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All-In-One / CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide /
Meyers / 951-X / Front Matter
Blind Folio ii

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Meyers is the industry’s leading authority on CompTIA A+

and CompTIA

Network+ certifications. He is the president and founder of Total

Seminars, LLC, a

major provider of computer and network repair seminars for

thousands of organizations

throughout the world, and a member of CompTIA.

Mike has written numerous popular textbooks, including the best-

selling Mike Mey-

ers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing & Troubleshooting PCs and

Mike Meyers’ CompTIA

Network+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks.

About the Contributor

Scott Jernigan wields a mighty red pen as Editor in Chief for Total
Seminars. With a

Master of Arts degree in Medieval History, Scott feels as much at

home in the musty

archives of London as he does in the crisp IPS glow of Total

Seminars’ Houston HQ.

After fleeing a purely academic life, he dove headfirst into IT, working
as an instructor,

editor, and writer.

Scott has written, edited, and contributed to dozens of books on
computer literacy,

hardware, operating systems, networking, and certification, including

Computer

Literacy—Your Ticket to IC3 Certification, and co-authoring with Mike

Meyers the All-in-

One CompTIA Strata® IT Fundamentals Exam Guide.

Scott has taught computer classes all over the United States,
including stints at the

United Nations in New York and the FBI Academy in Quantico.

Practicing what he

preaches, Scott is a CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ certified

technician, a Mi-

crosoft Certified Professional, a Microsoft Office User Specialist, and

Certiport Internet

and Computing Core Certified.

About the Technical Editor

Chris Crayton (CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, MCSE) is an

author, editor, tech-

nical consultant, and trainer. Chris has worked as a computer

technology and network-

ing instructor, information security director, network administrator,

network engineer,

and PC specialist. Chris has authored several print and online books
on PC Repair,
CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+, and Microsoft Windows. Chris has
served as tech-

nical editor on numerous professional technical titles for leading

publishing companies,

including the CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide, the CompTIA A+

Certification Study

Guide, and the Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Certification Passport.

[Link] 2

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All-In-One / CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide /

Meyers / 951-X / Front Matter

Blind Folio iii

ALL ■ IN ■ ONE

CompTIA A+®

Certification

EXAMGUIDE

Ninth Edition

(Exam 220-901 & 220-902)

Mike Meyers

New York • Chicago • San Francisco

Athens • London • Madrid • Mexico City

Milan • New Delhi • Singapore • Sydney • Toronto

McGraw-Hill Education is an independent entity from CompTIA®.
This publication and CD-ROM may be used in assisting

students to prepare for the CompTIA A+ exams. Neither CompTIA

nor McGraw-Hill Education warrants that use of this

publication and CD-ROM will ensure passing any exam. CompTIA and
CompTIA A+ are trademarks or registered trademarks

of CompTIA in the United States and/or other countries. All other

trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.

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Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of

Congress

McGraw-Hill Education books are available at special quantity

discounts to use as premiums and sales

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representative, please visit the Contact Us

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CompTIA A+® Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Ninth

Edition (Exams 220-901 & 220-902)

Copyright © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.
Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this
publication may be reproduced or

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All-In-One / CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide /

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To my grandson, Stephen Meyers Kelly.

Can’t wait to dismantle our first system together!

[Link] 5

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All-In-One / CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide /

Meyers / 951-X / Front Matter

Blind Folio vi

Becoming a CompTIA Certified

IT Professional Is Easy

It’s also the best way to reach greater professional opportunities and
rewards.

Why Get CompTIA Certified?

Growing Demand
Labor estimates predict some technology fields will experience
growth of more than 20%

by the year 2020. (Source: CompTIA 9th Annual Information Security

Trends study:

500 U.S. IT and Business Executives Responsible for Security.)

CompTIA certification

qualifies the skills required to join this workforce.

Higher Salaries

IT professionals with certifications on their resume command better

jobs, earn higher

salaries, and have more doors open to new multi-industry

opportunities.

Verified Strengths

91% of hiring managers indicate CompTIA certifications are valuable

in validating IT exper-

tise, making certification the best way to demonstrate your

competency and knowledge to

employers. (Source: CompTIA Employer Perceptions of IT Training

and Certification.)

Universal Skills

CompTIA certifications are vendor neutral—which means that

certified professionals can pro-

ficiently work with an extensive variety of hardware and software

found in most organizations.
[Link] 6

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All-In-One / CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide /

Meyers / 951-X / Front Matter

Blind Folio vii

Learn more about what

Purchase a voucher at a

Congratulations on your

the exam covers by

Pearson VUE testing center

CompTIA certification!

reviewing the following:

or at [Link].

• Make sure to add your

• Exam objectives for

• Register for your exam at a

certification to your resume.

key study points.

Pearson VUE testing center.

• Check out the CompTIA

• Sample questions for a general

• Visit [Link]/CompTIA to

Certification Roadmap to plan

overview of what to expect

find the closest testing center to you.

your next career move.

on the exam and examples

of question format.

• Schedule the exam online. You will

be required to enter your voucher

• Visit online forums, like LinkedIn, to

number or provide payment

see what other IT professionals say

information at registration.

about CompTIA exams.

• Take your certification exam.

Learn More: [Link]/aplus

CompTIA Disclaimer

© 2015 CompTIA Properties, LLC, used under license by CompTIA

Certifications,
LLC. All rights reserved. All certification programs and education
related to such pro-

grams are operated exclusively by CompTIA Certifications, LLC.

CompTIA is a regis-

tered trademark of CompTIA Properties, LLC in the U.S. and

internationally. Other

brands and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks or

service marks of

CompTIA Properties, LLC or of their respective owners. Reproduction

or dissemination

of this courseware sheet is prohibited without written consent of

CompTIA Properties,

LLC. Printed in the U.S. 02190-Nov2015

[Link] 7

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CertPrs8 / OCA Java SE 7 Programmer I Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-803)

/ Finegan & Liguori / 942-1 / Front Matter / Blind Folio

CertPrs8 / OCA Java SE 7 Programmer I Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-803)

/ Finegan & Liguori / 942-1 / Front Matter / Blind Folio iii

ii

This page is intentionally left blank to match the printed book.

