few days. I shall spend to-morrow with you, go back with you Saturday to
The Pines, and go on my way Monday."

Having made his guest as comfortable as possible in his own room,
Darrell laid aside his working paraphernalia, his hammer, and bag of
rock specimens, and donning a house coat and pair of slippers seated
himself near Mr. Britton, all the time conscious of the close but kindly
scrutiny with which the latter was regarding him.

"This is delightful!" he exclaimed; "but it is past my comprehension how
Mr. Underwood ever let you slip off alone!"

Mr. Britton looked amused. "I told him I was coming to see you, and I
think he intended coming with me till he heard me order my saddle-horse
for the trip. I think that settled the matter. I believe there can be no
perfect interchange of confidence except between two. The presence of a
third party--even though a mutual friend--breaks the magnetic circuit
and weakens the current of sympathy. Our interviews are necessarily
rare, and I want to make the most of them; therefore I would come to you
alone or not at all."

"Yes," Darrell replied; "your visits are so rare that every moment is
precious to me, and think of the hours I lost by my absence to-day!"

"Do you court Dame Nature so assiduously every day, subsisting on cold
lunches and tramping the mountains till nightfall?"

"Not every day, but as often as possible," Darrell replied, smiling.

"And I suppose if I were not here you would now be burrowing into that
pile over there?" Mr. Britton said, glancing significantly towards the
table covered to a considerable depth with books of reference,
note-books, writing-pads, and sheets of closely written manuscript.

"Let me show you what I am doing; it will take but a moment," said
Darrell, springing to his feet.

He drew forth several sets of extensive notes on researches and
experiments he was making along various lines of study, in which Mr.
Britton became at once deeply interested.

"You have a good thing here; stick to it!" he said at length, looking up
from the perusal of Darrell's geological notes, gathered from his
studies of the rock formations in that vicinity. "You have a fine field
in which to pursue this branch, and with the knowledge you already have
on this subject and the discoveries you are likely to make, you may be
able to make some very valuable contributions to the science one of
these days."

"That is just what I hope to do!" exclaimed Darrell e