the beginning of a new life, though they did not then realize it;
the first, faint flush that heralds the coming of the sun to brighten
the new day, but which is so subtle and silent, that few are aware of
its presence.

Houston, on his return to the house at noon, had given, in answer to
Rutherford's eager inquiries, an account of the "skirmish" as he
called it. Rutherford was so proud of his friend, and of the victory
he had won, that at the first opportunity, he told the story to Miss
Gladden, before Houston had even returned to the office. Miss Gladden
was enthusiastic in her admiration of the course he had taken, so
different from many of the young men she had known in wealthy,
aristocratic circles, in thus defending a poor, friendless girl,
subject to insult because she had the misfortune, under such
circumstances, to be beautiful; and obeying the impulses of her
noble-hearted, high-spirited nature, she went to Houston, as she saw
him standing alone a few minutes after dinner, and extending her hand,
with a bright smile, said:

"Sir Knight, I want to thank you, in Lyle's name and my own, for the
chivalric course you have taken this morning."

She could get no further; Houston, still holding her hand, interrupted
her.

"Do not thank me, Miss Gladden; I have only done what it is the duty
of every true man to do."

"Then," said Miss Gladden, interrupting him in turn, "true men must be
exceedingly rare. I know very few, Mr. Houston, who would champion
the cause of a girl in Lyle's circumstances, in the manner you have
done," and then, with much feeling, she spoke of some of Lyle's
trials, and of her own determination to help her.

A beautiful woman is never so lovely as when defending the cause of
some sister less fortunate than herself, and Houston thought he had
never seen Miss Gladden so beautiful as at that moment, and the
thought must in some way have conveyed itself to his eyes, for there
was something in his glance that brought a bright color to Miss
Gladden's cheek, and an added tenderness to her soulful eyes;
something that remained with her all that day, and somehow made life,
even in the heart of the mountains, shut out from the rest of the
world, look more inviting, more alluring than it had ever done
before.

With Houston, also, the memory of those eyes with their depths of
tenderness, and the hand whose touch had thrilled him with its
magnetism, lingered, and brightened all that stormy afternoo