"Yes, I think you are, Sam, and I'm going to give you an adventure after your own heart." And then he began to tell a tale of base ingratitude--of a girl he had helped, had indeed saved from starvation and who had betrayed him at every turn.

Thornton Lyne was a poet.

He was also a picturesque liar.

The lie came as easily as the truth, and easier, since there was a certain crudeness about truth which revolted his artistic soul.

And as the tale was unfolded of Odette Rider's perfidy, Sam's eyes narrowed.