The fanciful picture in John Webster’s mind changed. There was a certain man going into a room. He had closed the door. A row of candles stood on a mantle above a fireplace. The fellow was playing some kind of game with himself. Well, every one played some kind of game with himself. The fellow in the picture of his fancy had taken a silver crown out of a box. He had put it on his head. “I crown myself with the crown of life,” he said. Was it a silly performance? If it was, what did that matter? He took a step toward Natalie and then stopped again. “Come woman, walk on the grass. Don’t make such a row as we go along,” he said aloud. Now he was walking with a certain swagger toward Natalie who stood in silence at the edge of the sidewalk waiting for him. He went and stood before her and looked into her face. It was true she had been weeping. Even in the faint light there were graces of tears to be seen on her cheeks. “I only had a silly notion. I didn’t want to disturb anyone as we went away,” he said, laughing softly again. He put his hand on her arm and drew her toward him and they went on again, both now stepping softly and gingerly on the grass between the sidewalk and the roadway. * * * * * Transcriber’s note Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Hyphenation has been standardized. Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following changes: Page 109: “and made self-consoious” “and made self-conscious” Page 126: “his daughter uuderstand” “his daughter understand” Page 244: “oneself with diginity” “oneself with dignity”