[Link] 2

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All-In-One / CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide /
Meyers / 951-X / Front Matter

CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

Chapter 1

The Path of the PC Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..............1

Chapter 2

Operational Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 3

The Visible Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Chapter 4

Microprocessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Chapter 5

RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Chapter 6

BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Chapter 7
Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Chapter 8

Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Chapter 9

Hard Drive Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Chapter 10 Implementing Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Chapter 11 Essential Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Chapter 12 Building a PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Chapter 13 Windows Under the Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Chapter 14 Users, Groups, and Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Chapter 15 Maintaining and Optimizing Operating Systems . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . 613

Chapter 16 Working with the Command-Line Interface . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

Chapter 17 Troubleshooting Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Chapter 18 Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759

Chapter 19 Display Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797

Chapter 20 Essentials of Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859

Chapter 21 Local Area Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895

Chapter 22 Wireless Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945

Chapter 23 The Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983

Chapter 24 Portable Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1045

Chapter 25 Understanding Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1099

Chapter 26 Care and Feeding of Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1147

ix

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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

x

Chapter 27 Printers and Multifunction Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179

Chapter 28 Securing Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1231

Appendix A Mapping to the CompTIA A+ Objectives . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1289

Appendix B About the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1331

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1335

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1419

[Link] 10

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. xxix

Chapter 1

The Path of the PC Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

......1
CompTIA A+ Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3

Who Is CompTIA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The Path to Other Certifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CompTIA A+ Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5

Windows-Centric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Windows 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Exam 220–901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Exam 220-902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Path to Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9

Finding a Testing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Exam Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

How to Pass the CompTIA A+ Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14

Chapter Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 16

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Chapter 2
Operational Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 19

902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 19

The Professional Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. 19

Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Traits of a Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Effective Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25

Assertive Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Respectful Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Eliciting Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Expectations and Follow-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Tools of the Trade and Personal Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. 30

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Antistatic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Personal Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Physical Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Troubleshooting Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

xi

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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

xii

Chapter Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 44

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Chapter 3

The Visible Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . 47

Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48

The Computing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

48

The Computing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Why the Process Matters to Techs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Breaking It Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 56

Computing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56

902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 60

Computing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 60

Common Operating System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

User Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

File Structures and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

The Tech Launch Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 3 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 92

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Chapter 4

Microprocessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95
CPU Core Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95

The Man in the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Back to the External Data Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 106

Memory and RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Address Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 112

Modern CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 112

Developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Selecting and Installing CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

129

Selecting a CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Troubleshooting CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
141

Symptoms of Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Catastrophic Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 143

Intel Core M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

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Chapter Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 144

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Chapter 5

RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
148

Understanding DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
148

Organizing DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Practical DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

DRAM Sticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Consumer RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Types of RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 153

SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

RDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 155

DDR SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

DDR2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

DDR2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

DDR3L/DDR3U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

DDR4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

RAM Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Working with RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

164

Do You Need More RAM? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Getting the Right RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Installing DIMMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Installing SO-DIMMs in Laptops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Troubleshooting RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
178

Testing RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Chapter Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 181

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Chapter 6

BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 185

We Need to Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 185

Talking to the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

CMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 194

Modify CMOS: The Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Typical CMOS Setup Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Option ROM and Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

211

Option ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

BIOS, BIOS, Everywhere! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

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Power-On Self Test (POST) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

214

Before and During the Video Test: The Beep Codes . . . . . . . 214

Text Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

POST Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

The Boot Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Care and Feeding of BIOS and CMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

218

Default/Optimized Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Clearing CMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Losing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Flashing the ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Chapter Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 222

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Chapter 7
Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 227

Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
228

How Motherboards Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

228

