't this mean you have
got over your troubles?"

"I suppose I can go ahead with the dykes," said Jim.

He was quiet afterwards and let the others talk, until Carrie got up
and went away with Mrs. Winter and Jake. When the door shut Dick
looked up.

"Has Evelyn written to you?"

"Yes," said Jim. "I haven't read her note yet."

"I don't know if that is strange or not, but perhaps you had better
read it. I expect it will clear the ground for me and I have something
to say."

Jim opened the envelope and braced himself, for he was half-ashamed of
the satisfaction he got from the first few lines; moreover, he did not
want Dick to know what he felt. Evelyn was apologetic, but she set him
free.

"I thought I loved you, Jim," she said. "I wanted to be brave and
simple, but found it would cost too much. Now I hope you won't be
hurt, and by and by perhaps you will be glad I let you go. You will go
far, Jim, with your large stride, fronting the storms you love; but I
could not have taken your path. Mine must be sheltered and smooth----"

There was more, for Evelyn wrote with some feeling in a romantic
strain, but Jim had read enough. His look was puzzled as he turned to
Dick.

"Your sister has turned me down," he said. "The grounds she gives are
good enough. I imagine you knew?"

"I did know. I suspected for some time that she would do so, but she
did not tell me until I was in town."

"Then I don't understand----"

Dick hesitated before he replied: "Lance said something at Dryholm that
I thought ominous. He declared I'd be sorry, and I bothered about it
for a day or two. Then I saw a light and got the next train to town.
He meant that he was going to marry Evelyn."

"That's unthinkable! Besides, Evelyn was then pledged to marry me."

"It looks as if you didn't know Lance yet; I'm not sure you altogether
know Evelyn. Anyhow, I saw her and stopped the thing. I think she got
a bad jolt when I told her about the punt."

Jim looked at the date on the note. "When did you see her?"

Dick told him and he pondered. Then he said, "She wrote to me after
she knew about the punt, although you imply that she agreed to marry
Lance before. It's puzzling."

"I've got to be frank," Dick replied. "Evelyn is not like Carrie; she
takes the easiest line. I Imagine she meant to say nothing until she
had quietly married Lance. Then we'd have been forced to accept the
situation." He paused and his face got red