mmediate concerns, and with the usual good humour. When he rose to
open the door, Hugh said----

'Drawing-room or library?'

'Library. You would like to smoke.'

For ten minutes he sat with his arms on the table, his great
well-shapen hands loosely clenched before him. He drank nothing. His
gaze was fixed on a dish of fruit, and widened as if in a growing
perplexity. Then he recovered himself, gave a snort, and went to join
his wife.

Sibyl was reading a newspaper. Hugh lit his pipe in silence, and sat
down opposite to her. Presently the newspaper dropped, and Sibyl's eyes
were turned upon her husband with a smile.

'Well?'

'Well?'

They smiled at each other amiably.

'What do you suggest, Birdie?'

The fondling name was not very appropriate, and had not been used of
late; Carnaby hit upon it in the honeymoon days, when he said that his
wife was like some little lovely bird, which he, great coarse fellow,
had captured and almost feared to touch lest he should hurt it. Hugh
had not much originality of thought, and less of expression.

'There are places, you know, where one lives very comfortably on very
little,' said Sibyl.

'Yes; but it leads to nothing.'

'What _would_ lead to anything?'

'Well, you see, I have capital, and some use ought to be made of it.
Everybody nowadays goes in for some kind of business.'

She listened with interest, smiling, meditative.

'And a great many people come out of it--wishing they had done so
before.'

'True,' said Carnaby; 'there's the difficulty. I had a letter from
Dando this morning. He has got somebody to believe in his new smelting
process--somebody in the City; talks of going out to Queensland
shortly. Really--if I could be on the spot----'

He hesitated, timidly indicating his thoughts. Sibyl mused, and slowly
shook her head.

'No; wait for reports.'

'Yes; but it's those who are in it first, you see.'

Sibyl seemed to forget the immediate subject, and to let her thoughts
wander in pleasant directions. She spoke as if on a happy impulse.

'There's one place I think I should like--though I dread the voyage.'

'Where's that?'

'Honolulu.'

'What has put that into your head?'

'Oh, I have read about it. The climate is absolute perfection, and the
life exquisite. How do you get there?'

'Across America, and then from San Francisco. It's anything but a cheap
place, I believe.'

'Still, for a time. The thing is to get away, don't you think?'

'