Mrs.
Bowring had conceived a sudden liking for the young man.

"They were to have been here to-day," he answered indifferently. "They
may come this evening, I suppose, but they have not even ordered rooms.
I asked the man there--the owner of the place, I suppose he is."

"Then of course you will wait for them," suggested Mrs. Bowring.

"Yes. It's an awful bore, too. That is--" he corrected himself
hastily--"I mean, if I were to be here without a soul to speak to, you
know. Of course, it's different, this way."

"How?" asked Mrs. Bowring, with a brighter smile than Clare had seen on
her face for a long time.

"Oh, because you are so kind as to let me talk to you," answered the
young man, without the least embarrassment.

"Then you are a social person?" Mrs. Bowring laughed a little. "You
don't like to be alone?"

"Oh no! Not when I can be with nice people. Of course not. I don't
believe anybody does. Unless I'm doing something, you know--shooting, or
going up a hill, or fishing. Then I don't mind. But of course I would
much rather be alone than with bores, don't you know? Or--or--well, the
other kind of people."

"What kind?" asked Mrs. Bowring.

"There are only two kinds," answered Brook, gravely. "There is our
kind--and then there is the other kind. I don't know what to call them,
do you? All the people who never seem to understand exactly what we are
talking about nor why we do things--and all that. I call them 'the other
kind.' But then I haven't a great command of language. What should you
call them?"

"Cads, perhaps," suggested Clare, who had not spoken for a long time.

"Oh no, not exactly," answered the young man, looking at her. "Besides,
'cads' doesn't include women, does it? A gentleman's son sometimes
turns out a most awful cad, a regular 'bounder.' It's rare, but it does
happen sometimes. A mere cad may know, and understand all right, but
he's got the wrong sort of feeling inside of him about most things. For
instance--you don't mind? A cad may know perfectly well that he ought
not to 'kiss and tell'--but he will all the same. The 'other kind,' as I
call them, don't even know. That makes them awfully hard to get on
with."

"Then, of the two, you prefer the cad?" inquired Clare coolly.

"No. I don't know. They are both pretty bad. But a cad may be very
amusing, sometimes."

"When he kisses and tells?" asked the young girl viciously.

Brook looked at her, in quick surprise at her tone.

"