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“I’m an avid follower of Jonathan’s thoughts and body of work.
Jonathan’s book Igniting the Phoenix: A New Vision for IT and
interviews captured exactly what is now transpiring in terms of
business transformation. I have quoted Jonathan on many, many
occasions; his insights into understanding emerging key business
issues both from the IT perspective and the line-­of-business have
been truly visionary.”
Rod Smith, VP Internet Emerging Technology, IBM

“Jon is a wonderfully talented, exceptionally creative, and forward-­

thinking luminary that would be an asset to any technology team
looking to add significant value to their organization and leap-­frog
their thinking. Jon has proven time and again that he can think
things through, not only at a practical level, but also at a level of
fore-­thought that few venture.”
Ron Schmelzer, Principal Analyst, Cognilytica

“Jonathan has a deep understanding of leading edge application

development environments and a very practical sense of how
best to apply technology for business gain. He is a visionary who
has survived the technology wars with valuable experience and
insight.”
David Shimberg, Strategic Advisor, iDeliver Technologies LLC
Thriving at the Edge of Chaos
Books by Jonathan Sapir

Mastering Untamed Business Processes

How to Build Smart Process Applications on the Salesforce
Platform (2015)

Smart Process App

The Next Breakout Business Advantage (with Peter Fingar
and Craig le Clair) (2013)

The Executives Guide to Force.com

Enabling Shadow IT and Citizen Developers in the Age of
Cloud Computing (2012)

Unleash the Power of Force.com

How to Thrive in the New Digital Economy (2011)

Power in the Cloud

Using Cloud Computing to Build Information Systems at the
Edge of Chaos (2009)

Igniting the Phoenix

A New Vision for IT (2003)
Thriving at the Edge of Chaos
Managing Projects as Complex Adaptive Systems

Jonathan Sapir
First edition published in 2020
by Routledge/Productivity Press
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© 2020 by Jonathan Sapir
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Names: Sapir, Jonathan, author.
Title: Thriving at the edge of chaos : managing projects as complex
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Description: Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, 2020. | Includes
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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at www.taylorandfrancis.com

The Edge of Chaos

The term itself suggests something has gone wrong, but operating at
the edge of chaos is actually healthy; scientists have shown that all large
and complex systems tend to adapt this way. Whether in nature, society,
economics, – or project management – systems must find the right balance
between order and flexibility. This is because their survival and success
depend on being able to constantly sense and adapt to changes in the
environment they operate within.
In a business context, operating at the edge of chaos opens up avenues
for disruptive innovation, cultural overhaul, and process evolution, all of
which help organizations adapt to changing market environments.
BBVA, Order from Chaos: How to Apply Complexity Theory at Work

vii
Contents

Preface............................................................................................. xiii
Acknowledgments...........................................................................xvii
About the Author..............................................................................xix
Overview..........................................................................................xxi
Introduction........................................................................................1
What is a Project?����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2
The Assumptions of Traditional Project Management...............................2
Typical Problems with Traditional Project Management...........................7
Typical Responses to Project Management Challenges.............................8
The Need for a New Response.................................................................10
How the Book is Organized.....................................................................11

PART I UNDERSTANDING COMPLEXITY.............................................. 13

1 The Current Paradigm................................................................15
What is a Paradigm?...................................................................................15
A Paradigm Shift is a Powerful Change Accelerator................................16
The Current Paradigm...............................................................................16
The Current Paradigm Falls Apart............................................................20
Why has the Current Paradigm been so Dominant?................................24
2 The Paradigm Shifts...................................................................27
Changing the Paradigm.............................................................................30
Systems Thinking.......................................................................................31
Chaos Theory.............................................................................................34
Complexity Science...................................................................................36
Systems Thinking versus Complexity Thinking.......................................37

ix
x ◾ Contents

Complicated vs. Complex: An Alternate Reality......................................38

Beware: The Reluctance to Embrace Complexity Thinking....................44
Summary....................................................................................................46
Sidebar: Old Paradigm/New Paradigm.....................................................46
3 Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) Theory..................................49
What is a CAS?...........................................................................................50
The Properties of a CAS............................................................................52
Adopting a Complexity Mindset...............................................................62
CAS in Action.............................................................................................67
4 A Sense-­making Framework for Project Management................75
Cynefin.......................................................................................................75
Cynefin for Project Management..............................................................80
A Difference in Skill Sets...........................................................................85
Summary....................................................................................................85
5 The DNA of Projects: How Do We Create a Work
Environment that Can Effectively Absorb Complexity?..............87
A Single Work Management Platform.......................................................87
The DNA of Work......................................................................................88
Summary....................................................................................................91

PART II PROJECT MANAGEMENT AS A COMPLEX ADAPTIVE

SYSTEM...................................................................................................... 93
6 Design: How Do We Create a Project Environment that
Can Effectively Absorb Complexity?...........................................95
Modularity..................................................................................................96
An Enabling Framework............................................................................98
Benefits of Modularization........................................................................99
Summary..................................................................................................100
Sidebar: The Theory of Constraints and CCPM.....................................101
7 Estimates: How Do You Accommodate Unpredictability,
Variability, and Uncertainty in Task Estimates?.......................105
Common Practice.....................................................................................106
The Problem............................................................................................109
The Solution.............................................................................................113
Benefits.....................................................................................................118
Summary..................................................................................................120
 Contents ◾ xi

8 Scheduling: How Do You Eliminate the Need for

Constant Scheduling and Rescheduling of Tasks when
Task Dates are Meaningless?....................................................121
Common Practice.....................................................................................122
The Problem............................................................................................123
The Solution.............................................................................................130
Implications..............................................................................................133
Benefits.....................................................................................................133
Summary..................................................................................................135
9 Execution: How Can You Ensure that Projects are
Completed as Quickly as Possible in a Complex Multi-­
project Environment with Shared Resources?..........................137
A Holistic Perspective..............................................................................137
Common Practice.....................................................................................138
The Problem............................................................................................138
The Solution.............................................................................................142
The Critically Constrained Resource (CCR)............................................147
Benefits.....................................................................................................153
Summary..................................................................................................156
10 Resources: How Do You Schedule Resources in a
Complex Environment that is Constantly Changing,
and where Resource Requirements are Impossible to
Effectively Determine Ahead of Time?......................................157
Common Practice.....................................................................................157
The Problem............................................................................................158
The Solution.............................................................................................159
Summary..................................................................................................167
11 Monitoring: How Do You Determine the Status of a
Project when Task Dates are no Longer Important?���������������169
Common Practice.....................................................................................170
The Problem............................................................................................170
The Solution.............................................................................................171
Benefits.....................................................................................................189
Summary..................................................................................................193
12 Optimization: How Do You Optimize a Complex
Environment?............................................................................195
Leverage Constraints................................................................................196
xii ◾ Contents

