er pretty face between his hands, and kissed her
twice.

"She's the worst pickle of the lot," he declared softly.

He did not add that she was also his darling of them all, but this was a
perfectly open secret between them, and had been such as long as Nan
could remember. She laughed up at him with tender impudence in
recognition of the fact.

CHAPTER V

The letter from Piet Cradock was not again referred to by either Nan or
her father. The latter answered it in his own way after the lapse of a
few weeks. He was of a peaceable, easy-going nature himself, and he did
not anticipate any trouble with Nan's husband. After all, the child's
reluctance to leave her home was perfectly natural. He, for his part, had
never fully understood the attraction which his son-in-law had exercised
upon her. He had been glad enough to have his favourite daughter provided
for, but the actual parting with her had been a serious trouble to him,
the most serious he had known for years, and he had been very far from
desiring to quarrel with the Fate that had restored her to him.

He was comfortably convinced that Piet would understand all this.
Moreover, the fellow was clearly very busy. All his energies seemed to be
fully occupied. He would have but little time to spare for his wife, even
if he had her at his side. No, on the whole, the Colonel was of opinion
that Nan's decision was a wise one, and it seemed to him that, upon
reflection, his son-in-law could scarcely fail to agree with him.

Something of this he expressed in his letter when he eventually roused
himself to reply to Piet's invitation, and therewith he dismissed all
further thought upon the subject from his mind. His darling had pleased
herself all her life, and naturally she would continue to do so.

His letter went into silence, but there was nothing surprising in this
fact. Piet was, of course, too busy to have any leisure for private
affairs. The whole matter slid into the past with the utmost ease. No
doubt he would come home some day, but very possibly not for years, and
the Colonel was quite content with this vague prospect.

As for Nan, she flicked the matter from her with the utmost nonchalance.
Since her father had undertaken to explain things, she did not even
trouble herself to write an answer to her husband's letter. That letter
had, in fact, very deeply wounded her pride. It had been a command, and
Nan was not accustomed to such treatment. Never, in a