, in
my passions.«
    Mrs. Gould received this addition unflinchingly. To understand it thoroughly
she did not require to hear his muttered assurance -
    »There is nothing I would not do for the sake of Antonia. There is nothing I
am not prepared to undertake. There is no risk I am not ready to run.«
    Decoud seemed to find a fresh audacity in this voicing of his thoughts. »You
would not believe me if I were to say that it is the love of the country which
-«
    She made a sort of discouraged protest with her arm, as if to express that
she had given up expecting that motive from any one.
    »A Sulaco revolution,« Decoud pursued in a forcible undertone. »The Great
Cause may be served here, on the very spot of its inception, in the place of its
birth, Mrs. Gould.«
    Frowning, and biting her lower lip thoughtfully, she made a step away from
the door.
    »You are not going to speak to your husband?« Decoud arrested her anxiously.
    »But you will need his help?«
    »No doubt,« Decoud admitted without hesitation. »Everything turns upon the
San Tomé mine, but I would rather he didn't know anything as yet of my - my
hopes.«
    A puzzled look came upon Mrs. Gould's face, and Decoud, approaching,
explained confidentially -
    »Don't you see, he's such an idealist.«
    Mrs. Gould flushed pink, and her eyes grew darker at the same time.
    »Charley an idealist!« she said, as if to herself, wonderingly. »What on
earth do you mean?«
    »Yes,« conceded Decoud, »it's a wonderful thing to say with the sight of the
San Tomé mine, the greatest fact in the whole of South America, perhaps, before
our very eyes. But look even at that, he has idealized this fact to a point -«
He paused. »Mrs. Gould, are you aware to what point he has idealized the
existence, the worth, the meaning of the San Tomé mine? Are you aware of it?«
    He must have known what he was talking about.
    The effect he expected was produced. Mrs. Gould, ready to take fire, gave it
up suddenly with a low little sound that resembled a moan.
    »What do you know?« she asked in a feeble voice.
    »Nothing,« answered Decoud, firmly. »But, then, don't you see, he's