Integrate Checklists..................................................................................201
Eliminate Bad Multi-­tasking....................................................................204
13 Implementation........................................................................211
Nudging....................................................................................................212
A CAS-­aware Project Management System.............................................214
Summary..................................................................................................214
14 Benefits.....................................................................................215
Shifting Paradigms...................................................................................215
Benefits Overview...................................................................................216
Project Team Member Benefits...............................................................217
Project Manager Benefits.........................................................................217
Organizational Benefits...........................................................................218
Traditional vs. CAS-­aware Project Management Methods.....................219
Conclusion................................................................................223
Bibliography.............................................................................225
Index.........................................................................................227
Preface

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said
faster horses.
Henry Ford

This book describes how applying Complexity Science can dramatically help
improve the practice of project management.
The book originated from an idea based on work which my consulting
company, SilverTree Systems, did about six years ago for three companies in
very different industries: a global Contract Research Organization (CRO) that
runs clinical trials across the world for pharmaceutical companies; a Fortune
100 fast-­food franchise company that installs new equipment periodically
across thousands of stores worldwide; and a digital marketing company that
runs multi-­media projects for global organizations. All three organizations
faced similar problems:

◾ Planning: It was impossible to map out the complexity of the work to

be done in a Gantt chart, resulting in missing tasks and dependencies.
◾ Scheduling: Schedules changed continuously, resulting in an
enormous waste of project management time.
◾ Execution: There was no way to get an early warning that a
project was potentially in trouble so that action could be taken
before it became a problem, resulting in late project delivery.
◾ Status: Status reporting by percent complete was essentially
meaningless, as “90 percent complete” frequently persisted for
extended periods of time.
◾ Resources: Key resources were often unavailable when needed,
resulting in continuously changing priorities and fights over
resource assignments.

xiii
xiv ◾ Preface

Along with the ever-­growing need to complete more projects faster with
fewer resources these problems were seriously impacting their businesses. It
was clear that simply tweaking the way projects were being managed would
never produce the kind of leap in production that they were looking for. It
required a completely new way of thinking about the problem.
So we set out to build a solution.
It was obvious that unless we found a completely new approach we
would end up with another me-­too project management system based on
the same ideas that haven’t advanced significantly in decades and clearly
weren’t up to the task faced by these companies.
I started by looking for new ideas in other industries. The obvious
examples of radical change were new companies like Uber and AirBnB.
What did they do that was so successful in disrupting their industries?
This led me to the relatively new world of Complexity Science.
New business models like Uber show us that the most efficient operations
behave like Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) where self-­managing
participants, following a set of simple rules, organize themselves to solve
incredibly complex problems. Instead of trying to function like a “well-­
oiled machine” where things “work like clockwork”, Uber functions more
like a living organism, a system constantly changing and adapting. It fully
embraces characteristics of a CAS.
A CAS is a complex system that has the capacity to adapt. It is a
collection of individual agents with the freedom to act in ways that are not
always totally predictable, and whose actions are interconnected so that one
agent’s actions change the context of other agents. It is adaptive because
its activities adjust or react to the events of the environment in a way that
facilitates or allows the system to achieve its purpose.
Complexity Science proposes new ways to look at age-­old problems with
a fresh perspective. It is based on an appreciation of the unpredictable and
interconnected relationships that occur within a complex system – like a
project management environment. It completely changes the way managers
think about the problems they face.
In fact, what we usually identify as “problems” to be controlled and
avoided (e.g. uncertainty, variability, conflicts) are just evidence of a complex
nature. You cannot predict or absolutely control the future, so pretending
that you can may feel more comfortable but is ultimately far more dangerous
than accepting a degree of unpredictability and being prepared for the
unexpected.1
 Preface ◾ xv

The question then became: How can CAS thinking be applied to the field
of project management?
The objective of this book is to explain how adopting a CAS-­based
paradigm can lead to innovative work management solutions that are much
better suited to the volatile, uncertain, and rapidly changing world in which
we operate our organizations. The result is a comprehensive approach that
will power the next generation of work management solutions and give
companies a competitive edge.
The book has two objectives:

1. Make these ideas accessible to anyone – executives, business managers,

project managers, business analysts – without having to read through
reams of books and articles.
2. Spark questions, critiques, and suggestions to help refine this
approach to work management.

I have no doubt that reading this book will radically change how you think
about managing projects. I hope you enjoy it and find it illuminating.
I look forward to hearing from you. Please email me at jon@work-­relay.com.
And remember to keep an open mind!
Jonathan Sapir

Note
1. Complexity Theory, Mosaic Projects.
Acknowledgments

My interest in Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) has taken me on a

fascinating journey, from Michal Crichton’s books The Lost World and
Jurassic Park to the videos provided by the Systems Academy. The
bibliography covers just a fraction of what I read over the years, and while
my research didn’t turn me into an expert on CAS, it provided enough
understanding to apply the ideas of CAS to project management.
There are a number of people who have contributed to the
book, including Mark Woeppel (Pinnacle Strategies), Wolfram Müller
(Speed4projects), Michael Clingan (The Claymore Group), Eli Schragenheim
(Elyakim Management Systems), Scott Perry (Tegna), and Scott Wilson
(Calisto Media).
I would like to acknowledge my enormously talented team at Work-­Relay
for turning the theory into reality.
My enormous thanks to Kristine Mednansky for seeing value in the book
and getting it published, and to everyone in the Taylor & Francis Group for
helping get the book into a publishable state.
I would especially like to acknowledge Iris Mae for always keeping me
amused, Daniel Levi for his persistence in getting me to finish the book, and
my wife and family for their love and support.

xvii
About the Author

Jonathan Sapir has over 30 years’ experience helping clients leverage

information technology to build their businesses. Jonathan is the
founder and CEO of SilverTree Systems, Inc., a mid-­sized global software
development company. SilverTree clients include Adobe, Docusign, CNA,
LifeFitness, and Taco Bell. Jonathan started his career as a systems engineer
for IBM South Africa where he was responsible for implementing emerging
technologies.
Jonathan is also the founder and CEO of Work-­Relay, an innovative
Enterprise Work Management System built on the Salesforce platform.
Work-­Relay has been implemented across a wide range of industries, from
start-­ups to Fortune 100 companies.

xix
Overview

I think the next century will be the century of complexity.