Form Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 231

Chipset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Motherboard Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Expansion Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 240

Structure and Function of the Expansion Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

AGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

PCI-X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Mini-PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

PCI Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Installing Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Troubleshooting Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Upgrading and Installing Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

259
Choosing the Motherboard and Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Installing the Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Troubleshooting Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
265

Symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Chapter Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 269

Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Chapter 8

Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 273

Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
274

Understanding Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
274

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 276

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Powering the PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 276

Supplying AC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 280

901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 285

Supplying DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Installing and Maintaining Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

297

Installing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Troubleshooting Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

305

No Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

When Power Supplies Die Slowly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Fuses and Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
wish to see a girl I told her I admire. But—I count more than I dare
say on the result. I want to give her a chance to practice what she
preaches!”
“Well,” said Grace, searching his eyes with a long gaze, “I’ll go since
you insist, but I think it’s foolish. It’s the most ridiculous thing I ever
heard of! But she can’t do more than murder me.”
“She can’t do more than approve of you!” he cried and ordered Craig
to drive to Miss Reynolds’s.

III
Mrs. Trenton was immediately visible, writing at a small table in the
living room, when they were ushered into the reception parlor. She
wore a pair of shell-rimmed library glasses, and it occurred to Grace
that the blank stare that had been so disconcerting the previous
night was probably attributable to some defect of vision. She did not
lift her head when the maid spoke to her but nodded and went on
writing for several minutes. Then she laid aside the glasses and
walked unhurriedly to the door.
“Ah, Ward, back again!”
“I believe you’ve met Miss Durland, May,” said Trenton.
“Yes; of course,” she replied with a smile of recognition that faded
instantly. “It’s nice of you to come, Miss Durland. I didn’t know last
night that you were acquainted with Mr. Trenton. Dear Miss Reynolds
didn’t mention it or I should, of course——”
She broke off in her odd way, her gaze wandering. Her indifference
was an achievement in itself, a masterly thing. She wore a blue
house gown of an exquisite simplicity. A string of crystal beads hung
about her neck and she put her hand to them frequently as though
to make sure they were there. As she sank into a chair her long
figure relaxed into graceful lines. She was much more composed
than at the dinner, with a languorous composure that might have
been donned for the occasion like a garment. She reminded Grace of
those portraits of women done by fashionable painters which satisfy
the artistic sense without conveying a sense of reality.
“You forget, May, that I haven’t met Miss Reynolds,” Trenton
remarked to her; but she ignored him.
“You are—what do you say—a Hoosier, Miss Durland?” she asked,
her gaze falling as if by chance upon Grace.
“Oh, yes, I’m a native.” Grace answered with a faint smile; but her
courage was ebbing. She hated Mrs. Trenton. She tried to think of
something amusing to add to her confession that she was a native
Indianian but the atmosphere of the room was not conducive to
brilliancy. To make conversation Trenton reminded his wife that they
had once met a certain senator from Indiana at White Sulphur
Springs.
A “yes” charged with all the apathy that can be conveyed by the
rising inflexion, was the only reply that was evoked by this attempt
to link Indiana to large affairs of state. Trenton asked Grace whether
Indiana had ever produced more than one president, and she tried
to ease her discomfiture by replying that the state had rather
specialized in vice-presidents.
“Oh, that!” remarked Mrs. Trenton. “How very droll! I suppose the
Indiana school teacher has a frightful time instilling in the young
Hoosier mind the names of all your vice-presidents. Do they pay
teachers well in Indiana?”
“Not so well as farther West, I believe,” Grace answered; “but I
know little about it.”
“That’s the next thing I’m going to take up. I’m having data collected
now,” Mrs. Trenton said with more spirit than she had before
manifested.
“That’s fine, May,” said Trenton cordially. “That’s a work worth
doing.”
“You’d really approve of that, Ward?” she asked. “You haven’t always
been so indulgent of my whims.”
Grace, increasingly uncomfortable, started when Mrs. Trenton
addressed her directly.
“Miss Durland, if you see too much of Mr. Trenton you will find him a
singularly unreasonable person. But,” with a shrug, “all men have
the ancient conceit of their sex superiority.”
She had drawled the “if you see too much” in a manner to give the
phrase a peculiar insinuating emphasis. Grace caught its significance
at once and her cheeks burned; but she was less angry at the
woman than at Trenton, whose face betrayed no resentment. She
rose and walked to the door.
“Dear me, don’t run away!” Mrs. Trenton exclaimed. “Miss Reynolds
will be back shortly. She was called away to some hospital—I think it
was—to see a friend. Do wait. There will be tea, I think.”
Trenton was on his feet. No man’s mind is ever quite so agile or
discerning as a woman’s. He had just caught up with the phrase that
had angered Grace.
“I have kept my word,” he said, rising and addressing his wife
directly. “When I promised you that if I ever met a woman I felt I
could care for I would tell you, I was in earnest. At your own
suggestion and in perfect good faith I asked Miss Durland to come
here.”
“My dear Ward! You were always a man of your word!” she said with
a hint of mockery in her voice. “I assure you that I’m delighted to
meet Miss Durland. She’s very charming, really.”
“I don’t intend that you shall forget yourself!” he said sharply. “Your
conduct since you came into this room has been contemptible!”
“I’m most contrite! Do forgive me, Miss Durland.”
She lay back in her chair in a pose of exaggerated ease and lazily
turned her head to look at Grace.
“I assume,” she said, “that you are my chosen successor, and I can’t
complain of my husband’s taste. You are very handsome and I can
see how your youth would appeal to him, but—there are things I
must consider. Please wait”—Grace had laid her hand on the door,
—“I may as well say it all now. I’ve probably led Ward to think that if
such an emergency as this arose I’d free him and bid him Godspeed.
But, you see, confronted with the fact, I find it necessary to think a
little of myself. One must, you know, and I’m horribly selfish. It
would never do to give my critics a chance to take a fling at me as a
woman whose marriage is a failure. You can see for yourself, Miss
Durland, how my position would be weakened if I were a divorcee.
Much as I hate to disappoint you—it would never do—really it would
not!”
“Just what are you assuming, Mrs. Trenton?” demanded Grace,
meeting the gaze of the older woman.
“We needn’t discuss that now!” interrupted Trenton peremptorily.
“No; I suppose you’d have to confer privately with Miss Durland
before reaching a conclusion. But, I suggest, Miss Durland, for the
sake of your own happiness, that you avoid, if, indeed, the warning
isn’t too late, forming any—what do we call such—”
“That will do! Stop right there!” Trenton interrupted.
Grace had swung round from the door, and stood, her lips parted
and with something of the look of an angry, hurt child in her eyes. It
seemed to her that she was an unwilling eavesdropper, hearing
words not intended for her ears, but without the power to escape.
Then she heard Trenton’s voice.
“You’d better go, Grace,” he said quietly. “Craig is waiting. He will
take you home.”
Grace closed the door after her and paused in the dim hall. A
nightmare numbness had seized her; and she found herself
wondering whether she could reach the outer door; it seemed
remote, unattainable. She steadied herself against the newel,
remembering an accident in childhood that had left her dazed and
nauseated. Trenton had told her to go; at his wife’s bidding he was
sending her away and it wasn’t necessary for him to dismiss her like
that!
She felt herself precipitated into a measureless oblivion; nothing
good or beautiful ever had been or would be. He had told her to go;
that was all; and like a grieved and heartbroken child she resented
being sent away. In her distress she was incapable of crediting him
with the kindness that had prompted him to bid her leave.
She was startled by a quick step on the walk outside, followed by
the click of the lock, and the door, flung open, revealed Miss
Reynolds.
“Why, Grace, I had no idea—why, child! What’s the matter? You’re as
white as a sheet!”
“I must go,” said Grace in a whisper, withdrawing the hand Miss
Reynolds had clasped. The door remained open and the world, a
fantastically distorted world, lay outside. With slow steps she passed
her bewildered friend, saying in the tone of one muttering in an
unhappy dream:
“I must go! He told me to go.”
“He—who?”
The astonished Miss Reynolds, who at first thought Grace was
playing a joke of some kind, watched her pass slowly down the walk
to the gate and enter the waiting car. She went out upon the steps,
uncertain what to do and caught a last glimpse of Grace’s face, her
eyes set straight ahead, as the machine bore her away.

