e he died, the ground-rents from
that field--now covered with houses--were seven hundred and ninety
pounds a year. That's how men get on who have capital and know how to
use it. If _I_ had had capital, it would never have yielded me more
than three or four per cent. I was doomed to work for other people who
were growing rich. It doesn't matter much now, except that so many
years of life have been lost.'

'Had your brother any children?'

'No children. All the same, it astonished me when I heard his will; I
had expected nothing. In one day--in one hour--I passed from slavery to
freedom, from poverty to more than comfort. We never _hated_ each
other; I don't want you to think that.'

'But--didn't it bring you friends as well as comfort?'

'Oh,' he laughed, 'I am not so rich as to have people pressing for my
acquaintance. I have only about six hundred a year.'

Monica drew in her breath silently, then gazed at the distance.

'No, I haven't made any new friends. The one or two men I care for are
not much better off than I used to be, and I always feel ashamed to ask
them to come and see me. Perhaps they think I shun them because of
their position, and I don't know how to justify myself. Life has always
been full of worrying problems for me. I can't take things in the
simple way that comes natural to other men.'

'Don't you think we ought to be turning back, Mr. Widdowson?'

'Yes, we will. I am sorry the time goes so quickly.'

When a few minutes had passed in silence, he asked,--

'Do you feel that I am no longer quite a stranger to you, Miss Madden?'

'Yes--you have told me so much.'

'It's very kind of you to listen so patiently. I wish I had more
interesting things to tell, but you see what a dull life mine has
been.' He paused, and let the boat waver on the stream for a moment.
'When I dared to speak to you last Sunday I had only the faintest hope
that you would grant me your acquaintance. You can't, I am sure, repent
of having done me that kindness--?'

'One never knows. I doubted whether I ought to talk with a stranger--'

'Rightly--quite rightly. It was my perseverance--you saw, I hope, that
I could never dream of giving you offence. The rule is necessary, but
you see there may be exceptional cases.' He was giving a lazy stroke
now and then, which, as the tide was still, just moved the boat
onwards. 'I saw something in your face that _compelled_ me to speak to
you. And now we may really be friends, I