fice down there in the city."

"And," said the girl, "that means money."

"Yes," said Alton. "When a man goes round borrowing he finds out that
the folks who have got the dollars like to keep them. That's why I'm
going up to look for Jimmy's silver mine."

Miss Deringham shivered a little. "Winter is coming on," she said.
"The last man who looked for it was frozen--and there is Carnaby."

The girl's pulses throbbed a little faster as she spoke, and there was
nothing in the man's face which escaped her attention. Again the
curious glint became apparent in his eyes, and the warm bronze a little
deeper in tint.

"I might raise some dollars on Carnaby, but I don't want to," he said.

Miss Deringham had seen sufficient, and decided to change the topic.
"So you intend to find the silver?" she said.

"Yes," said Alton simply. "I feel I have got to do that--first."

There was a significant silence, and the girl leaned back in her chair,
conscious without resentment that the man was watching her. Her eyes
were softer than usual, the faintest trace of colour showed in her
cheek, while the light evening dress emphasized the fine sweep of curve
and line that was further accentuated by her pose. The lamp that hung
above her smote a track of brightness athwart her red-gold hair, until
she slightly moved her head so that while part of the full round neck
showed in its snowy whiteness her face was in the shadow.

"I think you will be successful. I hope you will," she said.

It was evident that the man understood all that was meant, but he rose
with an apparent effort. "And now I have a good deal to do," he said.

Alice Deringham also rose with a little stateliness, and when he had
gone out sank down contemplatively into the chair again. Her hands lay
open in her lap, and it is possible that she saw nothing of the sewing
they rested on as she grappled with the question why had the man told
her what he had done. There were two apparent reasons, for Alice
Deringham realized that there was a certain greatness behind his
simplicity. Granting that, she could see his standpoint clearly,
though it was more difficult to understand why such a man had made it
evident to her. He was, she knew, not one to stoop even to win a
woman's good opinion, and would have seen that in this direction
silence became him best, unless he felt that while so much was due to
honour there was something due to her.

He had told her simply tha