IV
The thought of remaining at home was unbearable, and after supper
Grace telephoned Irene to ask whether she was free for the evening.
“Tommy said something about taking a drive and I’m going over to
Minnie’s to meet him. You come right along. I saw Ward snatch you
out of the store. Pretty cool, I call it! Tommy said he was going back
East at seven, so you’re a widow once more!”
Grace left the house with her father, who was spending all his
evenings at Kemp’s plant. To all questions at home as to the
progress of his motor Durland replied that he guessed it would be all
right. On the street-car he told Grace he was anxious to see Trenton;
there were difficulties as to the motor that he wished to discuss with
him. He said he had written, asking an interview as soon as possible,
but that Trenton had not replied. Grace answered that she knew
nothing about him and her heart sank as she remembered that
Trenton was no longer a part of her life and that in the future he
would come and go and she would never be the wiser.
It was all over and she faced the task of convincing herself that her
love for him had been a delusion, a mere episode to be forgotten as
quickly as possible. She left her father at Washington street, cheerily
wishing him good luck, and took a car that ran past Minnie’s door.
Irene was alone and, in a new gown of coppergreen crepe that
enhanced the gold in her hair, might have posed as the spirit of
spring. Minnie had remained down town, she explained, and Tommy
was not expected until nine.
“What’s happened?” she demanded. “I know something’s doing or
you wouldn’t have called me up from home.”
Grace took off her coat, hung it over the back of a chair and flung
herself down on the couch.
“Console me a little, Irene,—but not too much—I’ve seen Ward for
the last time.”
“His wife make a row?” Irene inquired.
“Yes, he took me to see her and she——”
“He took you to see her! Grace Durland, what are you talking
about?”
“Just that!” and Grace, no longer able to restrain herself, burst into
tears.
“You poor baby!”
Irene jumped up and thrust a pillow back of Grace’s head and sat
down beside her. “Tell me about it if you want to, but not unless you
feel like it, honey.”
“I’ve simply got to tell you, Irene. Oh——!”
“Grace Durland, don’t be silly! You know I’d die for you!”
She listened in patient silence while Grace told with minute detail
and many tears the story of her interview with Mrs. Trenton.
“I loved him; I still love him, Irene!” she moaned pitifully when she
had finished. “And it had to end like that!”
“If you want my opinion,” said Irene judicially, “I’ll say that Ward
Trenton is a perfect nut—the final and consummate nut of the whole
nut family! The idea that he would take a girl like you—and you’re a
good deal of a kid, my dear—to call on a woman like that wife of his,
who’s an experienced worldly creature, and as much as tell her that
he’s in love with you! It’s the limit!”
“But,” said Grace, quick to defend the moment Trenton was
attacked, “he had every reason to believe she would be decent!
She’d always let him think that if there was any one else she’d—
she’d——”
“She’d hand him a transfer!” Irene laughed ironically. “Isn’t that just
like poor old Ward! I tell you men are even as little babes where
women are concerned. There isn’t a woman on earth who’d just
calmly sit by and let another woman walk off with her husband even
if she hated him like poison. It’s against nature, dearest. I can see
how that woman would make the bluff, all right, but all she wanted
was to see what you looked like and finding you young and beautiful
she tried to make you feel like a counterfeit nickel. The trouble with
Ward is that he’s so head over heels in love with you that he’s lost
his mind. I wonder what happened after you skipped! I’ll bet it was
some party! But don’t you believe he’s going to give you up—not
Ward! Everything’s going to straighten out, honey. His telling you to
go doesn’t mean a blessed thing! He just wanted to get you out of
the scrap.”
“It means the end,” said Grace with a sigh that lost itself in a sob.
The bell tinkled and Grace ran away to remove the traces of tears
from her face. When she reappeared Kemp greeted her with his
usual raillery.
“I had only a word with Ward over the telephone,” he said. “He
came out to see his wife and as he borrowed my limousine I guess
he showed her the village sights. But, of course, you know more
about that bird than I do, Grace. You couldn’t scare me up a drink,
could you, Irene? Minnie’s got some stuff of mine concealed here
somewhere. Just a spoonful—no? Grace, this girl is a cruel tyrant.
She positively refuses to let me die a drunkard’s happy death.”
He evidently wasn’t aware that Grace had seen Trenton and Irene
carefully kept the talk in safe channels. He had brought his roadster,
not knowing that he was to find Grace at Minnie’s, but he insisted
that the car carried three comfortably and he wouldn’t consider
leaving her behind.
It was the same car in which Trenton had driven her into town after
the night they spent together at The Shack. In spite of her attempts
to forget, thoughts of him filled her mind like an implacable host of
soldiery....
After a plunge into the country they swung back to town along the
river.
“By Jove!” exclaimed Kemp suddenly. “There’s my little factory over
there in the moonlight. Have you ever seen it, Grace? We’ll just dash
in for a minute.”
“I wonder if father’s still there?” said Grace as they drove into the
lighted yard.
“We’ll soon find out. That’s his workshop yonder where you see the
bluish lights. I see O’Reilly’s light on in the main office. That fellow
works too hard.”
“It’s a good thing somebody works around this place,” said Irene.
“The world knows you don’t.”
“Oh, it’s not as bad as that,” Kemp retorted, and led the way down a
long aisle of one of the steel and glass units of the big plant. The
moon diffused its mild radiance through the glass roof, as though
mocking with a superior mystery the silent inert machinery.
The sound of voices became audible in a room partitioned off in one
corner. The door was ajar and two men in overalls and jumpers were
pondering a motor set up on a testing block.
The trio remained outside, watching the two intent, rapt figures. One
Grace had recognized as her father; the other, she realized
bewilderedly, was Ward Trenton. Trenton, unconscious that he was
watched, raised his hand and Durland turned a switch. The hum of a
motor filled the room; and Durland turned slowly from the motor to
glance at Trenton. Trenton signalled to shut off the power and
dropped upon his knees, peering into the machine. Durland took up
a sheet of paper and from it answered the questions which Trenton
shot at him in rapid succession.
“Let’s have the power again,” said Trenton. He rose, bent his ear to
study the sound, turned to Durland and nodded.
“Let’s see what they’re up to,” said Kemp and shouted Trenton’s
name. Grace drew back as the two men turned toward them, but
Irene seized her arm.
“Don’t you dare run away!”
Trenton came toward them snatching off his blue mechanic’s cap.
There was a smudge across his face and his hands were black from
contact with the machinery.
“I didn’t really lie to you, Tommy: I meant to leave tonight but
remembered that Mr. Durland wanted to see me, so here I am.”
They followed him to the testing block where Durland had remained,
too engrossed to heed them.
“I’m glad you came just when you did,” said Trenton addressing all
of them but looking at Grace. “Mr. Durland will be ready to begin the
final tests tomorrow. I’m sure they’re going to be successful. I want
you to be here, Tommy, and see the thing through. Just look at this!”
He deftly lifted out a part of the motor for Kemp’s inspection,
restored it and then bent over the bench, rapidly scribbling notes on
the back of a blue print.
“Congratulations are now in order, I suppose,” said Kemp. He turned
and shook hands with Durland, who was regarding the motor with a
puzzled look on his face. Trenton said he would remain a while
longer—he might stay all night, he added with a laugh.
“This is too important to leave, so I’ve changed all my plans and will
be here two or three days.”
“When this bird works, he works,” said Kemp, laying his hand
affectionately on Trenton’s shoulder.
Trenton followed them out, keeping close to Grace. When they were
out of ear shot of her father—Durland apparently hadn’t noticed that
Grace was in the room—Trenton said:
“I called you at home this evening and found you’d gone out. I want
to see you; I must see you,” he said pleadingly.
Kemp had reached the main shop and was explaining to Irene some
of the points of the motor.
“Kemp!” Trenton called. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Nothing; I’m ready for anything.”
“Well, Grace and I would like to have dinner with you at The Shack.”
“A grand idea! Only remember—none of this prohibition stuff you
pulled on me Christmas. I cannot dine without my wine!” he
chanted.
When they reached the yard Kemp and Irene were waiting by the
