ce, and
the woman smiled evilly after him as she sat there and licked her lips,
and chewed on her snuff stick and spat.

CHAPTER XVII

IN WHICH DAVID THRYNG MEETS AN ENEMY

The next day David gave his attention to the letters which he found
awaiting him. One was from Doctor Hoyle in Canada. He had but just
returned from a visit to England, and it was full of news of David's
family there.

"Your two cousins and your brother are gone with their regiments to
South Africa," he wrote. "They are jubilant to be called to active
service, as they ought to be, but your mother is heartbroken over their
departure. You stay where you are, my boy. She is glad enough to have
you out of England now, and far from the temptation which besets youth
in times of war. It has already caused a serious blood-letting for Old
England. I have grave doubts about this contention. In these days there
ought to be a way of preventing such disaster. Write to your mother and
comfort her heart,--she needs it. I was careful not to betray to her
what your condition has been, as I discovered you had not done so. Hold
fast and fight for health, and be content. Your recuperative power is
good."

David was filled with contrition as he opened his mother's letter, which
was several weeks old and had come by way of Canada, since she did not
know he had gone South. For some time he had sent home only casual
notes, partly to save her anxiety, and partly because writing was
irksome to him unless he had something particularly pleasant to tell
her. His plans and actions had been so much discussed at home and he had
been considered so censurably odd--so different from his relatives and
friends in his opinions, and so impossible of comprehension (which
branded him in his own circle as being quite at fault)--that he had long
ago abandoned all effort to make himself understood by them, and had
retired behind his mask of reserve and silence to pursue his own course
undisturbed. Thus, at best, an occasional perfunctory letter that all
was well with him was the sum total of news they received. Thryng had no
money anxieties for his family. The needs of his mother and his
sister--not yet of age--were amply provided for by a moderate annuity,
while his brother had his position in the army, and help from his uncle
besides. For himself, he had saved enough, with his simple tastes and
much hard work, to tide him over this period of rest.

David sat now and turned hi