frain from rump steak and old
ale for breakfast, and he obeys you--until the next time!"

"Is he going to die?" asked Drake sadly, for he had taken a fancy to the
old man.

"No-o; I don't think so. Not this time. We shall have to keep him quiet.
Lady Maltby ought to know--ought to be here. And we mustn't frighten
her. Would you mind riding over for her--bringing her, I mean? She'll
want some one with her who can keep a cool head, and I fancy you can do
that, sir."

"That's all right," said Drake at once; "of course I'll go."

So it happened that, instead of riding to Shorne Mills and seeing Nell,
and telling her the truth, the whole truth, which would have turned her
misery to happiness, he was going as fast as his horse could carry him
back to the Grange.

It was not the first time he had broken bad news--he had seen men fall
in the hunting field, and on the race course, and had had more than once
to carry the tidings to the bereaved--and he fulfilled his sad task with
all the tact of which he was capable. So well, indeed, that even if he
had intended permitting Lady Maltby to proceed to Shallop without him,
she would not have let him go. The poor woman clung to him, as women in
their hour of need always cling to the strong man near them.

They found Sir William coming back to consciousness--a condition which,
though fortunate for him, was unfortunate for Drake; for the sick man
seemed to cling to him and to rely upon him just as Lady Maltby had
done. He implored Drake not to leave him, and Drake sat on one side of
the bed, with the frightened wife on the other, until Sir William fell
into a more or less refreshing slumber.

It was just four when he mounted his horse and rode to Shorne Mills. The
performance of a good deed always brings a certain amount of
satisfaction with it, and, as he rode along, Drake felt more at ease
than he had done since the scene with Lady Luce. Indeed, last night
seemed very far away, and the incident on the terrace of very little
consequence. Death, or the warning of death, is so solemn a thing that
other matters dwarf beside it. But his resolution to tell Nell
everything had not weakened, and he urged his rather tired horse along
the steep and switchbacky road.

At a place called Short's Cross he caught sight of the Shorne Mills
carrier on his way to the station. But Drake did not guess that Nell
was sitting under the tilt cover, that by just turning his horse and
riding hard for