istaken in more ways than one."

He had passed the Railway Station without being aware of it, and arrived
in sight of Rilla gate, when he halted the third time. "A man must
decide for himself, o' course, when it comes to the point. Still, in
certain cases there's others to be considered. . . . If I knew how far
she meant it! . . . She must ha' meant something." Yes, he felt the
clutch on his biceps again and the small hand trembling under his large
enfolding one. "She _must_ ha' meant something. Not, to be sure, that
it would seriously influence his decisions! But it seemed hardly fair
not to consult her. . . . He would get her opinion, for what it was
worth, not betraying himself. In advising him she might go--well,
either a little further or a little backward. . . . Yet, once again, she
_must_ have meant something; and it wasn't fair, if she meant anything
at all, to let old 'Bias go on dwelling in a fool's Paradise. Yes,
certainly--for 'Bias's sake--there ought to be some clear understanding,
and the sooner the better. . . ."

By the time Cai pressed the hasp of the gate, he had arrived at viewing
himself as a man launched by his own strong will on a necessary errand,
and carrying it through against inclination, for the sake of a friend.

"I hope it won't be a blow to him, whichever way it turns out," was the
thought in Cai's mind as he knocked on the front door.

Dinah answered his knock: and, as she opened, Dinah could not repress a
small start, which she hid, almost on the instant, under a demure smile
of welcome.

"Captain Hocken? . . . Oh, yes! the mistress was within at this moment
and entertaining a visitor. . . . Oh, indeed, no! there was no reason at
all"--she turned, quick about, and he found himself following her and
found himself, before he could protest, at the parlour door, which she
flung open, announcing--

"Captain Hocken to see you, ma'am!"

Mrs Bosenna, seated at the head of her polished mahogany table and
engaged upon a game of "spillikins"--which is a solitary trial of
skill, and consists in lifting, one by one, with a delicate ivory hook a
mass of small ivory pieces tangled as intricately as the bones in a
kingfisher's nest--showed no more than a pretty surprise at the
intrusion. She had, in fact, seen Captain Hocken pass the window some
moments before; and it had not caused her to joggle the tiny ivory hook
for a moment or to miss a moment's precision. What native quickness d