lk and presently Jim got up.

"I must go," he said. "I didn't know I had stayed so long."

Evelyn gave him her hand and smiled. "I expect you will be occupied,
but if you have time to come back you will find us at home."

"Thank you," said Jim. "I was half-afraid I'd bored you. I'll
certainly have time."

He went out and Mrs. Halliday looked at Evelyn thoughtfully. "On the
whole, I imagine you were tactful. I expect you saw Jim's offer to
leave Shanks alone was not made without an effort."

"I did see," Evelyn admitted. "I don't know if it was flattering or
not." She paused and resumed with a touch of color: "For all that, I
did not refuse because I was tactful; one sometimes gets tired of
acting. Besides, it would be thrown away on Jim. He's not
accomplished and critical like Lance; he's frank and strong."

"He is worth cultivating," Mrs. Halliday remarked, picking up a book.
She knew when to stop and Evelyn now and then developed a rebellious
mood.

For a week Jim was occupied bringing tools and materials from the town
and clearing the ground. Shanks gave no sign that he meant to move,
until one morning Jim's teamster asked: "Am I to gan t' dabbin and tak'
a load to Bank-end?"

Jim told him to go and turned to Jake. "That's fixed! I've been
holding back for a day or two and now we can push ahead. The dabbin
must come down before we stop to-night."

In the evening, Jake and Carrie went with him across the marsh. The
workmen had gone but wheelbarrows, spades, and planks lay about, and a
bank of fresh soil touched the edge of the neglected garden. Gray
clouds drifted across the gloomy sky, a cold wind tossed the reeds, and
the dabbin looked strangely forlorn in the fading light. Carrie
shivered as she entered with Jim, who carried a coil of fuse and a tin
box. The clay walls were stained by damp and the broken window was
grimed by dirt. A few peats occupied a corner, and a pile of ashes, on
which tea-leaves and scraps of food had been thrown, stretched across
the floor from the rusty grate. Jim went to the window and began to
cut the fuse.

"I've got things ready and might have waited until to-morrow but the
job's been bothering me and I want to put it over," he said. "Do you
think I'm harsh?"

"No," said Carrie, firmly. "Shanks is white trash and lives like a
hog. They wouldn't have stood for him a month at our settlements. But
how do you think he'll use Bank-end?"

Jim smiled. "