car. Trenton caught Grace’s hand and whispered:
“Remember, I love you! I shall always love you.”
“No—no—” she began. “Oh this isn’t kind! I thought you had gone—
or——”
“Come along, Grace,” cried Kemp. “See you tomorrow, Ward. Good-
night and good luck!”
To Grace, on the homeward drive, peace seemed an unattainable
thing. She had firmly resolved never to see Trenton again; but she
had not only seen him but the sight of him had deepened the
hunger in her heart. She was without the will to deny him the
meeting for which he had asked. It was sweet to think that he had
remained if only to assist her father when he had definitely said that
he was leaving that night. Yes; there was kindness in this; and even
though he had sent her away from Miss Reynolds’s and wounded her
deeply in his manner of doing it, she knew that it was always his
wish to be kind and that no power could keep her from seeing him
again, if only for a last good-bye.
 CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I
As she dressed the next morning Grace hummed and whistled,
happy in the consciousness that before the day ended she would see
Trenton again. The romantic strain in her warmed and quickened at
the thought. Even if they were to part for all time and she should go
through life with his love only a memory, it would be a memory
precious and ineffaceable, that would sweeten and brighten all her
years.
In his workman’s garb, as she had seen him at Kemp’s, she idealized
him anew. If it had been his fate to remain a laborer, his skill would
have set him apart from his fellows. He could never have been other
than a man of mark. It was a compensation for anything she might
miss in her life to have known the love of such a man. She was
impatient with herself and sought the lowest depths of self-
abasement for having doubted him. She should never again question
his sincerity or his wisdom, but would abide by his decision in all
things.
When she reached the dining room her father was already gone, and
her mother seemed troubled about him.
“He was excited and nervous when he came home last night,” said
Mrs. Durland. “He hardly slept and he left an hour ago saying he’d
get a cup of coffee on his way through town. I’m afraid things
haven’t been going right with him. It would be a terrible blow if the
motor didn’t turn out as he expected.”
“Let’s just keep hoping, mother; that’s the only way,” Grace replied
cheerily. “They wouldn’t be wasting time on it at Kemp’s if there
wasn’t something in it.”
“I guess you’re right there,” interposed Ethel. “Kemp has the
reputation of being a cold-blooded proposition. And I suppose the
great Trenton values his own reputation too much to recommend
anything that hasn’t got money in it.”
“Poor foolish men will persist in going into business to make money,
not for fun,” Grace replied. “I suppose Gregg and Burley don’t sell
insurance just as a matter of philanthropy. Mr. Trenton would soon
be out of work if he didn’t have the confidence of the people who
hire him. I wouldn’t be so bitter if I were you.”
“I heard you rolling up in an automobile last night,” Ethel persisted.
“You seem to be getting the benefit of somebody’s money.”
“Ethel!” cried her mother despairingly.
“Let her rave,” replied Grace calmly. “When Mr. Burley drives Ethel
home from the office it’s an act of Christian kindness, but if I get a
lift it’s a sin.”
“Mr. Burley,” began Ethel, breathing heavily, “Mr. Burley is the very
soul of honor! He wanted to talk to me about some of the work in
our Sunday school and hadn’t time to discuss it in the office.”
“Don’t think for a minute I have any objection! If he was just
opening up a little flirtation it would be all right with me.”
“How dare you?” cried Ethel, beginning to cry.
“Please, Grace,” began Mrs. Durland, pausing on her way to the
kitchen with the coffee pot.
“All right, mother,” said Grace. “I resent just a little bit having Ethel
grab all the virtue in the family.”
“I’m not ashamed to tell who brings me home anyhow,” Ethel flung
at her.
“Neither, for that matter, am I! It was Mr. Thomas Ripley Kemp who
brought me home last night. He’d taken Irene and me for a drive.”
“So that was it! I thought I recognized the car. That Kemp! I
suppose he’s getting tired of Irene and is looking for another girl!”
“Well, dearie, he hasn’t said anything about it,” Grace replied. “But
you never can tell.”
“Girls! This must stop right here! We can’t have the day beginning
with a wrangle. You both ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
“I’m through, mother,” said Grace. “I didn’t start the row. I’ve
reached a place where Ethel doesn’t really worry me any more.”
“Well, you were always a tease and Ethel is sensitive. I do wish
you’d both exercise a little restraint.”
Grace found a brief note in the society column of the morning paper
recording Mrs. Trenton’s departure, and an editorial ridiculing her
opinions. Elsewhere there were interviews with a dozen prominent
men and women on Mrs. Trenton’s lecture, all expressing disapproval
of her ideas. A leading Socialist disavowed any sympathy with Mrs.
Trenton’s programme and denounced her “Clues to a New Social
Order” as a mere rehash of other books. He characterized her as a
woman of wealth who was merely seeking notoriety by parading
herself as a revolutionist and who would be sure to resist, with the
innate selfishness and greed of her class, any interference with her
personal comfort and ease.
Grace carried the newspaper with her to the trolley and on the way
down town reread these criticisms of Mrs. Trenton with keenest
satisfaction. Mrs. Trenton was not a great woman animated by a
passion of humanity but narrow, selfish and cruel. She thought again
of the encounter at Miss Reynolds’s with renewed sympathy for
Trenton. After all he had met the difficult situation in the only way
possible. He had said once that he didn’t understand his wife and
Grace consoled herself with the reflection that probably no one could
understand her, least of all, her husband.
In the course of the day Grace learned from Irene that Kemp, who
was on the entertainment committee for a large national convention,
had decided to ask several friends among the delegates to The
Shack.
“It won’t be a shocker, like some of Tommy’s parties, only a little
personal attention for a few of the old comrades,” said Irene. “You
and Ward can see as little of the rest of the bunch as you please.
Tommy has promised me solemnly to let booze alone. I suppose his
wife will never know how hard I’ve worked to keep him straight!
Ridiculous, isn’t it? Before that woman came back from California
Tommy hadn’t touched a drop for a month, and he’s been doing
wonderfully ever since. The good lady was so pleased with his
appearance and conduct that she beat it for New York last night to
buy clothes and by the time she gets back I’ll be ready to release my
mortgage on Tommy for good and all. I’ve broken the news to him
gently and he’s been awfully nice about it. This is really my last
appearance with Tommy—it’s understood on both sides. I wouldn’t
go at all if it were not for you and Ward.”
Grace envied Irene the ease with which she met situations. Irene’s
cynicism, she had decided, was only on the surface; she wished she
could be sure that she herself possessed the sound substratum of
character that Irene was revealing. Irene had sinned grievously
against the laws of God and man; but after disdaining those
influences that seek to safeguard society, and carrying her head
high, with a certain serene impudence in her wrong-doing, she now
appeared to be on good terms with her soul. It was a strange thing
that this could be—one of the most curious and baffling of all Grace’s
recent experiences. Face to face with the problem of her future
relations with Trenton, Grace was finding in Irene something akin to
a moral tonic. Irene, by a code of her own, did somehow manage to
cling fast to things reckoned fine and noble. Irene, in spite of herself,
had the soul of a virtuous woman.
It was to be a party of ten, Grace learned after Irene had conferred
with Kemp by telephone at the lunch hour. For the edification of the
three strange men Irene had provided three other girls who had, as
Irene said, some class and knew how to amuse tired business men
without becoming vulgar. Grace knew these young women—they
were variously employed down town—but she would never have
thought of asking them to “go on a party.”
“Not one of these girls makes less than two thousand a year,” Irene
announced loftily. “God preserve me from cheap stuff! It makes me
sick, Grace, to see these poor little fools who run around the streets,
all dolled up with enough paint on their faces to cover the state
house and not enough brains in their heads to make a croquette for
a sick mosquito. If it hadn’t been for all this silly rot about
emancipating women they’d be at home cooking and helping
mamma with the wash. As it is they draw twelve a week and spend
it all on clothes to advertise their sex. Do you know, Grace, I
sometimes shudder for the future of the human race!”

