kberries in abundance, large and ripe, and Doris wandered about
picking them during the afternoon while Jeff lounged against a tree and
smoked.

He did not offer to join her, but she had a feeling that his eyes
followed her wherever she went, and a great restlessness kept her
moving. She could not feel at her ease in his vicinity. She wanted very
urgently to secure his friendship. She had counted upon that day in his
society to do so. But it seemed to be his resolve to hold aloof. He
seemed disinclined to commit himself to anything approaching intimacy,
and that attitude of his filled her with misgiving. Had he begun to
repent of the one-sided bargain, she asked herself? Or could it be that
he also was oppressed by shyness? She longed intensely to know.

The sun was sinking low in the sky when at length reluctantly she went
back to him. "It's getting late," she said. "Don't you think we ought to
go home?"

He was standing in the level sun-rays gazing sombrely down into the
valley from which already the mists were beginning to rise.

He turned at her voice, and she knew he looked at her, though she did
not meet his eyes. For a moment or two he stood, not speaking, but as
though on the verge of speech; and her heart quickened to a nervous
throbbing.

Then unexpectedly he turned upon his heel. "Yes. Wait here, won't you,
while I go and fetch the animals?"

He went, and a sharp sense of relief shot through her. She was sure that
he had something on his mind; but inexplicably she was thankful that he
had not uttered it.

The sun was dropping out of sight behind the opposite hill, and she was
conscious of a growing chill in the atmosphere. A cockchafer whirred
past her and buried itself in a tuft of grass hard by. In the wood
behind her a robin trilled a high sweet song. From the farther side of
the valley came a trail of smoke from a cottage bonfire, and the scent
of it hung heavy in the evening air.

All these things she knew and loved, and they were to be hers for the
rest of her life; yet her heart was heavy within her. She turned and
looked after Jeff with a wistful drooping of the lips.

He had passed out of sight behind some trees, but as she turned she
heard a footfall in the wood close at hand, and almost simultaneously a
man emerged carrying a gun.

He stopped at sight of her, and on the instant Doris made a swift
movement of recognition.

"Why Hugh!" she said.

He came straight to her, with hand out