ot much of the invalid about me, saving this arm," he said.

As they climbed the hill, they came upon Dick mounted upon a horse the
like of which Nell had never seen; and she stopped dead short and stared
at him.

"Hallo, Nell! Hallo, Mr. Vernon! Just giving him a run, after being shut
up in that stuffy railway box."

"That's right," said Vernon. "Like him?"

"Like him?" responded Dick, with the superlative of approval; "never
rode a horse to equal him, and the other is as good. And"--in an
undertone--"the sidesaddle has come."

But Nell, whose ears were sharp, heard him.

"Who is the sidesaddle for?" she asked, innocently and ungrammatically.

Vernon took the bull by the horns.

"For you, if you will deign to use it, Miss Nell," he said.

It was the first time he had addressed her as "Miss Nell," but she did
not notice it.

"For me?" she exclaimed.

They were opposite Sandy's stables, and Dick dropped off his horse and
brought out the other.

"Look at her, Nell!" he exclaimed, with bated breath. "Perfect, isn't
she?"

Nell looked at her with a flush that came and went

"Oh, but I--I--could not!" she breathed.

Mr. Drake Vernon laughed.

"Why not?" he said argumentatively. "Fair play's a jewel. You can't
expect to have all the innings your side, Miss Nell. You've treated
me--well, like a prince; and you won't refuse to ride a horse of mine
that's simply spoiling for want of exercise!"

Nell looked from him to the horse, and from the horse to him.

"I--I--am so surprised," she faltered. "I--I will ask mamma."

"That's all right," said Vernon, who had learned to know "mamma" by this
time.

Nell left Dick and Vernon standing round the horses in man fashion. Dick
was all aglow with satisfaction and admiration.

"Never saw a better pair than these, Mr. Vernon," he said. "I should
think this one could jump."

She had just won a military steeplechase, and Vernon nodded assent.

"You must persuade your sister to ride her," he said.

As he spoke, he seated himself on the edge of the steep roadway which
led to the jetty.

"Take the horses in," he said. "I'll come up in a few minutes."

But the minutes ran into hours. He looked out to sea with a meditative
and retrospective mind. He was going over the past which seemed so far
away, so vague, since he had gone sailing in the _Annie Laurie_ this
morning.

Then suddenly the past became the present. There was a stir on the jetty
below him. Voices--t