CHAPTER XIII

BUB SUCCUMBS TO FORCE

One day Peter Conant abruptly left his office, came home and packed his grip and then hurried down town and caught the five o'clock train for New York. He was glum and uncommunicative, as usual, merely telling Aunt Hannah that business called him away and he did not know when he would be back.

A week later Peter appeared at the family breakfast table, having arrived on the early morning express, and he seemed in a more gracious mood than usual. Indeed, he was really talkative.

"I met Will Morrison in New York, Hannah," he said to his wife. "He was just sailing for London with his family and will remain abroad all summer. He wanted us to occupy his mountain place, Hillcrest Lodge, during July and August, and although I told him we couldn't use the place he insisted on my taking an order on his man to turn the shack over to us."

"The shack!" cried Aunt Hannah indignantly.

"Why, Peter, Hillcrest Lodge is a little palace. It is the cosiest, most delightful place I have ever visited. Why shouldn't we accept Will Morrison's proposition to occupy it?"

"I can't leave my business."

"You could run up every Friday afternoon, taking the train to Millbank and the stage to Hillcrest, and stay with us till Monday morning."

He stared at her reflectively.

"Would you be safe in that out-of-the-way place?" he asked.

"Of course. Didn't you say Will had a man for caretaker? And only a few scattered cottages are located near by, so we shall be quite by ourselves and wholly unmolested. I mean to go, and take the girls. The change will do us all good, so you may as well begin to make arrangements for the trip." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who is Peter's wife?
2. Is she often indignant?
3. Who did Peter meet with when he was away?
4. Where?
5. How'd he get there?
6. Was it the noon train?
7. Where was Will off to?
8. How was he getting there?
9. What's the name of his manor?
10. How many months was he going to be gone?
11. Is Hillcrest Lodge somewhat palatial?
12. What can't Peter leave?
13. What town could he take the train to on Friday afternoons?
14. Then how would he get to Hillcrest?
15. How long would he then stay?
16. Is Peter in a more talkative mood than normal?
17. What else is his current mood?
18. What meal are they having as they discuss this?
19. Is he concerned if Hannah will be safe at Hillcrest?
20. Why?
Answer: 1. Hannah
2. unknown
3. Will Morrison
4. New York
5. the early morning express
6. no
7. london
8. boat
9. Hillcrest Lodge
10. two,
11. yes
12. his business
13. Millbank
14. take the stage
15. till Monday
16. yes
17. gracious
18. breakfast
19. yes
20. it's an out-of-the-way place

Chapter 6

A Duel

D'Arnot was asleep when Tarzan entered their apartments after leaving Rokoff's. Tarzan did not disturb him, but the following morning he narrated the happenings of the previous evening, omitting not a single detail.

"What a fool I have been," he concluded. "De Coude and his wife were both my friends. How have I returned their friendship? Barely did I escape murdering the count. I have cast a stigma on the name of a good woman. It is very probable that I have broken up a happy home."

"Do you love Olga de Coude?" asked D'Arnot.

"Were I not positive that she does not love me I could not answer your question, Paul; but without disloyalty to her I tell you that I do not love her, nor does she love me. For an instant we were the victims of a sudden madness--it was not love--and it would have left us, unharmed, as suddenly as it had come upon us even though De Coude had not returned. As you know, I have had little experience of women. Olga de Coude is very beautiful; that, and the dim light and the seductive surroundings, and the appeal of the defenseless for protection, might have been resisted by a more civilized man, but my civilization is not even skin deep--it does not go deeper than my clothes.

"Paris is no place for me. I will but continue to stumble into more and more serious pitfalls. The man-made restrictions are irksome. I feel always that I am a prisoner. I cannot endure it, my friend, and so I think that I shall go back to my own jungle, and lead the life that God intended that I should lead when He put me there." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who was sleeping?
2. Who came in?
3. Did he wake him up?
4. Where had he come from?
5. Does he believe the city is a good space for him?
6. How does he feel about the things made by men there?
7. Does he feel free?
8. What's he going to do about it?
9. Who does he believe wants this of him?
10. When does he tell his story?
11. Was he vague or detailed?
12. Did he betray anyone?
13. Who?
14. Had they been close?
15. Did he soil her good name?
16. Did he say it was love or impulse that caused it?
17. How much is he familiar with females?
18. Did he find her attractive?
19. What was the lighting like when it happened?
20. How civil does he consider himself?
Answer:
1. D'Arnot was
2. Tarzan
3. No
4. Rokoff's
5. No
6. restrictions are irksome
7. No
8. go back to his own jungle
9. God
10. the following morning
11. Detailed
12. Yes
13. De Coude and his wife
14. Yes
15. Yes
16. a sudden madness
17. had little experience
18. Olga de Coude is very beautiful
19. dim
20. His civilization is not even skin deep