Stephen Hawking, January 2000

Complexity in business is a fast-­growing problem. Inflexibility, and the

inability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances, are chronic inhibitors
to the success of every organization. In this increasingly dynamic and
unpredictable world, workers must respond to constant change and deal
with an environment full of exceptions. These problems are becoming more
critical as companies face tougher competition, expand globally, increase
outsourcing, and need to cope with an increasingly chaotic world.
Companies are operating in vastly more complex conditions than
existed just a decade ago, with the emergence of new technologies, greater
customer variety, global operations, and shifting regulations. Many are
discovering that the frameworks and strategies they commonly turn to are
no longer effective. Companies need fresh insights.
The organization pays for this complexity in delayed time-­to-market, slow
customer response, and decreased productivity.
For many organizations, the way in which projects are managed is a
fundamental factor in how well they can prosper in today’s marketplace. By
improving efficiency, driving productivity, and reducing costs, organizations
can increase throughput, improve service, and bring new products to market
faster.
Unfortunately, the current solutions available to companies for managing
projects in this environment have limited capacity to meet these challenges
effectively and are unlikely to have the kind of impact they need. Tweaking
the current project environment may provide some minimal gains, but to
have a real impact requires a change in mindset.

xxi
xxii ◾ Overview

The Impact of Paradigms

Every kind of management is based on an accepted worldview, or paradigm.
We just operate under that paradigm and try to optimize it by, for example,
sending more people to training, or hiring better project managers. These
things may give you a small boost in production, but they are not going to
be game changers for your organization.
At some point, we cannot get better within the paradigm anymore. That’s
why, for example, all project management systems look so much the same.
This is when we are given a choice: we can either accept that we have
reached the end of the line and stay within that paradigm. Or we can shift
the paradigm.

Shifting the Paradigm

There’s nothing physical or expensive about paradigm change. In a single
individual, it can happen in a millisecond. All it takes is a click in the
mind, a new way of seeing. Of course, individuals and societies do resist
challenges to their paradigm harder than they resist any other kind of
change.1
But if you can intervene at the level of paradigm you can totally
transform the system. This is basically the story of Uber and AirBnB. The
concept of getting a ride in some stranger’s car or sleeping at some stranger’s
apartment seemed ludicrous at first. But once people changed their thinking
from “that seems unsafe” to “why not?” the paradigm shift was complete.
Uber is a perfect example of a company that understood the impact of
shifting paradigms. Uber wasn’t interested in a 10 to 15 percent improvement
in the functioning of its industry – Uber wanted to disrupt the industry.
They weren’t going to get this by tinkering with the current paradigm. For
example, Uber didn’t try to come up with a better algorithm for scheduling
taxi drivers. It just eliminated scheduling (and taxi drivers!) altogether. This
is the kind of paradigm shift we need if we are to radically increase process
and project production.
New business models like Uber show us that the most efficient operations
behave like Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) where self-­managing
participants, following a set of simple rules, organize themselves to solve
incredibly complex problems. Instead of trying to function like a “well-­oiled
machine” where things “work like clockwork”, Uber functions more like
 Overview ◾ xxiii

a living organism that is alive and constantly changing. It fully embraces

characteristics of a CAS.

Applying a Complexity Mindset

CAS thinking is a way of challenging taken-­for-granted assumptions about
how people, organizations, and systems interact. Viewing an organization
as a Complex Adaptive System drives a new philosophy of project
management.
So, to get the quantum leap improvement in work and project production
that we are looking for, we need to question the underlying assumptions
that support the paradigm and replace them with something that is more
likely to give us the results we are looking for. This requires killing the
sacred cows upon which traditional project management is based, and
indeed, by establishing a different mindset or worldview – by shifting
paradigms.
For example, instead of constantly scheduling and re-­scheduling task
deadlines, what if we do away with task deadlines altogether? What if we
eliminate the need to match resources with constantly changing schedules
and priorities? What if we dispensed with Gantt charts, a 100-plus-­year-old
invention designed for a different time and a different purpose, as a way
to plan and manage projects? What if we recognize that percent complete
is a subjective, backward-­looking metric that isn’t much better than a set of
random numbers?
Only by asking questions like these will we be able to shift the paradigm
that governs how we currently manage projects in the enterprise and
replace it with a radically different solution that is much better suited to the
needs of the twenty-­first-century organization.

The Impact of Complexity Thinking

Adopting a different frame of reference changes one’s perspective so that
what was remote and unnatural becomes sensible and natural. If the world
you work in is complex, then acting congruently with that complexity can
be simpler than trying to control it like a machine that doesn’t exist.
What we usually identify as “problems” to be controlled and avoided
(uncertainty, variability, conflicts) are just evidence of a complex nature. You
xxiv ◾ Overview

cannot predict or absolutely control the future, so pretending you can feel
more comfortable is ultimately far more dangerous than accepting a degree
of unpredictability and being prepared for the unexpected.

Conclusion
To adopt complexity thinking, you first need to understand the basics of
Complexity Science. If you don’t understand how complexity works, you
cannot understand how your management approach impacts the complexity
of your work environment.
We can then apply this knowledge to the management of projects.
This book exposes the assumptions underlying the accepted paradigm
of project management, describes the common practices that are based on
those assumptions, analyzes why these practices are unhelpful and even
harmful, and proposes alternative, sometimes seemingly counter-­intuitive
approaches to work management.
By the end of the book, you will have a completely new perspective
on the way projects can be managed in your organization, and how you
can quickly start reaping the benefits provided by a project management
methodology and supporting toolset that is more in tune with the demands
of the twenty-­first century, and turns complexity into a competitive
advantage.

Note
Systems Practice: How to Act: In Situations of Uncertainty and Complexity
1. 
in a Climate Change World, Ray Ison, Springer.
Introduction

Our Age of Anxiety is, in a great part, the result of trying to do

today’s job with yesterday’s tools and yesterday’s concepts.
Marshall McLuhan

The number of project management systems currently flooding the

marketplace is nothing short of astounding. Sadly, they all tend to be
variations of the same tired thinking that hasn’t changed much in decades.
Most of the solutions just prop up the status quo, doing more of the same,
just trying harder rather than thinking of fresh underlying assumptions.
But what used to be accepted wisdom no longer applies in an accelerated
business world that has grown significantly more complex.
And yet, for many organizations, the need to elevate project performance is
critical for competitive strategy. In project-­based businesses, doing more projects
faster is the way to increase revenues, profit margins, and rate of return on
investments. For new product development organizations, shrinking life cycles
require more projects to be done quicker with the same assets. In companies
doing things like equipment installation and maintenance, cutting turnaround
time and lowering manpower resources allows organizations to complete more
projects on time at reduced costs.1 And there are also many companies that
are not primarily project-­based that run repetitive projects. For example, a food
franchise company like Taco Bell periodically needs to install new equipment
in all its thousands of stores. All of these organizations are heavily dependent
on managing projects as efficiently and effectively as possible.
And, now that rapid technological advancements are driving our world
to higher and higher magnitudes of interconnectivity, organizations are
encountering complex systems with even greater frequency and consequence.
So it is more important than ever for organizations to understand complexity
and consider ways in which Complexity Science can help.

