Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE BIRTH OF A MAN NORMAN stood silent and thoughtful before the fire in the dining-room, the morning after the meeting of the Socialists. His sleep had been feverish and a hundred half-formed dreams had haunted the moments in which he had lost consciousness with always the shining face of Barbara smiling and beckoning him on. Elena silently entered and watched him a moment before he saw her. " Still dreaming of the New Joan of Arc, Norman?" she asked with playful banter. " I 'm going to do it, Elena," he said, with slow, thoughtful emphasis. " What ? Marry her without even giving me the usual two weeks' notice?" Elena laughed. "Now, is n't that like a woman! I was n't even thinking of the girl " "Of course not." Norman laughed. " By Jove, you 're jealous at last, Elena." "You flatter yourself." "Honestly, I was n't thinking of the girl " "Well, I 've been thinking of her. She haunts me. I like her and I hate her. I feel that she 's charming and vicious, of the spirit and flesh, and yet I can't help believing that she 's good. The woman who introduced her is a she-devil, and the man who presided over that meeting is a brute. It's a pity she 's mixed up with them. What are you going to do — play the hero and rescue her from their clutches ?" "Nonsense. The girl is nothing to me, except as the symbol of a great idea. It stirs my blood. I 'm going to join the Socialist Club." "Of which the fair Barbara is secretary." " Come with me, and join too. We 'll go together to every meeting." "Have you gone mad?" Elena asked, with deep seriousness. "I 'm in dead earnest." "And you think your father will stand for it ?" "That remains to be seen. I 'm going to tackle him as soon as he comes down to breakfast." "Well, if I n...