ed, casually, if he had a waterproof or an
umbrella. He would soon appear, probably, and, as men were always
hungry, she turned her attention to hunting up food and coffee for a
breakfast. These were easily found. Having started a fire and set the
table for two, she got the coffee under way. Crackers, boiled eggs,
sardines, marmalade, cold ham, and apples were to appear at this repast.

But at ten o'clock Mr. Boyd had not appeared. At half-past ten she
realized the folly of waiting indefinitely for a man who preferred his
bed to his breakfast, and she sat down alone. In the midst of her meal,
however, she heard Solomon scratching at the door. No sooner had he
entered--dripping with rain--than he began the same pantomime of
entreaty as that of yesterday when he tried to get somebody to follow
him. Now, perhaps his master was in trouble.

But Elinor remembered what Mr. Boyd himself had said, "He has probably
found a woodchuck or a squirrel track."

Looking out into the driving rain she decided to take the benefit of the
doubt. But Solomon was persistent; so aggressively persistent that in
the end he became convincing. At last she put on her waterproof and
plunged forth into the tempest, the overjoyed dog capering wildly in
front. Straight into the woods he led her.

Only a short distance had they travelled among the pines when she
stopped, with a new fear, at the sound of voices. Two men, she thought,
were quarrelling. Then a moment later, she heard the fragment of a song.
After listening more attentively she decided that the voice of Mr. Boyd
was the only one she heard. But was he intoxicated? All she caught was a
senseless, almost incoherent flow of language, with laughable attempts
at singing. At this, Elinor was on the point of turning back, prompted
both by terror and disgust, when Solomon, with increasing vehemence,
renewed his exhortations. She yielded, and a few steps farther the sight
of Pats lying upon the ground at the foot of a gigantic pine, his valise
beside him, its contents, now soaked with rain and scattered about,
brought a twinge of remorse.

So he had done this rather than oppose her ideas of propriety! And
yesterday, when he spoke of another house, she, in her heart, had not
believed him.

All scruples regarding intoxication were dismissed. She hastened forward
and knelt beside him. Pats, with feverish face, lay on his back in wild
delirium. The pine-needles that formed his bed were soggy with r