1
2 ◾ Introduction

What is a Project?
A good place to start is to clarify what a project actually is.
(Note: This book applies primarily to repetitive, as opposed to one-­off,
never-­to-be-­done-again projects. It does not apply to software development
projects that use agile methodology.)
The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as a
temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or
result. So, if the endeavor is a one-­time occurrence, never to be repeated,
it is, according to this definition, a project. Examples include things like
a project to move the headquarters of the company to a new location. It’s
one-­and-done.
But most companies have “projects” that are not temporary, one-­off
affairs. Rather, they repeat, like running clinical drug trials, installing
equipment for customers, or running marketing campaigns.
These types of projects are really not projects in the PMI sense at all –
they are processes that are managed as projects.
This is important because the tools used to manage processes and
projects are quite different in their approach. For example, because projects
are assumed to run only once, you must plan them every time, and the
effort must pay off from the outcome of the one time you execute the
project. Repetitive projects, on the other hand, are obviously repeatable. The
fact that the activities are repeated means that you can effectively amortize
the planning effort over many repetitions.
Repetitive projects are also typically much more complex to manage than
one-­off projects, in that there are many instances of the project running
concurrently, and these projects usually share the same resources.
The stakes are high for many repetitive projects. They have an important
impact on how the organization does business. They create winners and
losers. Having the right tools to address these needs is often a mission-­
critical factor. If your organization runs process-­driven projects, and you
are managing them as projects, you are severely limiting your organizations
capabilities.

The Assumptions of Traditional Project Management

Like any type of management, project management is based on a common
set of assumptions.
 Introduction ◾ 3

Ensuring tasks complete on time is the best way to ensure that the
project completes on time.
The idea that if every task is on time the project will be on time is burdened
with unintended consequences: task estimates will be inflated to consider
the variability of task execution; task dates ensure that no task will ever be
early, but late tasks will impact the schedule, and multi-­tasking is sure to be
rampant.

Adding padding to task estimates helps ensure that they will be

completed on time.
Inflated estimates encourage bad behavior, like Student Syndrome (waiting
until the last minute for the task to be started, knowing the task has extra
time built into it) and Parkinson’s Law (filling the time allotted regardless of
need).

The future is essentially controllable.

It is possible to “predict” failure and mitigate it through big upfront planning.
Management has control over the worker’s actions, and consequently the
project outcome can be achieved through developing accurate schedules
and cost plans with adequate levels of detail and proper risk assessments
incorporated into the plans; and then diligently managing in accordance
with those plans. The natural extension of these ideas is that if adequate
control cannot be achieved at the current level of decomposition,
adding more detail will bring “better control” and that human destiny is
controllable. This incorrectly assumes that all is knowable beforehand.

It’s possible to manage or eliminate “all risk”.

If adequate effort is applied to risk management, all risks can be transferred,
mitigated or identified for acceptance, and appropriate contingencies and
risk response plans can be calculated for all of the accepted risks.

Percent complete is the best way to track task and project status.
Percent complete is a backward-­looking, subjective, essentially meaningless
measure of project and task status that leads to a prolonged “90 percent
completed” syndrome.

Projects should be started as early as possible to help ensure they

are completed on time.
Starting projects as soon as possible slows everything down if the system
doesn’t have the capacity to handle them.
4 ◾ Introduction

Tasks should be started as early as possible to help ensure they are

completed on time.
Starting tasks as soon as possible leads to dilution of focus on the part of the
project manager and team if the task does not have all the prerequisites in
place. It can also lead to unnecessary multi-­tasking, rework, and poor decision
making.

100 percent resource utilization is an appropriate goal for the

organization.
Managers worry about keeping individuals “busy” in their project planning.
Nothing else matters as long as they are optimizing at a functional level.
But keeping people busy is not the objective of the project, and trying to
achieve 100 percent resource utilization for all resources is worse than a
waste of time – it robs managers of precious management and with no
buffer, guarantees that 100 percent of your projects will be late.

Multi-­tasking is a good way to make progress on multiple projects.

Multi-­tasking to get multiple projects completed as quickly as possible is
highly inefficient when someone is waiting for the output of your task before
they can start theirs.

If we optimize each area involved in the project, we can increase

project throughput.
Trying to optimize anything other than the constraint for improving overall
project throughput diffuses the resources and energy available for improvement.

Gantt charts are the best way to plan and manage a project.
The core of every project management system is a Gantt chart. Gantt
charts are used for managing all aspects of project management: planning,
scheduling, execution, and monitoring.
Unfortunately, Gantt charts are littered with minefields, many of which
most project managers are barely aware of:

Ill-­deserved credibility
The visual quality of color charts means that they gain an implicit
credibility. This can result in managers being unwilling to challenge
the charts and so they gain a momentum all of their own. They
encourage the project manager to over-­control the project rather
than to devolve responsibility for the time plan to team members.
continued on page 6
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
which her adopted father, Mr. Helston, F.R.I.B.A., has just completed in
Fransdale, which has been described as the most imaginative specimen of
domestic architecture produced by an Englishman during the last three
hundred years. It has been seriously suggested that the house in question
may revolutionise the idea of the English country house, and that the day of
gables, barge-boards, rough-casting and timbering is over.'"

They looked at each other in mischievous amusement.

"She will be angry," said Brenda; and, after a moment's silence, burst
out laughing.

"Think I'd better not show it?"

"Oh, you must let her see it; because, if you don't, someone else will—
inevitably."

Helston leaned back in his chair, with reminiscent eyes fixed on the
glowing fire.

"You and I were right, Brenda, when we believed her to be above the
average: she ought to go far."

"Never for a moment have I doubted it," his wife answered. "She has
power! Her smallness, her silence, her strength—it is a wonderful
combination. Many a time I have thanked God for her."

"I fancy," said Harry reflectively, "that Mrs. Cooper to this day believes
that we shall repent, and that it was Melicent who corrupted her entire
household, girls, maids, governess, all in the space of two or three weeks."

"If she does, the vicar knows better," returned his wife, "and is glad
enough for Gwen and Theo to come to us whenever they can."

