several good
reasons for not expressing myself in that manner. Ellen's one, and
Mrs. Sinclair's another, and then I'm really a very well behaved young
woman anyway, and I'm going to be a lady some day, and it might not be
well to have such dark places in my past."

Sandy laughed rather forcedly. "It'll be time enough for me to yell,
when I've got something to yell about," he said. "'Don't holler till
you're out of the bush,' is a good old adage. And I'm a long way from
being out of it yet."

"What do you mean?" asked Christina in alarm.

"I was talking things over with John last night, and we're afraid we
can't manage for me to go this year. Allister lost some money in real
estate last month, and can't be depended on to help John as much as he
expected. I've almost decided to go down and see Mitchell about the
Anondell school. They wrote yesterday asking me to take it again."

"Oh, _Sandy_! Oh!" Christina's tone was full of unbelieving dismay.
"I can't believe it. Surely,--oh, John won't let you stay! Something
can be done surely----"

"Oh, of course John wants me to go and he'd manage somehow. But I
won't let him. It would cut Neil short too. It's no use making a row
over it," he concluded stoically. "It just can't be helped."

But Christina was inconsolable. It required a great deal of explaining
to convince her that it was not all an evil dream. She just couldn't
and wouldn't believe it. It was harder to bear Sandy's disappointment
than if it had been her own. He found he had to undertake the role of
comforter and try to convince her it was not such a disaster after all.
There was no use making a row over what couldn't be helped, he repeated
again and again. She would catch up to him in the year she would have
at school, and who knew but they might enter college together.

But Christina could only sit and stare in silence down the orchard
aisle to where the sun was glowing, richly purple, on the last uncut
clover field. The glory had departed from the morning, and the glory
had departed too, from the road to success which she and Sandy were to
have taken together. For she alone realised what a bitter
disappointment this was to Sandy. He would never complain, she well
knew, nor indulge in self-pity, but she did know that there was grave
danger of his throwing away the hope of a University education
altogether, and going into business or perhaps back to the farm. For
if he did not start