ed him. She had seen the thing set apart from its county
scandal, and so had read possibilities others had been blind to. He was
immensely touched by certain things she said about the First Man.

"He is one of them," she said. "They find their way in the end--they
find their way. But just now he thinks there is none. He is standing in
the dark--where the roads meet."

"You think he will find his way?" Lord Dunholm said. "Why do you think
so?"

"Because I KNOW he will," she answered. "But I cannot tell you WHY I
know."

"What you have said has been interesting to me, because of the light
your own thought threw upon what you saw. It has not been Mount Dunstan
I have been caring for, but for the light you saw him in. You met him
without prejudice, and you carried the light in your hand. You always
carry a light, my impression is," very quietly. "Some women do."

"The prejudice you speak of must be a bitter thing for a proud man to
bear. Is it a just prejudice? What has he done?"

Lord Dunholm was gravely silent for a few moments.

"It is an extraordinary thing to reflect,"--his words came slowly--"that
it may NOT be a just prejudice. _I_ do not know that he has done
anything--but seem rather sulky, and be the son of his father, and the
brother of his brother."

"And go to America," said Betty. "He could have avoided doing that--but
he cannot be called to account for his relations. If that is all--the
prejudice is NOT just."

"No, it is not," said Lord Dunholm, "and one feels rather awkward at
having shared it. You have set me thinking again, Miss Vanderpoel."

CHAPTER XXIX

THE THREAD OF G. SELDEN

The Shuttle having in its weaving caught up the thread of G. Selden's
rudimentary existence and drawn it, with the young man himself, across
the sea, used curiously the thread in question, in the forming of
the design of its huge web. As wool and coarse linen are sometimes
interwoven with rich silk for decorative or utilitarian purposes, so
perhaps was this previously unvalued material employed.

It was, indeed, an interesting truth that the young man, during his
convalescence, without his own knowledge, acted as a species of magnet
which drew together persons who might not easily otherwise have met.
Mr. Penzance and Mount Dunstan rode over to see him every few days, and
their visits naturally established relations with Stornham Court much
more intimate than could have formed themselves in the same length
of