"I believe we made one mistake," thoughtfully pursued the man. "I have
often wished that I had not complied with the vicar's written request that the
Burmesters should be told nothing. I don't want them to think there is
anything to conceal, as far as Millie is concerned. You see, Mayne doesn't
like the circumstances of her leaving Africa talked about, and Cooper
doesn't like the circumstances of her leaving the Vicarage talked about. At
this rate, it seems to me that she may become a Woman with a Past, if we
don't take care."

"Oh, pooh," said Brenda; "don't make a fuss about nothing. Everybody
knows what the Coopers are."

As she spoke, a gay voice, a dog's bark, a scuffle, was heard without;
and the girl they both loved whisked in, waving a roll of vellum in her hand.

"Behold," said she, "the result of my labours! A certificate about the

size of an ordinary table-cloth, signed by about a dozen men whom nobody
ever heard of. If that doesn't convince people of my competency nothing
ever will!"

She tossed the document in Brenda's lap, and sat down on the fender-
stool, a little out of breath.

She had not changed greatly since her early teens; but she had
improved. She was still small, though not too small; still pale, but with the
clear, rose pallor of a Malmaison carnation. Her soft, fair hair was
becomingly arranged, her movements graceful, her manner decidedly good.

"It's going to snow," cried she. "March is going out like a lion! Pater, I
hope the wind won't nip our crocuses."

"A Cleveshire crocus laughs at frost," said Helston. "But will a

Cleveshire maiden laugh at an impertinent newspaper paragraph?"

"Paragraph! You don't tell me! Where? After all my trouble!" She
stopped short, indignant, her cheeks suddenly rose-colour. "Well, I don't
care," she concluded defiantly. "Ne'er a reporter of them all shall flout me
out of my humour."

"Shall I read it?"

 "Certainly!"

Helston did so, not without relish. When he had done, the girl made a
sound of disdain.

"Charming!" she said. "But what does it matter? Does anybody whose
opinion I value form that opinion upon the Hauberk?"

"If you will start doing what nobody has done before,—"

"Well, somebody must start," said Melicent composedly, "or nobody

would ever get anywhere. After all, these things matter so little. People very
soon forget; and one is not nearly so important as one believes."

"Your common-sense and self-possession are getting quite odious,

miss," said Brenda languidly.

Melicent was thoughtful.

"Very likely it is true what they say—that a business woman has got to
sacrifice something. But I always was practical, you know."

"So little do we know ourselves," gasped Helston.

"Why? Am I not practical?"

"Dreamer, idealist, dweller in Utopia, believer in the Fourth dimension

and in the sum of the really important things that nobody can classify—go
to!" said he gravely. "Tell that to the reporters, but not to the unfortunate
pater who had to hold you in when designing a house! 'Bridling the Tweed
with a curb o' stane' would have just been an interval for light refreshment."

Melicent, her arms about her knees, laughed blithely.

"For sheer power of vituperation, you are hard to beat," she said. "Well,
mater, what have you been doing all day?"

"When you have done railing at each other, you shall hear. I have news
of a really exciting character, but I shall not tell it until there is a suitable
demand."

Melicent whirled round and clutched her.

"What has happened? Speak instantly! Something nice? Something to

take out the taste of that par.?"

"I have heard news and received a visitor: who but Lance Burmester?"

She had no reason to complain of lack of interest in her hearers. They

rained questions upon her.

"He is in town for one night only," said she. "Goes down to Ilbersdale
to-morrow; so I implored him to come back and dine. He demurred, on the
ground that he had two friends with him, whom he could not desert One is a
Captain Brooke, a friend picked up in Africa. The other is—guess,
Melicent!"

There was a peculiar intonation in her voice.

Melicent looked up quickly, and met a mischievous look; and suddenly

colour flooded the girl's face. Quite unexpectedly to herself, she did what
she was never wont to do—she blushed; and she felt as though the blush
covered her like a garment to the very feet.

The sensation made her furious. Why should she blush? At the memory
of a period of her life now so incredibly remote that it seemed like a
previous incarnation? She sometimes felt, in the infrequent moments when
she recalled her amatory experiences, as though she had merely dreamed
the savagery, the bestiality, of her African days; as though she had first
awakened to life when her uncle drove her out upon the high heathery Nab
that overlooked the moorlands.

Brenda's hint evoked a rushing stream of unpleasant, importunate

memories. Was it possible that Bert had bridged the five years' silence?
That he was still in pursuit—still claiming the promise made in a half-
delirious moment?
 Her inmost being sickened. It could not be! Not now, on the very
threshold of her career—now that she had grown used to happiness and
love and England. Disgust was so acute that she grew actually faint.

With a craving for air she sprang from her low seat by the fire, stood up,
drew a long breath, flung back her head. What useless panic! She was free:
no promise could be said to bind her! Why should she fear?

The shock, the overwhelming spasm of apprehension, passed away so

quickly that the Helstons had barely time to wonder what was amiss when
she took calmly on her lips the name that haunted her.

"Do you really mean that it is Bert Mestaer?"

Brenda laughed.

"Bert Mestaer! What a notion! You would hardly expect Mr. Burmester
to make friends with him! Oh, no; it is someone whom you will really like
to see—surely you can guess!"

"Mr. Mayne?"

"Of course!"

The relief, the reaction, were extraordinary. Melicent's head swam. With
more demonstration of feeling than was usual to her, she clapped her hands.

"Oh, that is good! I am pleased! What a pity he did not get back in time
for my twenty-first birthday last spring! I wonder whether he will think that
I have changed!"

"Your wonder will be speedily set at rest. As it appeared that Lance was
inseparable from his friends, and that this was his only night, I told him to
bring them both back to dinner at eight. I sent Elizabeth for fish and cream,
and I wish you would go into the dining-room on your way upstairs, and see
that the flowers on the table are all right."

"Well!" cried Melicent, and heaved a sigh. "Things are happening to-
night in the bosom of this peaceful family. Pater, just put away that odious
newspaper in the table drawer, so that nobody can see it. To think of Mr.
Mayne being in England! Why didn't he write and say he was coming?"

"I fancy he only quite suddenly found that he could get away. You see,
all his plans are changed. He is to be Bishop of Pretoria."

"Bishop! Oh, lucky Pretoria!"

Melicent paused again, her eyes full of memories. She saw an open
grave, a long black procession of uncouth people winding down the rough
fields, past the Kaffir huts—the sun blazing down on Carol Mayne's sharp-
cut, ascetic face.

"I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that believeth on Me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live."

The thought of what her heart had been then, torn with hatred, racked
with grief, savage, sullen, lonely, arose in sharp contrast with the thought of
all that had been since, all that she had come to understand, believe and
hope, in these full years of growth that lay between.

