a moment, for he had escaped serious injury,
but the banker lay white and motionless on the pavement before Colonel
Dundas's door.

When the physician was asked to give his opinion some time later, he
expressed a belief that the patient would live, but he certainly would
not go to the war. In the meantime, he could not be moved. He must remain
where he was--in Dora's tender care.

And Dick was going to the war!

* * * * *

The bright morning sunlight was streaming in at the window of the
rector's study, sunlight which pitilessly showed up patches of
obliterated pattern in the carpet and sorry signs of wear in the leather
chairs. A glorious morning; one of those rare days which go to make the
magic of spring; a day when all the golden notes in the landscape become
articulate as they vibrate to the caress of the soft, warm air.

The rector was only dimly conscious of its rare beauty; for his face was
troubled as he paced his study, with head bent and hands behind his back.
Between his fingers was a letter which had sent the blood of shame
tingling to the roots of his hair, a letter that would also hurt his
wife--and this meant a great deal to John Swinton. He was an emotional,
demonstrative man, who loved his wife with all the force of his nature,
and he would have gone through fire and water for her dear sake, asking
no higher reward than a smile of gratitude.

The trouble was once more money--the bitterness of poverty, fresh-edged
and keen. He must again, as always, appeal to his wife for help, and she
would have to beg again from her father. The knowledge maddened him, for
he had endured all that a man may endure at the hands of Herresford.

The letter was short and emphatic:

SIR, I am requested by my client, Mr. Isaac Russ, to inform you
that if your son attempts to leave the state before his obligations
to my client ($750.00) are paid in full, he will be arrested.

Yours truly,
WILLIAM WISE.

This was not the only trouble that the post had brought. On the table lay
a communication from his bishop, a kindly, earnest letter from man to
man, warning him that he must immediately settle with a certain
stockbroker, who had lodged a complaint against him, or run the risk of a
public prosecution, which would mean ruin.

In his various troubles, he had almost forgotten the stock