of Melancholy," said Nancy. "It
will be your part to smooth the lines of trouble from her brow."

"Oh, coming, coming, Miss Bird!" called out Joan. "We've only got an
hour more, Jim--spelling and dictation; then we will come and look you
up."

Jim strode off across the park and entered the rhododendron dell by an
iron gate. He followed a broad green path between great banks of shrubs
and under the shade of trees for nearly a quarter of a mile. Every now
and then an open grassy space led to the water, which lay very still,
ringed with dark green. He turned down one of these and peeped round the
edge of a bush from whence he could see the white pillared temple at the
head of the lake. Cicely was sitting in front of it, drawing, and his
heart gave a little leap as he saw her. Then he walked more quickly, and
as he neared the temple began to whistle, for he knew that, thinking
herself quite alone. Cicely would be disagreeably startled if he came
upon her suddenly.

Perhaps she thought it was a gardener who was coming, for she did not
move until he spoke her name, coming out from behind the building on to
the stained marble platform in front of it. Then she looked up with a
hot blush. "O Jim!" she said nervously. "I was just trying to paint a
picture."

"It's jolly good," said Jim, looking at it with his head on one side,
although she had not as yet gone further than light pencil lines.

"It won't be when I've finished," she said hurriedly. "How is Mrs.
Graham? I am coming over to see her as soon as I can, to tell her about
Muriel."

"She's all right, thanks," said Jim. "She sent her love. Do you mind my
watching you?"

"I'd much rather you didn't," she said, with a deprecating laugh. "I
shall make an awful hash of it. Do you want to see father? I'll go and
find him with you if you like."

"No, I've seen him," said Jim, going into the temple to get himself a
chair. "I've come to see you, to tell you something I thought you'd be
interested in. I want to stand for Parliament, and I'm going to let
Mountfield."

She looked up at him with a shade of relief in her face. "O Jim," she
said, "I do hope you will get in."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I don't expect to get in," said Jim. "They
won't have fellows who think as I do in the party now if they can help
it. But there's a good deal to do outside that. I kept my eyes open when
I was travelling, and I do know a bit about the Colonies, and about land
too. There are