Moved by a rare impulse, she stooped and tenderly kissed Brenda's

forehead, before going to inspect the flowers upon the dinner-table.

CHAPTER XX

CAPTAIN BROOKE
"What man would risk the danger twice,
Nor quake from head to heel?
Whom would not one such test suffice?"
—A. C. SWINBURNE.
 Not Melicent herself looked forward to the moment of meeting with
more eagerness than did the Bishop elect of Pretoria. He had been through
many anxieties during his first months of guardianship; and his gratitude to
the Helstons was immense. It was most natural that he should look forward
with interest to a sight of the girl he had saved.

She was not present in the drawing-room when the three men arrived,
but the cordiality of the Helstons' reception was delightful. Lance was
grateful to them for including his friend, a big, silent man, who had been
with much difficulty persuaded to come. Brenda assured him that six was a
far better number than five, and made him welcome with sincerity which
could not fail to please.

"But he wouldn't have come at all; he would have held out obstinately,"
said Lance gaily, "but for one thing, one mysterious reason, which will
transpire later. You needn't blush, Brooke."

"Haven't the least intention of it; don't play the fool, Burmester. I
suppose it was natural for an outsider to feel that he was intruding on a
party of friends who were meeting after long separation."

"Just as well for you to become acquainted now, for you'll be sure to
meet at Fransdale," said Lance easily. "I suppose you are going up for
Easter, Mrs. Helston, and I am taking Brooke and the Bishop to Ilbersdale."

As he spoke, the door opened, and all three men turned to watch
Melicent as she came in.

She had rather more colour than usual, and her expression was strangely
arresting. Her evening gown was white, and trailed over the soft carpet with
a delicate rustling. She walked straight up to Carol Mayne, her eyes shining,
her two hands outstretched: and he caught them in his, meeting her glance
with the piercing, deep-set eyes she remembered so well of old.

"Well!" he cried. "So this is you! How thankful I ought to be that my

responsibilities are over! Ah, well, I don't think I should have known you, if
I had met you in the street, but I am beginning to recognise the eyes, the
brow! The smile is new. I never saw that in Africa; did I, Miss Lutwyche?"

She looked up gravely, but with a certain kindled enthusiasm, far more
impressive than a girl's laughter.

"Miss Lutwyche!" she said reproachfully. "I shall not allow that. As for
you, you are not a bit changed. I should know you anywhere—Bond Street,
or darkest Africa."

"What about me, Miss Lutwyche?" cried Lance pleadingly.

"You have improved," she said, with an air of critical appraisement.

"You are not nearly so—lady-like as you used to be."

They all laughed.

"Are you still a crack shot, as you used to be?" he cried.

"I shoot every autumn. I have improved," she replied demurely.

When Captain Brooke had been presented, they all sat down, and the
talk hung fire a little.

"It is too big," said Melicent, with a little sigh. "There is so much to say,
we don't know where to begin. Mr. Mayne, I know, is thinking of me with
my hair in a pig-tail, and a calico frock, slouching across the yard with a
copper bucket; and Mr. Burmester is thinking of a time when I was locked
up in disgrace in the Vicarage schoolroom, and not allowed to go to a
picnic; and Captain Brooke is thinking how disagreeable it is of people to
have reminiscences he cannot share."

Captain Brooke smiled a little.

"I am thinking that it is hard to fancy you in a calico dress with a copper
bucket," he said.

Melicent was suddenly grave.

 "People who have always lived in England don't realise," she said
absently. "We dwell in a kind of Garden of Eden here, and nobody
appreciates it. They should go to some place such as I was brought up in,
and learn what thorns and briars lie outside the garden gates."

"I saw a good deal of it during the campaign," the soldier answered. "A
good deal of outer darkness, I mean."

"Does England seem good after it?" she asked.

"Exactly what you say. Like the Garden of Eden."

At the moment dinner was announced, and they went into the dining-
room.

"I suppose," said Melicent, who was seated next Mr. Mayne, "that it is
of no use to ask you after old acquaintance? It is so long since you left
Slabbert's Poort?"

"Well," he answered, "I have kept up with one or two of the folks there.
But the general scatter, when the war broke out, made great changes,
though, as you know, the place was never in the line of march. Marten
Brandt still owns the Vierkleur."

"I often meant to ask you in my letters what became of Otis?"

"The great Amurrica? It is reported that he made himself notorious in

the Boer Irish brigade, but later on—after the capture of Kroonstadt—he
turned up on the British side, got a commission in a scallywag corps, how I
know not, and is quite a great person now."

"Not sure he ain't a colonel; I knocked up against the beast," said Lance.
"Remember hearing about Gouverneur J. Otis, eh Brooke? Remember the
story of Sal's Drift and the stampede of the gun mules?"

The two men laughed, as at a common memory.

"Worst of him was, the brute was so witty," said Lance. "I believe all
our officers knew he was not to be trusted, but they made no end of a fuss
with him. Daresay he'll be turning up in England soon, in some swell house
that's been lent as a convalescent home, and flirt with all the titled girls as
bold as you please."

"Let's see; he was the chap who got his head punched by Millie's Boer
champion, wasn't he?" asked Mr. Helston.

His wife gave him a warning glance. Young Burmester was present, and
he knew nothing of the girl's vicissitudes, nor was it desirable that he
should. Besides, there was a stranger among them. She could see, by the
way he instantly began to speak, that Mayne was as desirous as she to turn
the subject; but Lance had caught the word.

"Hallo, Miss Lutwyche! had you begun breaking heads and hearts, even
before you came over?" he asked gaily, across the table.

"Boers don't trouble about hearts," said the girl, with composure. "We
were a pastoral people, and never did anything interesting. It is you from
whom we expect tales of prowess. Did you never escape in a goods train, or
scale a prison wall, or—"

"As to that," said Lance, "I've a magnificent yarn, all ready for telling,
only this beggar"—indicating his friend, who sat next to him and opposite
Millie—"tried, before he would come here to-night, to get me to promise
not to tell."

Melicent had wholly succeeded in turning away the subject. The silent
captain reddened, looked morose, and was heard to murmur that Burmester
was a rotter.

"I hope you were not so rash as to make the promise in question?" cried
Brenda.

"Well, do you know, as far as to-night goes, I'm afraid I did!" owned
Lance.

"You did," said Brooke distinctly.

 "But the fact of it is," said Lance lightly, "that he saved my life. Ever
heard it said that if you save a man's life, he's sure to do you a bad turn?
Look out for me, Brooke."

"I'll look out for myself," was the unamiable reply.

"But it's only if you save from drowning that the proverb applies," said
the host.

