g for a Westbound train, lay upon the grass,
surrounded by their tired children, and she had sent Millicent down the
street to buy fruit to distribute among the travellers; she liked to
watch the French Canadian girls who slipped quietly up the broad
cathedral steps. They were the daughters of the rank and file, but
their movements were graceful and they were tastefully dressed. Then
the blue-shirted, sinewy men, who strolled past, smoking, roused her
curiosity. They had not acquired their free, springy stride in the
cities; these were adventurers who had met with strange experiences in
the frozen North and the lonely West. Some of them had hard faces and
a predatory air, but that added to their interest. Margaret Keith
liked to watch them all and speculate about their mode of life; that
pleasure could still be enjoyed, though as she sometimes told herself
with humorous resignation, she could no longer take a very active part
in things.

By and by, however, something that appealed to her in a more direct and
personal way occurred, for a man came down the steps of the _Windsor_
and crossed the well-lighted street with a very pretty English girl.
He carried himself well and had the look of a soldier, his figure was
finely proportioned, but his handsome face suggested sensibility rather
than decision of character and his eyes were dreamy. His companion, so
far as Mrs. Keith could judge by her smiling glance as she laid her
hand upon his arm when they left the sidewalk, was proud of and much in
love with him.

"Whom are you looking at so hard?" Mrs. Ashborne inquired.

"Bertram Challoner and his bride," said Mrs. Keith. "They're coming
towards us yonder."

Then a curious thing happened, for a man who was crossing the street
seemed to see the Challoners and, turning suddenly, stepped back behind
a passing cab. They had their backs to him when he went on, but he
looked round, as if to make sure he had not been observed before he
entered the hotel.

"That was strange," said Mrs. Ashborne. "It looked as if the fellow
didn't want to meet our friends. Who can he be?"

"How can I tell?" Mrs. Keith rejoined. "I think I've seen him
somewhere, but that's all I know."

Looking round as Millicent joined them, she noticed her puzzled
expression. The girl had obviously seen the stranger's action, but
Mrs. Keith did not wish to pursue the subject then. Next moment
Challoner came up and greeted her heartily, while his