and
turned the leaf in due time.

Adele finished playing soon after.

Her face was slightly flushed and triumphant.

Frank congratulated her warmly in a select speech which he finished
thus: "In short, your playing seems to have as much power over my
feelings as Timotheus' had over Alexander's."

The farmer's face was ominous. He had begun to entertain suspicions
when Adele had looked at him reproachfully before tea-time. Now his
imagination had ripened into certainty--so he thought. The young
people must be for ever separated. He said roughly: "There are other
things which are more important than fiddling, one of them is to
know how to live."

Frank looked at Adele, she looked back at him. Their astonishment
was diverting to witness.

Quoth the farmer gruffly to Frank, "I am going to retire, I think
you had better do the same."

"Is the man going mad?" thought Frank. He looked at Adele, then
suddenly took his hat and his departure.

The young lady followed him to the door. She was extremely vexed at
her father's demeanour. She spoke a few words to Frank as he stepped
outside.

"I hope you will not take my father's words too seriously," she
said, "I am very sorry--it's shocking--I am exceedingly angry with
him--a fine way of thanking you--you to whom he owes so much."

As he pressed the delicate hand which she tended in farewell, Frank
said: "I quite forgive Mr. Rougeant, there are strange natures," and
he walked away.

He had gone by the back door, why, he did not know. As he passed the
stable, he saw a man engaged in cleaning, a horse. "Come what may,"
he said to himself, "I must have a chat with this fellow."

"Good evening," he said, speaking in French, "cleaning up a bit?"

"Good evening, sir," replied Jacques, speaking in broken English.
"You needn't talk in French, I know English; I learnt it when Jim
Tozer worked here."

Said Frank inly: "Jim Tozer, the name seems familiar to me. Of
course, my step-mother's brother." Aloud: "You are the only workman
here now!"

"Yes, you've been payin' a visit to Mr. Rougeant, you're the
gentleman as rescued him from drowning. Lucky for him, old chap,
that you were round about there, for it's dead certain he'd ha' gone
to bottom."

"You take care of this horse?"

"I take care of pretty nearly everything round about here, for the
bos doesn't do much now, but he gives a reg'lar 'go at it' now and
then though."

"I suppose you like this job," remarked Fr