"Well, this was drowning. River suddenly rose while the column was
crossing; and the last men got washed away. But this is spoiling my yarn.
I'll keep it for when Brooke isn't about."

"I told you I should spoil sport if I came," said Brooke grimly.

Melicent looked at him with some amusement

He was a fair man, severely tanned by exposure. He was clean-shaven,

and the salient feature of his face was his large, finely-cut, strong yet
delicate mouth: a mouth which lifted his otherwise rough-hewn face up to a
different level, and made it full of possibilities. With such a mouth a man
might be a poet, a soldier, a statesman; but whatever he was, that he would
thoroughly be. He was also shy, to an extent that was amusing in such a
Hercules. When he spoke, he muttered: and he hardly ever raised his eyes.

The gentlemen did not linger over their wine. Mayne was anxious to
talk to Melicent of her future, and Lancelot was astonished at himself for
the anxiety he felt to return to the drawing-room. He remembered a day
when he had seen a slip of a girl seated on Tod's Trush, and how he had said
to Helston: "One is conscious of a personality." He was vividly conscious of
it now. It was the "indefinable something" that Melicent possessed. She
never spoke much, but always gave the fascinating impression of vast
reserves behind, of a boundless store from which she could give more, and
always more.

He was vexed with Mrs. Helston for engaging him at some length in
talk, which she did advisedly, to allow Carol to talk to the girl.
 It was with interest and satisfaction that Mayne listened to her, and
found out how soon she hoped to be self-supporting, and how close were
the ties that bound her to her friends. There seemed no cloud upon her
horizon; life, which had begun so stormily seemed, like many a rainy
English morn, to be breaking out into a cloudless sky.

"But there is one thing I want to ask you about," said Melicent
presently. "I have one wrinkle among my rose-leaves. It is only a little
thing, yet at times I fear it I have a constant dread that ... you know who ...
may turn up. I expect it is very silly of me. Men soon forget these things;
and in so long a time, he is sure to have forgotten. But I have wished to see
you, to make sure. I didn't like to write about it. I can't help a dreadful kind
of feeling rushing over me at times, that he..." she looked round. Nobody
was in hearing but Captain Brooke, idly turning over music on the piano;
she dropped her voice—"that Bert Mestaer—may still think he has a claim
on me."

There was a silence, which the chat of the group by the fire did not
seem to break. Captain Brooke earnestly studied the song he was reading.

"That idea—the idea that Mestaer might still think of you—would not
be pleasant to you?" asked Mayne.

"Pleasant?" the word was a gasp. "But you see the life that is mine
now," she said tremulously. "You remember the house of bondage—the
darkness and shadow of death."

"Bert Mestaer wanted to loose your bonds."

"Oh, no! Only to bind me to another master!"

"I think you wrong him there, Melicent."

She turned towards him, put out one hand, and laid it on his.

"It was you who saved me; you delivered my soul from the snare of the
hunter," she said. "If Mestaer let me go, you were the only man that could
have persuaded him. You know it; we need not discuss it. What I want you
to tell me is, whether you have seen or heard anything of him; whether he is
alive or dead."

"He was certainly alive when I left Africa. He did splendidly during the
war. I believe he is considered the finest scout in the British army. I feel
sure I may take it upon myself to say, on his behalf, that he will never make
himself obnoxious to you. You need be in no fear of him."

"He has forgotten all that nonsense about me?"

"I don't exactly know what you mean by nonsense, Millie. If you mean
his love for you, I don't think I can truly say that he has forgotten."

She made a little sound of dismay.

"But he is in process of forgetting—he must be!" she cried. "Anyhow,

he doesn't expect me to start off to Africa to keep the promise he says I
made?"

"Nothing could be farther from his thoughts, I assure you."

"Well, that is what I wanted to be sure of! Now I shall breathe freely
again. I will confess to you now, that I had a terrible moment this evening.
Mater said Mr. Burmester had come home, and laughed and asked me to
guess who was with him! I leaped to the conclusion that it was Bert
Mestaer, and I suddenly found myself in the grip of a blind terror. I thought
I should faint, all the horror of that dreadful time came back so clearly. I
don't think I could have faced him...."

But Lance was no longer to be held back. He broke away from his
captors, and came towards Millie, calling for a song. Captain Brooke, who
still stood forlorn and rigid by the piano, leaning his chin on his hand, was
roughly pushed away. Melicent sat down without shyness, and sang two or
three ballads in a voice that—like herself—was small and flexible and very
distinctive. The last thing she sang was that wonderful little piece of
inspiration,

"The night has a thousand eyes."

 Captain Brooke was turning over for her.

"That's very true," he said,

"'The mind has a thousand eyes,

The heart but one,'"

he repeated thoughtfully.

"Yes," she answered; "yet many people seem content with the one! I
suppose all women used to be! Think what an awful fate, to look on life
merely as a matter of sentiment! The thousand eyes are better, don't you
think so?"

"I never tried," he answered simply.

The reply struck her as remarkable, but she had no time to reflect upon
it, for Lance again struck in:

"Seems to me wonderful, with a profession of your own, that you

should find time to learn to sing so beautifully," he said.

"The singing is my recreation," she replied, "the other my serious

work."

"Ah!" cried Lance, "and that reminds me of old Brooke's business and
the reason why he came here to-night! Do you know, Miss Lutwyche,
Brooke wants to build a house, and he's been reading a paragraph in the
Hauberk about a lady architect."

Melicent grew pink, and looked down.

"Captain Brooke won't want to give his work to such a complete

novice," she said demurely. "Now that he has seen me, he will want to retire
gracefully from his intention, and you put him in a cruel dilemma by
mentioning it."
 "I like trying experiments," said the Captain, with more animation than
he had yet displayed.

Everyone was now crowding with interest around the music-stool where
Melicent sat.

"What and where would your house be, Captain Brooke?" asked
Helston.

"It would be in my—my—the place my people come from," he replied.

"It's in Wiltshire."

"Wiltshire! That's a variable county; on Salisbury Plain?"

"No; it's a pretty village. Clunbury, they call it."

"What kind of house do you think of building?"

"I should leave that entirely to Miss Lutwyche."

"I say, Melicent, here's your chance!" cried Helston mischievously.

"You'll be able to send another paragraph to the Hauberk?"

"How dare you?" she cried, threatening him in mock rage. "Oh ... but
this is wonderful! Are you serious, Captain Brooke?"

"Quite. I have bought the land. Only about twenty acres. I should like
your advice about the actual site of the house."

"Well, Millie, if you give satisfaction over this, your career is made,"
cried Brenda.

"But what kind of house do you want?" cried the girl. "You must tell me
that!"