II
Jerry had been reinforced by a colored cateress and the country
supper produced at The Shack proved to be a sumptuous dinner.
Kemp had brought from his well-stocked cave on the farm the
ingredients for a certain cocktail, known by his name throughout the
corn-belt. The “Tommy Kemp” was immediately pronounced to be
the last word in cocktails,—a concoction which, one of the visitors
declared, completely annulled and set aside the Eighteenth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as an insolent
assault upon the personal liberty and the palate of man. Kemp was
in the gayest spirits; the party was wholly to his taste. The men he
entertained were conspicuously successful, and leaders in the
business and social life of their several cities. Irene had confided to
Grace that there were at least ten millions of good money
represented in the party.
The cocktails were served in the living room to the accompaniment
of much lively chatter. Grace found herself observing with interest
the readiness with which the young women who were strangers to
The Shack’s hospitality entered into the spirit of the occasion and
met on terms of familiar good fellowship the men they hadn’t seen
before. It helped her to forget her disappointment at the size of the
party to speculate about the men and the curious phase of human
nature that made it possible for gentlemen whose names were well
known throughout America, who looked as though they might pass
the plate in church every Sunday, to enter joyfully into the pleasures
of such a function. Irene had made no mistake in her choice of girls;
they were handsome; they looked well in their summer frocks; they
were lively and responsive; they were pastmistresses of the gentle
art of kidding. There was no question but that the visiting gentlemen
of wealth and social position enjoyed being kidded, and the fact that
some of them had daughters at home much older than the girls who
did the kidding in no wise mitigated their joy.
One of the gentlemen evidently preferred Grace to the girl who had
been assigned to him. Under the inspiration of his cocktail he told
Grace that he had long wished to meet her; that now they had met
he was resolved that they should never part again. Grace summoned
all her powers of flirtation and encouraged him, realizing that to
snub him would be to prove herself a poor sport; and she had heard
enough of parties from Irene to know that a girl must not when “on
a party” give cause for any suspicion that she is of the melancholy
tribe of kill-joys. She took a sip of the “Tommy Kemp” and handed it
to the gentleman who was so beguiled by her charms, who drained
the glass, murmuring ecstatically:
“To the most beautiful girl in the world!”
“Don’t let grandpa worry you,” whispered Irene. “Just tease him a
little and he’ll think he’s having the time of his life. We’re not
drinking—you and I. This is positively my last party! I’m going to
have my hands full keeping Tommy sober.”
Trenton was talking during the cocktailing period to one of the most
attractive of the girls, and when Grace glanced at him he smiled and
held up his unemptied glass and put it back on the tray. He was not
drinking, not even the single cocktail he usually permitted himself.
There was serious business before them; both must keep their
heads clear for it.
The dinner seemed endlessly long. Now and then Grace felt the
reassuring pressure of Trenton’s hand, but the gentleman on the
other side of her, under the mellowing influence of champagne piled
upon the “Tommy Kemps” he had imbibed, was making violent love
to her; and his elaborate tributes of adoration could not be wholly
ignored. Seeing that Trenton was talking little, Kemp, still sober,
thanks to Irene’s watchfulness, addressed him directly:
“I’ve got news for you, Ward. At five o’clock this afternoon I closed a
deal for Cummings’s plant. Bought Isaac Cummings’s controlling
interest and for better or worse the darned thing’s mine. Please,
everybody, drink to good luck!”
“We don’t know what it’s all about, but we’re for you, Tommy,” cried
one of the girls.
“I thought you said you’d never do it, Tommy,” said Trenton, smiling
at his friend and lifting his champagne glass, reversed as it had
stood on the table.
Kemp protested that this was bad luck and ordered Jerry to serve no
more food until every one had drunk to the success of the merger.
This brought them all to their feet with lifted glasses.
“Oh, king, live forever!” cried Irene.
“That’s something like it,” said Kemp. “I didn’t mention the matter
just to advertise my business. I wanted you to know, Grace, that it
gave me a special satisfaction on your account to see Cummings
pass out. It was a downright low trick he played on your father.
Things do sort o’ even up in this world and this struck quick and
hard. When Cummings threw your father out the business was ripe
for bankruptcy. Don’t let Ward scold me. He advised me against it.”
“I advised you against taking on new responsibilities,” Trenton
replied. “You’ve got enough on your hands now.”
“You think I’m a sick man,” said Kemp. “But I’m going to see you all
under the sod. I like this world and I’m going to live a hundred
years. Jerry, fill ’em up!”
There was more food than any one needed or wanted and when
Jerry began serving dessert Trenton suggested to Grace that they
leave the table. Their leaving evoked loud protests. Irene was now
furiously angry at Kemp, who had been unable to resist the lure of
the champagne, a vintage without duplicate in all America, he
declared.
The gentleman at Grace’s left, reduced to a maudlin state by his
host’s generous distribution of wine, loudly importuned her not to
go. Kemp announced his purpose to make a speech and was trying
to get upon his feet when Irene pulled him down. One of the visitors
began to sing and seized a candle from the table with which to beat
time. He was bawling, “He’s a jolly good fellow,” as Grace and
Trenton effected their escape.
They breathed deep of the clean country air when they reached the
long veranda at the side of the house.
“Poor Tommy; I suppose there’s no way of stopping him,” remarked
Trenton.
Both were aware of a new restraint the moment they were alone.
The still night was sweet with spring and the earth seemed subdued
by the mystery of green things growing.
Grace walked the length of the veranda, then back to the steps,
Trenton beside her. He was still troubled by a sense of responsibility
for Kemp. The discordant noises from the dining room followed them
and they debated whether they should try to break up the party but
decided against it.
“Let’s get away from the racket,” said Trenton. “When I suggested
coming out for supper it didn’t occur to me that Tommy would be
pulling off a bacchanalian feast. Tommy’s incorrigible—dear old
Tommy! But—we must talk. Shall we go up yonder where we can
look out over the river?”
The stars and an old moon that stared blandly across the heavens
made the path easily discernible. As they loitered along he spoke of
Kemp’s purchase of the Cummings concern.
“I did advise Tommy against it,” he said, “because of the additional
burdens he’ll have to carry. But it’s a good business stroke. He’s
wiped out an old competitor and with your father’s improvements on
Cummings’s motor Tommy’s going to be greatly strengthened.”
“I’ve been afraid,” said Grace, “that father’s ideas wouldn’t prove
practical. He’s seemed terribly worried lately.”
“Only the usual perplexities of a genius who’s worn out from long
application! He can breathe easy now. The motor’s going to be a
wonder. I was with your father all day and he’s attained every
excellence he claimed. You have every reason to be proud of him.”
“It’s all your kindness,” she murmured.
“Oh, not a bit of it! There’s no sentiment about mechanics. You’ve
either got it or you haven’t. And your father is sound on the
fundamentals where most inventors are weak.”
They sat down on a rustic bench on the bluff above the river and he
threw his overcoat across her knees. Above them towered a
sycamore; below they heard the murmur and ripple of running
water. He put his arm about her, drew her close and kissed her.
“I wish it were all true, as we can imagine it to be in this quiet place,
that we’re absolutely alone in the world—just ourselves.”
“But it isn’t true; we’ve just run away from the world for a little
while,” she said, “but I’m glad for this.”
She laid her hand on his and gently stroked it.
“I hope you understood why I didn’t go yesterday as I’d intended. I
couldn’t leave without explaining. I couldn’t have you think that I
took you to Miss Reynolds’s just to make you uncomfortable. It was
my mistake and a stupid blunder.”
“No; the mistake was mine,” she insisted. “I realized afterwards that
my first feeling was right, that it was foolish to go.”
“I was honest about it. Mrs. Trenton had led me to think that she
wouldn’t resent meeting any woman who promised to give me the
love and companionship it wasn’t in her power to give me. I took her
at her word. You understand that, don’t you?”
“You ought to have known, Ward, and so should I, that no woman
would ever have anything but hatred for another woman her
husband falls in love with.”
“But what I’ve given you she never had! I want you to believe me
when I say that I was really deceived by what I took to be her
wholly friendly attitude.”
“It doesn’t make the least difference now, Ward. I know you
wouldn’t have taken me to see her if you’d known what would
happen. I’ll never have any but the kindest thoughts of you. Please
believe that.”
She moved a little away from him and leaned back, her hands
relaxed in her lap.
“It’s all been a mistake—everything—from the beginning,” she went
on in a low voice.
“My loving you hasn’t been a mistake,” he said earnestly. “Nothing
has changed that or can ever change it.”
“You merely think that. If you didn’t see me for a while you’d forget
me,” she said, following unconsciously the ritual of unhappy lovers in
all times.
“No,” he gently protested. “That isn’t the way of it. You don’t really
think that. Please say that you don’t.”
His tone of pleading caused her to turn to him and fling her arms
about his neck.
