RUNNING WATER by A. E. W. MASON Author of _The Four Feathers_, etc. 1907 CONTENTS I SHOWS MRS. THESIGER IN HER HOME II INTRODUCES ONE OF STROOD'S SUCCESSORS III THE FINDING OF JOHN LATTERY IV MR. JARVICE V MICHEL REVAILLOUD EXPOUNDS HIS PHILOSOPHY VI THE PAVILLON DE LOGNAN VII THE AIGUILLE D'ARGENTIÈRE VIII SYLVIA PARTS FROM HER MOTHER IX SYLVIA MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF HER FATHER X A LITTLE ROUND GAME OF CARDS XI SYLVIA'S FATHER MAKES A MISTAKE XII THE HOUSE OF THE RUNNING WATER XIII CHAYNE RETURNS XIV AN OLD PASSION BETRAYS A NEW SECRET XV KENYON'S JOHN LATTERY XVI AS BETWEEN GENTLEMEN XVII SYLVIA TELLS MORE THAN SHE KNOWS XVIII BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION XIX THE SHADOW IN THE ROOM XX ON THE DOWN XXI CHAYNE COMES TO CONCLUSIONS XXII REVAILLOUD REVISITED XXIII MICHEL REVAILLOUD'S _FÜHRBUCH_ XXIV THE BRENVA RIDGE XXV A NIGHT ON AN ICE-SLOPE XXVI RUNNING WATER CHAPTER I SHOWS MRS. THESIGER IN HER HOME The Geneva express jerked itself out of the Gare de Lyons. For a few minutes the lights of outer Paris twinkled past its windows and then with a spring it reached the open night. The jolts and lurches merged into one regular purposeful throb, the shrieks of the wheels, the clatter of the coaches, into one continuous hum. And already in the upper berth of her compartment Mrs. Thesiger was asleep. The noise of a train had no unrest for her. Indeed, a sleeping compartment in a Continental express was the most permanent home which Mrs. Thesiger had possessed for a good many more years than she would have cared to acknowledge. She spent her life in hotels with her daughter for an unconsidered companion. From a winter in Vienna or in Rome she passed to a spring at Venice or at Constantinople, thence to a June in Paris, a July and August at the bathing places, a September at Aix, an autumn in Paris again. But always she came back to the sleeping-car. It was the one familiar room which was always ready for her; and though the prospect from its windows changed, it was the one room she knew which had always the same look, the same cramped space, the same furniture--the one room where, the moment she stepped into it, she was at home. Yet on this particular journey she woke while it was yet dark. A noise slight in comparison to the clatter of the train, but distinct in character and quite near, told her at once what had disturbed her. Some one was moving stealthily in the compartment--her daughter. That was all. But Mrs. Thesiger lay quite still, and, as would happen to her at times, a sudden terror gripped her by the heart. She heard the girl beneath her, dressing very quietly, subduing the rustle of her garments, even the sound of her breathing. "How much does she know?" Mrs. Thesiger asked of herself; and her heart sank and she dared not answer.