INFATUATION

CHAPTER I

Phyllis Ladd lost her mother at twelve;and this bereavement, especially terrible toan only child, brought with it two consequencesthat had a far-reaching effect on her character.An ardent, high-strung nature, acquaintedso early with a poignant sorrow, gets an outlook onthe world that is so just and true as to constitutea misfortune in itself. A child ought not to think;ought not to suffer; ought not to understand.Individuality, sympathy, sensibility awaken--qualitiesthat go to make a charming human being--butwhich have to be paid for in the incessantbalance of our complex existence. Phyllis'school-fellows were no longer the same to her; she feltherself a person apart; though she played as gailyas any of them, and chattered her head off, andtripped blithely along Chestnut Avenue entwinedin the arms of her companions, she was aware, downin her secret heart, that she was "different."

At twelve, then, her path diverged from thecommonplace, in which, as we all have to admit,however reluctantly, the chances for a happy life are best.

The second consequence of her mother's deathwas to bring her into contact with a scarcely knownindividual--her father. This grave, handsomeman, who sat behind a newspaper at breakfast, andwho was not seen again till dinner time; who droveaway every morning behind a liveried coachmanand a pair of shining bays to a region called "theoffice"; whose smile and voice were always a shydelight to her--this demigod, admired, unknown,from whom there emanated a delicious sense ofsecurity and strength, now suddenly drew her to hisheart, and became her world, her all.

Robert T. R. Ladd was the president of the K. B. andO. Railway. Rich himself, and the son of arich man, his interests in Carthage were varied andmany, engaging his activities far beyond the greatroad that was associated with his name. Carthagewas an old-fashioned city; and the boys who hadgrown up together and succeeded their fathers wereclannish to a degree little known in the newer partsof this country. Joe, who was prominent inelectricity and gas, might want to consolidate anumber of scattered plants, and to that end would seekthe assistance of Tom and Harry and Bob. George,perhaps, in forecasting the

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