“Oh, I love you so! I love you so!” she sobbed.
His face was wet with her tears. He took her again into his arms,
turning her face that he might kiss the tears away. Her whole body
shook with her convulsive sobs.
“Dearest little girl! Poor, dear little child!”
In the branches above a bird fluttered and cheeped as though
startled in its dreaming. She freed herself, sought her handkerchief
to dry her eyes. With the impotence of man before a woman’s grief
he sought to brush back a wisp of hair that had fallen across her
cheek and his hand trembled. Her face seemed to hover in the star
dusk; he saw the quiver of her lashes, the parted lips, felt for an
instant the throbbing pulse in her throat.
“I knew the end would come,” she said, with a deep sigh, “But I
didn’t know it would be like this. It’s been so dear, so wonderful! I
thought it would go on forever!”
Her gaze was upon the dark uneven line of the trees across the river
where they brushed the stars.
“But it isn’t the end, dear! A love like ours can’t die. It belongs to the
things of all time.”
“Please, Ward,” she said impatiently, drawing her cloak more tightly
about her shoulders. “Let’s not deceive ourselves any more. You
know we can’t go on,” she continued, as one who has reasoned
through a thing and reached an irrefutable conclusion. “It’s all been
like a dream; but dreams don’t last. And this should never have
begun!”
“You break my heart when you say things like that! As we’ve said so
many times—it all had to be!”
“We were fools to think it could last,” she said. “But it was more my
fault than yours. And you’ve been dear and kind—Oh, so beautifully
kind.”
“You’ve trusted me; you’ve proved that! You’ve never doubted—you
don’t doubt now that I love you!”
“Oh, it does no good to talk—let’s just be quiet—I do love you——”
“I must talk,” he replied stubbornly. “You are the dearest thing in the
world to me. I couldn’t foresee what happened. It’s only right you
should know what occurred after you left Miss Reynolds’s.”
“No! Please no! I have no right to know; and it can make no
difference. I knew it was all over when I left the house, but I did
want to see you once more——”
She was trying to be brave but the words faltered and died.
“I didn’t discuss you, try to explain you in any way. I only expressed
my indignation at the wholly unnecessary manner in which Mrs.
Trenton treated you, after encouraging me to believe that you would
be treated with every courtesy. I suppose it was jealousy that
prompted her to speak to you as she did. Miss Reynolds came in at
once. You must have met her—and I took leave after I’d tried to
cover up the fact that something disagreeable had happened. That
was all.”
“It was enough. There wasn’t a thing you could say. Mrs. Trenton
had every right on her side. I hope you’ll go back to her and tell her
that any feeling you had for me was just a mistake; make light of
the whole thing. Of course she loves you. If she didn’t she wouldn’t
be jealous. There’s nothing for you to do now but to make your
peace with her. Don’t trouble about me. I don’t want to stand in the
way of your happiness.”
“Grace,” he said, patient in spite of her strained petulant tone,
“there’s no question of love about it. We know we love each other;
but we’ve got to be sane about this.”
“Let’s not talk about it, Ward! You know as well as I do that we’ve
reached the end. And please, dear, don’t make it harder for me by
pretending it isn’t. I’m not a child, you know.”
“We’re not going to pretend anything, Grace, least of all we’re not
going to pretend that everything’s over when we know we couldn’t
forget if we wanted to. But we’ve got to have a care for a little while
at least, now that Mrs. Trenton knows just enough to arouse her
suspicions. I feel my responsibility about you very seriously. Please—
won’t you believe me when I say that it’s of you I’m thinking first?
We might go on seeing each other as we have been, or I might take
you away with me—I’ve thought of that; but I’ve thought too of the
danger. I can’t promise you that Mrs. Trenton wouldn’t spy upon us,
—do something that would drag you into the newspapers, make an
ugly mess. Her prominence would make attractive newspaper
material of you and me, too. I love you too dearly to take any
chances. Don’t you understand? Isn’t it better——”
“Oh, please stop, Ward! Don’t talk to me as though I were a child! It
all comes to the same thing, that we mustn’t see each other any
more. I knew it when I left Miss Reynolds’s yesterday. It would have
been better if we hadn’t come out here.”
“It won’t be forever,” he doggedly persisted. “In the end I’m going to
have you. I want you to remember that.”
“Ward, how perfectly foolish of you to talk that way! If we were to
go on as we have been we wouldn’t be happy. Let’s just
acknowledge that this is the last time.”
“No,” he protested. “It’s not going to be that way! You’ve lost your
courage and I can’t blame you for seeing things black. If I had only
myself to consider I’d run away with you tonight; but that would be
a despicable thing for me to do. I love you too much for that!”
The protestation of his love brought her no ease. She was half
angered by his stubborn refusal to face the truth, and his professed
belief that sometime in some way they were to be reunited. He was
trying to see the light of hope ahead where all was dark to her.
It was strange to be sitting there beside him, thinking already of
their love with all its intimacies, that had seemed to bind them
together forever, as something that had been swept into a past from
which, in a little while, memory would cease to recall it. This was
love! This was the thing that had been written of and sung of in all
the ages; and it was a lure contrived only to bruise and break and
destroy.
She touched the lowest depths of despair, snatched away her hand
when he tried to possess it; thought of him for an instant with
repulsion. The wistful tenderness of the night, the monotonous
ripple of water beneath, the very tranquillity of the stars seemed to
mock and taunt her.
He waited patiently, silent, impassive, as though he knew what she
was thinking and knew, too, that such thoughts were inevitable and
must run their course.
The silence fell upon her like a soothing hand. The tumultuous rush
of her thoughts ceased; she was amazed at the serenity with which
suddenly she viewed the situation.
He was finer than she, wiser, more far seeing. Something in his
figure, in his dimly etched profile in the faint starlight touched her
profoundly. It was selfish of her to forget that he too suffered. He
was a man she had given herself to without reservation, and with all
the honesty and fervor of her young heart, and to think harshly of
him was to acknowledge herself a shameless wanton, no better than
a girl on the street. She could not think ill of him without debasing
herself. And she did love him; she had loved him from the first, and
it was not the way of love to wound.
Perhaps he had been sincere in saying that he wished to protect her
—this was like him, and it was cruel of her to question his love, to
fail to help him when he sought with all kindness and consideration
to find some hope in the future. They must part and it might be for
the last time, but she would not send him away feeling that she had
not appreciated all that his love had been and would continue to be
to her. Without him, without some knowledge of his whereabouts
and activities and the assurance of his well-being, life would be
unbearable. She was all tenderness, all solicitude, wholly self-
forgetful, as she softly uttered his name.
“Ward!” her arms found their way round his shoulders. “I’m selfish,—
I was thinking that you taught me to love you only to thrust me
away. But I know better, dear. You are dearer to me than anything in
all the world—dearer than my life even and I know you mean to be
kind. I know you want to do the right thing for both of us.”
“Yes; yes!” he whispered eagerly and kissed her gently on lips and
eyes. “If we truly love each other there will be some way. It was not
of our ordering—any of this.”
“Yes, we must believe that, dear! There can never be any man for
me but you!”
“And no woman for me but you!”
They clung to each other, silent, fearing to utter even the reassuring
and consoling words that formed on their lips. Beyond the river a
train passed swiftly with a long blast of the locomotive.
They drew apart, listening till the whistle’s last echo and the rumble
of cars died away. Trenton sighed deeply. The disturbance had been
an unwelcome reminder of the energies of the world of men hidden
by the night. Grace was the first to speak.
“It’s been so dear to have this hour! But, we mustn’t meet again.
Please don’t ask me to see you—ever—not in any way. We’ll both be
happier if what we say tonight is final. We can’t just begin over
again and be friends. That would mean forgetfulness—and we can’t
forget. Please don’t write me. I’m going to be all right. I’ll be happy
just thinking of you. We’re both brave and strong and knowing that
will help—won’t it, dear?”
He knew that at the moment at least she was the braver and
stronger. He had nothing to add to what she had said. She rose and
took his face in her hands and kissed him gently, passionlessly;
passed her hands across his eyes, spoke his name softly. He neither
spoke nor responded to her caresses.
“Come, dear!”
She touched his arm lightly and started down the path. He waited a
moment before following.
She talked in a cheery tone of irrelevant things, laughed merrily
when she lost the path; and so they came back to the garden where
the lights of the house confronted them. At the veranda steps he
caught her suddenly in his arms.
“It can’t be like this! I’m not going to give you up! Tell me you
understand that it’s only for a little while——”
“We’re not going to talk about it any more—” she said without a
quaver—with even a little ring of confidence in her voice. But she
suffered his kiss, yielded for a moment to his embrace.
“I’ll love you always, always, always!” she said slowly.
“I’ll love you till I die!” he replied. They stood with hands clasped for
an instant, then she turned and ran into the house.

