s of a child. But
the child is shooting up amazingly--amazingly. In a way which suggests
divers possibilities."

The exchange of visits between Dunholm and Stornham had been rare and
formal. From the call made upon the younger Lady Anstruthers on her
marriage, the Dunholms had returned with a sense of puzzled pity for the
little American bride, with her wonderful frock and her uneasy, childish
eyes. For some years Lady Anstruthers had been too delicate to make
or return calls. One heard painful accounts of her apparent wretched
ill-health and of the condition of her husband's estate.

"As the relations between the two families have evidently been strained
for years," Lord Dunholm said, "it is interesting to hear of the sudden
advent of the sister. It seems to point to reconciliation. And you say
the girl is an unusual person.

"From what one hears, she would be unusual if she were an English girl
who had spent her life on an English estate. That an American who
is making her first visit to England should seem to see at once the
practical needs of a neglected place is a thing to wonder at. What can
she know about it, one thinks. But she apparently does know. They say
she has made no mistakes--even with the village people. She is managing,
in one way or another, to give work to every man who wants it. Result,
of course--unbounded rustic enthusiasm."

Lord Dunholm laughed between the soothing whiffs of his cigar.

"How clever of her! And what sensible good feeling! Yes--yes! She
evidently has learned things somewhere. Perhaps New York has found
it wise to begin to give young women professional training in the
management of English estates. Who knows? Not a bad idea."

It was the rustic enthusiasm, Westholt explained, which had in a manner
spread her fame. One heard enlightening and illustrative anecdotes of
her. He related several well worth hearing. She had evidently a sense of
humour and unexpected perceptions.

"One detail of the story of old Doby's meerschaum," Westholt said,
"pleased me enormously. She managed to convey to him--without hurting
his aged feelings or overwhelming him with embarrassment--that if he
preferred a clean churchwarden or his old briarwood, he need not feel
obliged to smoke the new pipe. He could regard it as a trophy. Now, how
did she do that without filling him with fright and confusion, lest she
might think him not sufficiently grateful for her present? But they
tell me she did it, an