Now there was implied a new
comradeship as though they had passed through perils together and would
have always between them in the future a strong bond of friendship.

John felt that the atmosphere at this moment was so friendly and
comforting that he would not risk the disturbance of it.

He got up.

"Think I'll be going on, Roddy. Don't like leaving Adela alone. Rachel
will be on her way here now, so I'll be getting back."

He was staying with Adela at a quiet little hotel in Dover Street.

"Well, good-bye for the moment, Christopher. Adela'd be very glad if
you'd come in and see her. Come and have lunch with us to-morrow."

"Thanks, I will."

He stood, for a moment, looking out upon the park, warm and comfortable
under the sun. He thought of Rachel. He had regained the old Rachel the
other night at Beaminster--dear Rachel!

Rachel, Roddy, Christopher--how nice they all were! There was, he felt,
a new feeling of security amongst them all. Yes, he really _did_
believe that life, now, was going to be very comfortable and safe and
easy....

"So long, Roddy."

He beamed happily upon them and went.

Jacob, the dog, came in from his afternoon walk, very grave, paying no
attention to Christopher, but going at once and lying, full length, near
Roddy's sofa, his head between his paws, his eyes fixed upon his master.

"What's happened to all your other dogs?" asked Christopher. "They must
be missing you very badly."

"Oh, they're down at Seddon, got a jolly good man there whom I can
trust--don't think they miss me. _This_ beggar would though. Funny
thing, Christopher--when I was goin' about and all the rest of it I
thought nothin' of this dog, couldn't see why Rachel made such a fuss of
it--now--why I don't know how I'd ever get on without it, so
understandin' and quiet with it all too. Nothin' like a trouble of some
sort for showin' who's worth what, whether they're dogs or people...."

"I hope the funeral did Rachel no harm," Christopher said.

"Not a bit of it. She'd had a last interview with the old lady and knew,
after that, she'd never see her again. In a way she hasn't felt it, but
in a way too I believe she'd like to have all the old time over again
and see whether she couldn't manage it better ... she said to me she'd
never understood the old woman until that last talk with her, not that
there was much love lost between 'em even then. Was Breton there?"

"No--He scarcely could go, in the circumstanc