pered before him toward the farther end of the pasture. The faint and
vanishing tinkle of a bell, and the boy's whistle, gave emphasis to the
country-quiet of the late afternoon. They spoke rapidly and impersonally
of his adventures in the hills and of his illness. When they looked at
each other it was with swift laughing glances. Her cheeks and hands
were-already brown,--an honest brown won from May and June in the open
field,--not that blistered, peeling scarlet that marks the insincere
devotee of racket, driver and oar, who jumps into the game in August, but
the real brown conferred by the dear mother of us all upon the faithful
who go forth to meet her in April. Her hands interested him particularly.
They were long, slender and supple; and she had a pretty way of folding
them upon her knees that charmed him.

"I didn't know, Miss Claiborne, that I was going to lose my mind that
morning at the bungalow or I should have asked your brother to conduct
you to the conservatory while I fainted. From what they told me I must
have been a little light-headed for a day or two. If I had been in my
right mind I shouldn't have let Captain Dick mix up in my business and
run the risk of getting killed in a nasty little row. Dear old Dick! I
made a mess of that whole business; I ought to have telegraphed for the
Storm Springs constable in the beginning, and told him that if he wasn't
careful the noble house of Schomburg would totter and fall."

"Yes; and just imagine the effect on our constable of telling him that
the fate of an empire lay in his hands. It's hard enough to get a man
arrested who beats his horse. But you must go back to your keepers. You
haven't your hat--"

"Neither have you; you shan't outdo me in recklessness. I inspected your
hat as I came through the pergola. I liked it immensely; I came near
seizing it as spoil of war,--the loot of the pergola!"

"There would be cause for another war; I have rarely liked any hat so
much. But the Baron will be after you in a moment. I can't be responsible
for you."

"The Baron annoys me. He has given me a lot of worry. And that's what I
have come to ask you about."

"Then I should say that you oughtn't to quarrel with a dear old man like
Baron von Marhof. Besides, he's your uncle."

"No! No! I don't want him to be my uncle! I don't need any uncle!"

He glanced about with an anxiety that made her laugh.

"I understand perfectly! My father told me that the events of April