"Whoever it was will find the bird flown," she said to herself.
"Perhaps I was mistaken, though, and only imagined I heard somebody."

A glance at the little watch pinned to her blouse told her that she had
not much time to lose. She did not wish to keep Dermot waiting, for she
knew he would be in a fever of anxiety until she made her appearance.

"I hope he has managed to get off safely," she thought. "It must be
more difficult to leave a large dormitory than a small bedroom; still,
I don't suppose any of the other boys would try to stop him, or would
tell afterwards."

She had now reached the playing-fields, and she climbed over the fence
that separated them from a neighbouring pasture. A few hundred yards,
and a stile brought her to a path along the cliffs that led to the
bathing-place.

Dermot was first at the tryst. Even before Honor began to descend the
flight of steps she caught sight of his familiar figure on the beach
below. He was pacing impatiently up and down, glancing first one way
and then another, until at length he happened to look upwards in the
right direction, and saw her. He waved his hat, and came eagerly along
the shingle to meet her.

"All right, Dermot! I've brought you the sovereign!" she cried, anxious
to relieve his mind at once.

"Really? Oh, I say, Sis, it is good of you!"

There was no long line of grinning schoolboys to jeer, nor sedate
Chaddites to disapprove, so Honor hugged her brother this time to her
heart's content. It seemed so delightful to see him again that she
almost forgot for the moment upon what errand she had come, only
realizing that he was there, and that she had him all to herself. The
remembrance of his trouble, however, quickly returned to her.

"Come and tell me everything," she said, drawing him towards the
bathing-hut. "We can sit on these steps and talk."

"I was rather doubtful whether my letter had reached you," began
Dermot; "I'd to settle with the janitor, and at first he said that the
College was so strictly kept, it would be quite impossible. Afterwards
he gave way and said he'd try, but I couldn't see him again to ask if
he'd really managed the affair; I had just to come to the cove on
chance. I can tell you I was glad when I saw you coming down the rocks.
Oh, Honor, I've got myself into the most awful mess!"

"How is it? I don't understand. Who is this Blake?"

"He has a place in Dunscar, a kind of second-rate veterinary surgeon's
business; a