suppose is up, Mack? You don't cal'late she thought
I was relating to her for earnest, do you?"

He rose and started toward the door. Mr. McGowan laid a hand on his
friend's sleeve.

"You'd better leave her alone."

"But I never meant nothing. She'd otter know that. I'm going to tell
her," he said, pulling away from the minister, and trying the closed
door. "Clemmie, be sensible, and come out of there. I didn't mean
nothing, honest, I didn't."

But Miss Pipkin did not come out. She did not so much as answer his
importunings. When the men were out of the dining-room she went
up-stairs, not to appear again that day.

It was afternoon when Mr. McGowan hobbled out of his study, ate a light
lunch, put a few sandwiches in his pocket, and started in the direction
of the peninsula road that led to the beach.

CHAPTER X

Mr. McGowan left the highway a little beyond the Fox estate, and
followed a crooked, narrow old footpath across-lots. The path dipped and
rose with the contour of the land till at last it lost itself in the
white level stretch of sandy beach. He walked on and on, so deeply
absorbed in his thoughts that he was unmindful of the blistered foot. It
was only when hunger pains conspired with the irritation of his foot
that he dropped on a log. He drew the sandwiches from his pocket, and
proceeded to devour them with genuine relish. For hours after he had
finished his lunch, he sat with his back to the warming rays of the
afternoon sun, and gazed vacantly across the wide stretches of
sand-dunes.

The chill of the evening air roused him at length to the fact that he
must be going home. But when he tried to rise, he discovered that his
long walk had produced an ill effect on Miss Pipkin's remedy for
sprained ankles. He dropped back again on the log, pondering on how he
was to retrace his steps. The sun slipped into the misty haze that hung
low above the horizon of the autumn sky. The shadows crept slowly up out
of the waters and over the landscape. A thin cloud drifted in over the
Sound, through which a pale moon pushed a silvery edge. With the
gathering darkness there came a deep mystery over land and sea which
seemed to creep round and envelop him.

Suddenly, the chill of the evening air was filled with a glowing warmth,
as when one senses the presence of a friend. He stared about him. He
listened intently. Could it be possible that this sudden change was only
a mental fancy? He hobbled a short way