I rose, stood before the mirror, folded my gorgeous gown around me, spread it out, contrasting the crimson glory of its lining with the golden yellow of my trousers, and wondered in my soul how that exceedingly handsome girl with the bright eyes could have controlled her risibilities as she sat with me on the piazza.  I could see that she had a wonderful command of herself, but this exercise of it seemed superhuman.

I walked around the sumptuously furnished chamber, looking at the pictures and bric-a-brac; I wondered that the master of the house was willing to put me in a room like this—­I had expected a hall bed-room, at the best; I sat down by an open window, for it was very early yet and I did not want to go to bed, but I had scarcely seated myself when I heard a tap at the door.  I could not have explained it, but this tap made me jump, and I went to the door and opened it instead of calling out.  There stood the butler, with a tray in his hand on which was a decanter of wine, biscuits, cheese, and some cigars.

“It’s so early, sir,” said Brownster, “that she said—­I mean, sir, I thought that you might like something to eat, and if you want to enjoy a cigar before retiring, as many gentlemen do, you need not mind smoking here.  These rooms are so well ventilated, sir, that every particle of odor will be out in no time.”  Placing the tray upon a table, he retired.

[Illustration:  “It would be well for me to swallow A capsule”]

For an hour or more I sat sipping my wine, puffing smoke into rings, and allowing my mind to dwell pleasingly upon the situation, the most prominent feature of which seemed to me to be a young lady with bright eyes and white teeth, and dressed in a perfectly-fitting gown.

When at last I thought I ought to go to bed, I stood and gazed at my little valise.  I had left it on the porch and had totally forgotten it, but here it was upon a table, where it had been placed, no doubt, by the thoughtful Brownster.  I opened it and took out the box of capsules.  I did not feel that I had taken cold in the night air; this was not a time to protect myself against morning mists; but still I thought it would be well for me to swallow a capsule, and I did so.

CHAPTER IV

A BIT OF ADVICE

The next morning I awoke about seven o’clock.  My clothes, neatly brushed and folded, were on a chair near the bed, with my brightly-blackened shoes near by.  I rose, quickly dressed myself, and went forth into the morning air.  I met no one in the house, and the hall door was open.  For an hour or more I walked about the beautiful grounds.  Sometimes I wandered near the house, among the flower-beds and shrubs; sometimes I followed the winding path to a considerable distance; occasionally I sat down in a covered arbor; and then I sought the shade of a little grove, in which there were hammocks and rustic chairs.  But I met no one, and I saw no one except some men working near the stables.  I would have been glad to go down to the lodge and say “Good-morning” to my kind entertainers there, but for some reason or other it struck me that that neat little house was too much out of the way.