lips, and the long

fingers of one hand toyed with a legal document in his lap.

"Something new is hatching in this incubator," he muttered at last,

dipping his pen in the ink bottle again. "And I think--I _think_ it's

an ugly duckling. Of course, it's no business of mine, but----" He

looked up suddenly as a bulky figure darkened the doorway. "Hello,

Jeff!"

Jeff Wray nodded and walked to the water cooler.

"Mulrennan's been here to see you three times," said the man in the

swivel chair. "Each time he's been getting madder. I wish you'd keep

your appointments or get another office-boy. That man's vocabulary is a

work of genius. Even you, in your happiest humors--why, what's the

matter with your face?"

Wray put his fingers up. Four red streaks ran parallel across his cheek

bone. He touched the marks with his hand, then looked at his finger

tips.

"Oh, that? Seems like I must have butted into something." He gave a

short, unmirthful laugh. "Don't make me look any prettier, does it?

Funny I didn't feel it before." And then, as he turned to the inner

office, "Is Mulrennan coming back?" he asked.

"Yes, at five."