"No; that's what I shall pay you to tell me," said Millie's client calmly.
He smiled for the first time, as he added: "You have the thousand eyes."
 "Well!" said Melicent, "the agitations of this day have been quite too
much for me!"

"Do your people live at Clunbury?" asked Helston of the Captain.

"Oh, no; not now. They sold their last acre in my grandfather's time. A
churchyard full of their graves is all that is left. It is, however, a part of their
land that I have bought back."

"That is the kind of thing I would like to do myself," said Carol Mayne.

"Now, Miss Lutwyche, is the house rising before your mind's eye?"
cried Lance, pleased at the intense interest created by the scheme.

"Not yet," said Melicent; but her eyes were dreamy. "What kind of
people were your forbears?" she asked the Captain.

"Merely yeomanry," he answered, "and wholly Philistine; people with

one eye."

"And do you want the house to resemble them in tone?" she asked,
smiling at his allusion.

"No. I want it to be the typical house that is in your mind; the house you
would live in, if you could choose."

She laughed.

"Take care! You don't know how lordly my ideas may be! You will have
to bring them down to the level of estimates."

"Do you want the thing put in hand at once?" asked Helston.

"Yes, I do. I should like Miss Lutwyche to come down and look at the
site before I go to Ilbersdale for Easter."

"Well, Millie, you must make up your mind! Do you accept the order?"
cried Carol Mayne.
 "I should like to come down and look at the site before I finally say
Yes," said she. "And ask Captain Brooke all manner of questions."

"That will suit me well," he replied gravely. "To-day is Monday. Shall

we say Thursday?"

CHAPTER XXI

MIRAGE
"He who has seen a city in the skies
Knows he may never cool his tired eyes
At the fair waters of that Paradise.

But the one moment when he thought his feet

Would enter that dream-city, was so sweet
That he can bear the noonday and its heat."
—ALICE HERBERT.

The sky was clear and starry; the night was swept by the strong, clean
current of the March wind, as the three men stepped out into Collis Square.

"How shall we get back?" asked Burmester, lighting his cigar. "Train,
tube or bus?"

"I shall walk," said Brooke, with brevity.

They were standing just beneath a street lamp, whose strong light,
falling on his face, showed it haggard and strained. Burmester did not
observe it.
 "You don't catch me!" he cried jovially, flinging away his light. "Come
on, Bishop—leave that maniac to his own devices. Here's a hansom, the
very thing."

The jingling cab pulled up at his signal, and he sprang in. "Rhodes
Hotel!"

"All right, Burmester, I'm walking a bit with Brooke," said Mayne.

"The deuce you are! Nice trick to play on me!" cried Lance, as he was
bowled away.

"Why can't you go with him, and leave me to myself?" growled Brooke,
lighting a pipe with a hand that shook.

"Because I want your society, though it seems the desire is not mutual."

There was no reply. They tramped eastwards in silence, past the Marble
Arch, down Park Lane into Grosvenor Square, and on into Berkeley Square,
where suddenly Brooke said:

"I wish you would go."

"You're not playing fair," quietly replied Mayne. "Conspirators ought to

share confidences."

"Confide away then."

"All right, I will. I am as pleased as I feel sure you must be, though you
don't show it, at the result of your idea."

"Pleased!" echoed Brooke. "Pleased! ... Great Heaven! Pleased, are

you? But then, you see, I am not you. Bishop, I know every line of her face,
every tone of her voice, though I never heard but one in the old days! I
know her as a man knows the land where he was born; and she could sit
looking full at me across the table, and not know she had ever seen me! ...
Man! How have I come through it?"
 "Excellently. I don't understand you. Surely it is what you were hoping
for, planning for—complete non-recognition? What would have happened if
she had known you? You heard what she said to me about you?"

"Every word;" his voice sank to a despairing whisper.

"She is at least consistent," said Mayne.

An inarticulate murmur of assent.

"I don't think the non-recognition wonderful," went on Mayne. "You

see, she never thought about you, or even looked at you attentively in old
days. And think what you were like then! Not only the outer man has
changed. Remember that I myself, when first I saw you without your beard,
and without your slouch, and without your oaths—in your uniform, drilled
into a self-respecting Englishman—I did not know you."

"But you did, as soon as I said: 'Don't you remember me?'"

"Exactly; because you did say so. But you have not said so to Miss
Lutwyche; and don't you see that your very failure to do so would banish
the idea of your possible identity from her mind? You come before her with
looks, words, manners, your very nationality—all changed! An English
landed proprietor! Doubtless she knows nothing of the great diamond find
on the High Farm, nor of the fortune you have realised. The idea that you
should adopt such a method of gaining access to her, would never strike her,
it would not seem characteristic of her preconceived idea of you."

"I don't know how I got through," said the Captain brokenly. "When she
came in, looking like an angel from God ... and passed me by and went up
to you! By George, Mayne, she was right! It was you who saved her! But
for you—"

"She was wrong; it was you," said Mayne. "She will probably never
know the fight you made; women don't understand these things, and it is as
well they don't. Things go like that in the world."

"She's beautiful, Mayne; don't you think so?"

 Mayne laughed.

"I don't think her at all angelic," he replied, "but I will own that she
seems to me less unlovable than I used to think her in Africa. Don't punch
my head! ... Burmester admired her, I thought."

"Yes, confound him!"

"But you have made a splendid opening. The idea of the house was a
masterly one. It gives you endless opportunities and a common interest.
Only remember, you must keep yourself well in hand. As I warned you, the
game is a dangerous one. One false move may cost you all."

"The worst is over now," returned the Captain. "The awfulness of

feeling that she's everything to me, I a nightmare to her! I can still hardly
believe she didn't know me."

"Everything was in your favour. She was full of my return, and of relief
that it was I, not you. The silent Captain Brooke was a negligible quantity."

"She never looked at me squarely but once. That was in the middle of
dinner. My heart nearly stopped. I had to lower my eyes lest they should say
things. Ah, well; you're a good sort, and no mistake. I'm glad we've talked it
out, though I was a sulky brute at first."

"H'm! Yes; Melicent might think the change in you not so deep if she
had heard your way with me this evening," said his friend drily. "The old
Bert is still there, in spite of all the polish."

Bert laughed as he strode on, with his long, swinging step. He made a
fine tribute to the creative powers of Sergeant What's-his-name. There had
been good material to work upon, and the right kind of training; and the
result was something like a miracle.

In the old days, Mayne had realised that this man was something out of
the common: but even he had not been prepared for his persistence, nor for
his wonderful flair for knowing the right men, reading the right books,
doing the right thing. During all these five years, no week had passed
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