ROBERT W. CHAMBERS



ATHALIE


BY
ROBERT W. CHAMBERS


WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
FRANK CRAIG


NEW YORK AND LONDON
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1915


TO
MY FRIEND
MESSMORE KENDALL




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


"'Clive is a good deal of a man.... I never had a
better companion.'" _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

"'Boy?' inquired Ledlie, resting one soil-incrusted
boot on his spade." 2

"'I'd like to come down here for the summer vacation,'
said the boy, awkwardly." 34

"'I'm glad I saw you,' said the girl; 'I hope you
won't forget me.'" 40

"C. Bailey, Jr., and Athalie Greensleeve ... had
supped together more than once at the Regina." 78

"Beside her, eager, happy, flattered, walked C.
Bailey, Jr., very conscious that he was being
envied." 80

"'I like her,' repeated Clive, Jr., a trifle annoyed." 82

"It was in this place that Clive encountered Cecil
Reeve one stormy midnight." 114

"He rather liked being with his own sort again." 116

"'Wasn't a civil bow enough?'" 126

"One lovely morning in May she arose early in order
to write to Clive." 148

"Mr. Wahlbaum ... was very quiet, very considerate,
very attentive." 150

"Doris continued to haunt agencies and theatrical offices." 154

"With him she visited the various museums and art
galleries." 168

"With a basket containing Hafiz, her suit-case, and a
furled umbrella she started for her new lodgings." 178

"'Wasn't it suicide?' asked Athalie." 180

"She said in a low voice, still watching intently:
'Blue sky, green trees, a snowy shore, and little
azure wavelets....'" 210

"Mrs. Bailey, Jr., looked pale and pretty sitting
there." 232

"During convalescence he read 'Under Two Flags'
and approved the idea." 234

"His theme happened to be his own wonderful trap
record, that evening." 244

"'There is your extra,' she said pleasantly." 266

"Once more, the old happy companionship began." 284

"Finally ... he cut the envelope and seated himself
beside the lamp." 300

"When he saw her he sprang out and came forward." 316

"She suddenly sat upright, resting one slender hand on
his shoulder." 330

"Clive nodded: 'Keep them off the place, Connor.'" 346

"'Sure I was that worritted,' burst out Mrs. Connor." 348

"'Michael,' she said, smiling." 372

"And then her hands were in his and she was looking
into his beloved eyes once more." 378

"Sometimes Athalie lunched there in the garden with
him." 400





ATHALIE




CHAPTER I


When Mrs. Greensleeve first laid eyes on her baby she knew it was
different from the other children.

"What is the matter with it?" she asked.

The preoccupied physician replied that there was nothing the matter.
In point of fact he had been admiring the newly born little girl when
her mother asked the question.

"She's about as perfect as they make 'em," he concluded, placing the
baby beside her mother.

The mother said nothing. From moment to moment she turned her head on
the pillow and gazed down at her new daughter with a curious,
questioning expression. She had never gazed at any of her other
children so uneasily. Even after she fell asleep the slightly puzzled
expression remained as a faint crease between her brows.

Her husband, who had been wandering about from the bar to the office,
from the office to the veranda, and occasionally entirely around the
exterior of the road-house, came in on tiptoe and looked rather
vacantly at them both.

Then he went out again as though he was not sure where he might be
going. He was a little man and mild, and he did not look as though he
had been created for anything in particular, not even for the purpose
of procreation.

It