N T E C O N T S . CHAP TE R . PAGE - I . OLD EN MI S M T E E EE , — II . AM ID R TOR TS AN D ! URNAC S E E , IIL—B A TI! L H L N M NTON E U U E E E E , I - A V. I T W S HAR D LY M R D R U E , f “ - V . WH Y NOT M OR THAN ! R I NDS E E , —I A VI I T W S A SW LL N IG HT AT THE M NTON S E E , ” II SHE IS A HE D I V . S V L E , III M Y OD T IS IS A ! V . G ! H W L U , — IX . B UT IS IT RETRIB UTION ! RETRI B U TION 1 “ — C D D K X . I ALL GO TO WITNESS THAT I D I NOT ILL PA L D NM AN U E , X —HE R HAND R LAX D ITS HOLD U P ON THE R AIL I . E E I N G AND SH ! LL ! R OM TH WITN SS CHAIR , E E E E , “ ” XII — THANK OD TH IS LIG HT AH AD . G R E E E , — G P XIII . A B URNING DESIRE ! OR R EVEN E U ON THE M AN W H O HAD ROB B D ME O! M Y LOV E E , ” XIV. N OT G ILTY U , — I K O! TRE A ! U L EAN CE HE WREAK ED XV. TH N W VEN G S THROUGH YOU . T H E M E N T O N S . WAS IT A CRIME ? CHAPTE R I. O M I M T LD ENE ES EE . r our What a st ange old gentleman y father is, ” Miss Menton , said Mrs . Mittens . on e of Mrs . Mittens is those women who look to fi be anywhere between thirty and fty . Her eyes are faded ; so are her cheeks , though she has found a means of partly disguising the hard wrinkles which h ave made eccentric zig - zag lines through them . When she speaks it is apologetically ; when S she laughs it is hysterically , and when she is ilent it pains one to look at her . l on She had seen o d Mr . Menton several occa — sions caught furtive glimpses of him as he had or w passed a door , slipped silently up the stair ay . But she had never heard Miss Menton speak of him ; and this had set Mrs . Mittens to thinking . 9 12 10 WAS I T A CRI ME There was one qu ality whi ch this washed - out little widow poss e s sed in al l i ts pri stine vigor she was as inquisitive as s h e h ad bee n twenty y e ars ’ before ; and the peculiar fact that Miss Menton s father never joined in the conversations of his ’ daughter s guests nev er even gave hi s prese nce to l the night y assemblages in his own house , con was Vinced Mrs . Mittens that there some secret reason for his mysterious conduct . She had been eagerly awaiting an Opport unity to apply the i n l qu i sit or i a pump to Miss Menton . f f : Ol d a It o ered itself in this way The gentlem n , still vigorous under the weight of sixty years , with ’ eyes like a hawk s , which glittere d under a fringe s a . of h ggy gray brows , had , a moment prior to Mrs ’ n - Mittens questio , entered the dining room . After r e cogniking its half dozen occ upants with a digni fie d bow a , he had requested his d ughter to come to H his study before she retired . That was all . had gone out as he had entered , and his footsteps soon died away as he ascended the stairs leading to his study . “ Ho ? I ! w . Strange , strange , Mrs Mittens do ” not understand you . Miss Menton spoke with an icy deliberation m which chilled little Mrs . Mittens to the arrow. LD M 1 1 O ENEMIES EET . She stared at Miss Menton helplessly for a moment , and then gathered her wits suf ficiently to make answer that she had merely meant to remark “ that ’ ” o . Mr . Menton didn t seem to like s ciety The beautiful woman who had caused Mrs . ’ c m fitur e Mittens dis o thawed a little . Throwing a back her head she said, with a p tronizing smile Father is devoted to his studies . He has but ’ f or s little time ociety . But I m sure he would feel ” hurt if he knew you thought him unsocial . This sugared sarcasm was wholly lost upon Mrs . e Mittens . She was glad to escape so asily , and she suppressed herself for the remainder of the evening . - . M Mr Lawrence ontague , a stage struck young man who had become an actor , but who had never been able to convince even the critics that he knew — anything about his art h e was really not a bad of f — fellow, the stage had just asked the fair hostess if she did not think that realism in art was of robbing the stage its romance , when a servant brought in a card . Miss Menton looked at it . “ ” h e S . Show them up , said Mr . u Wheeler and a friend , she added , t rning I to her guests . wonder who the friend is ? I beg your pardon , Mr . Montague ; what did you say about realism ? 1 2 WAS IT A C R I ME ? " at h e a r i l t . sa d d t t r e I i . repe e c o , mp ssive y . tha reali sm i s crowding ’ h eel er a l M Phi st er ! h r . TV Co . c Ah e e s Mr , s id , wh o had been half - dozing in an easy chair in the corner ; and poor Mr . Montague did not get the s ym pathy which his romantic n ature and his ideal i z e d a Views of the dram tic art craved . None of the company thou ght it unusual that Wheeler should bring a friend to a house where he m e a hi s lf was merely a visitor , without the form lity of fir st asking permission of the hostess . There w as nothing conventional about the Mentons . One did abou t as on e pleased at their house . WVh e el er e Mr . Henry , artist and magazine s rib bler , a constant caller at the Mentons , entered , acco m panied by his f riend . “ My old chum , Mr . Denman , said he , present ing his companion to Miss Menton . ’ VVh e e l e r s friend had entered the doorw ay self - possessed as an indif f eren t man of the w or ld h i s z e could be . But when he raised eyes to recogni l r and the introduction , he changed co or pe ceptibly ; m an Mi s s Menton tur ned p ale . She stared at the before her as if in doubt whether to take the hand he had extended . His embarrassment was too pain OL D MI M T 8 ENE ES EE . 1 ul f to witness . Finally Miss Menton said with much sweetness and grace “ — Mr . Denman is welcome as all of Mr. Wheel ’ ’ er s friends are ; and she at once turned her atten t e ion to her guests , entertaining them with a rar tact which had made her famous . But Paul Denman did not recover his equanimity o th s readi ly . He sat pale and silent throughout e or evening . His one two attempts to appear at ease were awkward failures . Wheeler , who had witnessed with surprise the embarrassment Which the meeting between his friend and Miss Menton had caused as both , watched him closely as he could without of s attracting the attention the other , and tried to conceive a satisfactory explanation . It was with a feeling of infinite relief that Den man saw him rise and say good night to Miss Men f or fi f ton , and he smiled the rst time during his brie stay in the Menton house when the woman , the sud W f f den meeting with hom had so visibly a ected him , held ou t her hand and very frankly and cordially bade him repeat his visit soon . Paul Denman was not a man whose appearance i fi was r nvited con dence , though it not altogethe u e . was npr possessing He tall , well built, with good l rr a e B u f a r c . t e e tu es , and an easy, gra efu ca i g th re 14 WAS IT A CRIME ? u was a something abo t him that repelled one . A phy S iognom i st would have said that his eyes were dece it \Vh atev e r a i . w s n ful , his mouth cruel and sensual it a m an t his nature that told one he was not to rust , readers of h uman nature were not slow to discover its presence . Children were afraid of him , and good women avoided him . And yet he was popular , in a way , with men . He was a brilliant conversa ti on al i st r a conf c ur , and delightfully entertaining as a He had been absent from New York for eight years hi m since the death of his father , who had left a snug patrimony which he m ight by industry have n fi enlarged into a mag i cent fortune, but which he had chosen to fritter away in the fleeting enjoyments o f a fast life .