r?"

"I thank you; no. It is late," answered the Commandant, curtly, and
turned on his heel.

As he went by the window he saw--he could not help seeing--Ruth in her
chair, with Vashti on the hearth beside her, clasping her knees. The
children looked on in a wondering semi-circle.

He stumbled down the hill, and as he went he heard the door softly
close behind him.

CHAPTER XVI

THE LORD PROPRIETOR'S AUDIENCE

Sir Caesar Hutchins, Lord Proprietor, paced the terrace of his great
house at Inniscaw, and paused ever and anon to survey the prospect with
a lordly proprietary eye. He had breakfasted, and at breakfast (to use
his own words) he always did himself justice. Indeed, throughout a
strenuous business career he had never failed to take very good care of
himself, and was now able to enjoy a clear conscience with an easy
digestion.

The reader may ask with some surprise how such a man, accustomed all
his life to the bustle and traffic of Finsbury Pavement, E. C., could
choose, in his middle age, to turn his back on these and purchase an
exile out in the Atlantic, where no one bought or sold shares, and
where only Mr. Fossell, perhaps--and he from a week-old
newspaper--caught an echo of the world's markets, whether they rose or
fell. But, in truth, Sir Caesar had chosen carefully, deliberately. He
had always intended to enjoy in later life the wealth for which he had
worked hard in his prime; and as soon as his fortune was assured, he
had made several cautious but determined experiments to discover where
enjoyment might abide. He had, for instance, rented a grouse-moor, and
invited a large company to help him, by shooting the birds, to feel
that he was getting a return for his money. But somehow his guests,
though very good fellows in London, did not harmonize (to his mind)
with the highland wastes. He was glad when they departed; the scenery
improved at once--at any rate, he took more pleasure in it. He tried a
deer forest and found this tolerable, but he soon made the further
discovery that shooting bored him, that is to say, all shooting of
higher rank that the potting of rabbits. He was one of those enviable
persons who "know what they like." If he made trial of these expensive
recreations, it was simply because he saw men ambitious for them, and
supposed they would certainly yield some gratification to explain it;
but, having made trial for himself and missed the gratification, he
abandoned them with