"Then," said Constance to the black mood which still held her, "it's a clear call for me, I guess. Talk about Joan of Arc and the Voices! I don't know how I shall live through the danger zone but it may not prove any worse than black bears."
However there wasn't a black bear anywhere near Constance when word came one late afternoon some seven or eight weeks later that her application had been accepted, and that she was to report in New York a fortnight hence. And there hadn't been a black bear for two weeks.
During the intervals between the black bear's attacks Constance managed to keep very cheerful. Therefore the announcement that the way lay open for her to go to France, coming when it did, appeared less like an avenue of escape. It appeared rather as a trap which dismayed and alarmed her when she found it had actually snapped on her. The summons arrived by special delivery, just as she was dressing for a dinner-and-theater-party. It was brought to her on a silver tray by a white-capped-and-cuffed maid, in slate-gray alpaca, and a ruffled white apron. It spoiled the theater-party for Constance. It spoiled even the pleasure she was taking in getting ready for it. She was sitting, bare-shouldered, before a silver-laden dressing-table, when she
