rature we
are wonderfully favoured."

"Quite so," said Miss Gabriel; "and I was about to propose our taking
advantage of it for a short stroll on Garrison Hill, to whet our
appetite." She heard Mrs. Pope gasp and went on hardily, "You and I,
Mr. Pope, can remember the time when all the rank and fashion of
Garland Town trooped up regularly after divine service to Garrison
Hill. 'Church parade,' we used to call it."

"Indeed yes, Miss Gabriel--and with the Garrison band playing before
us. Those were brave old days; and now I daresay that except for a
stray pair of lovers no one promenades on Garrison Hill from year's end
to year's end."

"It shocked me, the other night, to discover how completely I had
forgotten it."

"You had indeed, ha-ha!" laughed Mr. Pope, with a roguish glance at his
wife.

Miss Gabriel, too, glanced at her, and even more expressively. "Admire
my boldness," it seemed to say, "and oblige me by imitating it as well
as you can." Mrs. Pope began to tremble in her shoes.

"Oh, it was ridiculous! And I have a fancy to go over the ground again
and prove to you, and to ourselves, how ridiculous it was. Shall we?"

"With pleasure." Mr. Pope bowed and offered his arm. In Garland Town,
if you walked with two ladies it was _de rigueur_ to offer an arm to
each.

The stars in their courses seemed to be helping Miss Gabriel's design.
Her one anticipated difficulty--for she sought an interview with Mrs.
Treacher, to pump her in the presence and hearing of the Lord
Proprietor's agent--had been a possible interruption by the Commandant.
To her glee she had noted that the Commandant kept his seat after
service. For another thirty minutes at least the coast would be clear.

She had never a doubt of bribing Mrs. Treacher--or, to put it more
delicately, of inducing her to talk. Mrs. Treacher's manner had been
brusque the night before last; but Miss Gabriel's own manner was
brusque, whether to friend or to foe, and nice shades of address
escaped her. Mrs. Treacher was certainly poor, and with a poverty to
which a shilling meant a great deal. And Miss Gabriel had a shilling
ready in her pocket, as well as half-a-crown as a heroic resource in
case of unlooked-for obstinacy. But the shilling would almost certainly
suffice. Had not the donative antimacassar already established a claim
upon the Treachers' gratitude?

Again, the stars in their courses seemed to be fighting for Miss
Gabriel's design. For as the two