d Elizabeth found themselves alone
together beside the Wishing Well.

It was a lonely spot from which nothing but stretches of barren moor and
rugged hills could be discerned. One solitary patch of verdure marked
the place where the rising spring had fertilised the land; but around
this patch of green the ground was rich only in purple heather. Not even
a hardy pine or fir tree broke the monotony of the horizon. Yet, the
scene was not without its charm. There was grandeur in the sweep of the
mountain-lines; there was a wonderful stillness in the sunny air, broken
only by the buzz of a wandering bee and the trickle of the stream; there
was the great arch of blue above the moor, and the magical tints of
purple and red that blossoming heather always brings out upon the
mountain-sides. The bareness of the land was forgotten in its wealth of
colouring; and perhaps Brian and Elizabeth were not wrong when they said
to each other that Italy had never shown them a scene that was half so
fair.

The water of the spring fell into a carved stone basin, which, tradition
said, had once been the font of an old Roman Catholic chapel, of which
only a few scattered stones remained. People from the surrounding
districts still believed in the efficacy of its waters for the cure of
certain diseases; and the practice of "wishing," which gave the well its
name, was resorted to in sober earnest by many a village boy and girl.
Elizabeth and Brian, who had hitherto behaved in a curiously grave and
reserved manner to each other, laughed a little as they stood beside the
spring and spoke of the superstition.

"We must try it," said Elizabeth, looking down into the sparkling water.
"A crooked pin must be thrown in, and then we must silently wish for
anything we especially desire, and, of course, we shall obtain it."

"Quite worth trying, if that is the case," said Brian. "But--I have
tried the experiment before."

"Here?"

"Yes, here."

"I did not know that you had been to Dunmuir before."

"My wish did not come to pass," remarked Brian; "but there is no reason
why you should not be more successful than I was, Miss Murray. And I
feel a certain sort of desire to try once again."

"Here is a crooked pin," said Elizabeth. "Drop it into the water."

"Are you going to try?" he asked, when the ceremony had been performed.

"There is nothing that I wish for very greatly."

"Nothing? Ah, I have one wish--only one."

"I am unfortunate in that