"I have lived quite a long while, but I have never seen the rabble keep faith with anyone longer than it suited them," the older man said. "Any way, that is not the question. You will be handed to the Sheriff if you come here again. I have nothing more to tell you, and this is, I hope, the last time I shall ever speak to you." Miss Schuyler watched Grant closely, but though his face was drawn and set, she saw only a respect, which, if it was assumed, still became him in his bearing as he turned away. As he passed the girls he bent his head, and Hetty, whose cheeks were flushed, rose with a formal bow, though her eyes shone suspiciously, but Flora Schuyler stepped forward and held out her hand. "Mr. Torrance can't object to two women thanking you for what you have done; and if he does, I don't greatly mind," she said. Torrance only smiled, but the warm bronze seemed to have returned to Larry's face as he passed on. Flora Schuyler had thanked him, but he had seen what was worth far more to him in Hetty's eyes, and knew that it was only loyalty to one who had the stronger claim that held her still. After the door closed behind him there was once more a curious stillness in the hall until Torrance went out with his retainers. A little later Clavering found the girls in another room. "You seem quite impressed, Miss Schuyler," he said. "I am," said Flora Schuyler. "I have seen a man who commands one's approbation--and an American." Clavering laughed. "Then, they're not always quite the same thing?" "No," Flora Schuyler said coldly. "That was one of the pleasant fancies I had to give up a long time ago." "I would like a definition of the perfected American," said Clavering. Miss Schuyler yawned. "Can't you tell him, Hetty? I once heard you talk quite eloquently on that subject." "I'll try," said Hetty. "It's the man who wants to give his country something, and not get the most he can out of it. The one who goes round planting seeds that will grow and bear fruit, even if it is long after he is there to eat it. No country has much use for the man who only wants to reap." Clavering assented, but there was a sardonic gleam in his eyes. "Well," he said reflectively, "there was once a man who planted dragon's teeth, and you know what kind of crop they yielded him." "He knew what he was doing," said Flora Schuyler. "The trouble is that now few men know a dragon's tooth when they see it." Clavering laughed. "Then the ones who don't should be stopped right off when they go round planting anything." XV HETTY'S BOUNTY