ttered.

Impulsively he laid his free hand upon him. "Dick--Dick, old
chap,--what's all this? Of course I don't know where she is! Do you think
I'd lie to you?"

"Then I've lost her!" Dick said, and with the words some inner vital
spring seemed to snap within him. He flung up; his arms, freeing himself
with a wild gesture. "My God, she has gone--gone with that scoundrel!"

"Saltash?" said the squire sharply.

"Yes. Saltash!" He ground the name between his teeth. "Does that surprise
you so very much? Don't you know the sort of infernal blackguard he is?"

The squire turned again to shut the window. "Damn it, Dick! I don't
believe a word of it," he said with vigour. "Get your wind and have a
drink, and let's hear the whole story! Have you and Juliet been
quarrelling?"

Dick ignored his words as if he had not spoken. "You needn't shut the
window," he said. "I'm going again. I'm going now."

It was the squire's turn to assert himself, and he seized it. He shut the
window with a bang. "You are not, Dick! Don't be a fool! Sit down! Do
you hear? Sit down! You're not going yet--not till you've told me the
whole trouble. So you can make up your mind to that!"

Dick looked at him for a moment as if he were on the verge of fierce
resistance, but Fielding's answering look held such unmistakable
resolution that after the briefest pause he turned aside.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, and tramped heavily across to the hearth. "Put
up with me if you can! God knows I'm up against it hard enough to-night."

He rested his arms on the mantelpiece and laid his head down upon them,
and so stood motionless, in utter silence.

The squire came to him in a few seconds with a glass in his hand. "Here
you are, Dick! This is what you're wanting. Swallow it before you talk
any more!"

Dick reached out in silence and took the glass. Then he stood up and
drank, keeping his face averted.

Fielding waited till at last, without turning, he spoke. "I've always
known it might come to this, but I never realized why. I suppose anyone
but a blind fool would have seen through it long ago."

"What are you talking about?" said the squire. "I'm utterly in the dark,
remember."

Dick's hands were clenched. "I'm talking of Juliet and--Saltash. I've
always known there was some sort of understanding between them. He
flaunted it in my face whenever we met. But I trusted her--I trusted
her." The words were like a muffled cry rising from the depths of the