III
They had been gone more than an hour and the other members of
the party stared at them as though they were intruders. Two of the
men, not too befuddled by their potations to remember that they
were leaving town by a midnight train, were trying to convince Kemp
that it was time to go. Tommy was explaining elaborately that there
were plenty of trains; that if there was anything the city was proud
of it was the frequency with which trains departed for all points of
the compass.
Irene in her disgust with Kemp for exceeding the limits she had fixed
for his indulgence in the prized champagne had retired to the
kitchen to talk to Jerry. Hearing Trenton’s voice expostulating with
Tommy she appeared, and announced that she was going home.
One of the girls, overcome by champagne had retired and Irene
went upstairs to see what could be done to restore her.
“Ask Jerry for some black coffee, Grace, that will fix her,” said Irene.
She confided to Grace her indignation at the young woman for not
behaving herself; she was disappointed in her. A girl, she declared,
shouldn’t go on a party if she hadn’t any more sense than to get
drunk. However, she ministered to the young woman effectively and
kindly.
Trenton got the three visiting gentlemen and the young women who
had accompanied them into a machine and dispatched them to town
and resumed his efforts to persuade Kemp to go home. Kemp
wished to discuss with Trenton his business plans for the future. He
wanted Trenton to promise to move to Indianapolis immediately to
assist him in the management of his plant. Finding Trenton unwilling
to commit himself Kemp fixed his attention upon Irene. He became
tearful as he talked of Irene. She was the most beautiful girl in the
world, and she had brightened his life; he would always be grateful
to her. And now that she had grown tired of what he called their
little arrangement, he wanted her to be happy. He wished Trenton
and Grace to bear witness that he bore no hard feeling but wished
her well. If at any time Irene needed help of any kind it would break
his heart if she didn’t appeal to him.
Finding that the others were impatient at the delay these
deliverances were causing he assumed an injured air and bade them
take him home. They didn’t love him; nobody loved him. When
finally they got him out to the big touring car he insisted that he
would do the driving and this called for a long argument before he
was dissuaded. He refused to enter the car at all until the others
were settled in the back seat. He guessed he knew the demands of
hospitality! Craig roused his ire by attempting to help him in and he
waited till the chauffeur was seated and ready to start before he
would move. Then he adjusted one of the disappearing seats, got in
and began an ironical lecture on the instability of friendship. Some of
his remarks were amusing and they encouraged him to go on feeling
that so long as they manifested interest he would not revive the
question of driving to the various points he had proposed as
attractive places to run for breakfast. He announced suddenly that
he had always wanted to visit the Tippecanoe Battle Ground and
demanded an opinion from Craig as to how long it would take to
drive there. He was irritated because the chauffeur professed not to
know the route; he declared that he would get even with Craig for
lying to him.
He became quiet presently and Trenton tried to interest him in a
description of a mechanical stoker that had lately been put on the
market.
“I mus’ look into it,” said Kemp. “Awfu’ nice of you to tell me ’bout it,
Ward.”
Then before they knew what he was about he clutched the back of
the front seat and threw one leg over. He swayed toward the driver
and to steady himself grabbed the wheel.
Craig, believing Kemp wholly interested in Trenton’s talk, was caught
off guard. The car, which had been running swiftly over the smooth
road, swerved sharply and plunged into the deep drainage ditch that
paralleled the road. As the radiator struck the further side of the
ditch Kemp was thrown forward and his head crashed against the
windshield with terrific force.
The three passengers on the back seat were pitched violently to the
floor. Craig had shut off the motor instantly and jumped out, and
when Trenton joined him in the road he was tearing off the curtains.
“Get your flash, Craig,” Trenton said. But without waiting for the light
he thrust in his arms and lifted Kemp out. Irene and Grace had
crawled out and stood in the road clinging to each other and
hysterically demanding to know what had happened to Tommy.
Craig jerked out the seat cushions and Trenton laid Kemp upon
them. The flashlight showed Kemp’s face deathly white and smeared
with blood. Trenton was on his knees, his head against the stricken
man’s heart. He looked up with a startled awed look and shook his
head.
“God!” he said under his breath.
“Oh, Ward! Not that!” faltered Irene, “Not——”
“No—No! We must keep our heads! Craig! What’s the quickest way
of getting help?”
“Ward—Oh, Tommy, Tommy!” cried Irene, dropping on her knees
and taking Kemp’s head in her arms.
“Don’t Irene—don’t!” moaned Grace helplessly.
“There’s a house a quarter of a mile ahead where I can telephone,”
Craig said. “I know the farmer; you can rely on him.”
“Just a minute,” said Trenton, looking at his watch. “There are things
to consider. We’ve got to think of Tommy first of all. Craig, I can
count on you——?”
“Yes, certainly, sir. I’m afraid it was my fault; I ought to have been
watching. But I thought——”
“You were no more to blame than I was. We can’t discuss that now.
We’ve got to take care of this in a way that will protect Tommy, and
you girls mustn’t figure in it at all.”
“We understand all that; we’ll do anything you say, Ward,” sobbed
Irene.
“I’m trying to think of some one we can trust to help,” said Trenton.
“There will be many things to do immediately.”
“I wonder,” said Irene turning to Grace, “whether we could reach
John Moore.”
“There’s no one better!” Grace eagerly assented. “We could
telephone him at his boarding house.”
Trenton asked a few questions about Moore and began instructing
Craig as to the persons he was to call by telephone; first a physician,
who was also an intimate friend of the Kemps and two of Kemp’s
neighbors, well known to Trenton.
“Kemp and I had been to The Shack for dinner—alone—Jerry and
the cateress must be taken care of as to that. Tommy was driving
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