h stouter, too, and carried herself with more character. There
was a swing in her movements, hinting at hearty exercises in the open.
She was looking at him, and saw a wonderful difference. There was a
short, thick, youthful beard upon his chin, a slight moustache upon his
lip, both heightening the Grecian quality of his face; his tan had taken
a deeper tone; he was the picture of health and strength, she thought.

Done saw that she was greatly disturbed, and regretted having come upon
her so suddenly. There was no questioning her delight; her colour came
and went half a dozen times as they stood thus, hand in hand; her eyes
were misty with tears, but she laughed through all.

'Well?' he queried.

'Oh, I am so glad to see you--so very glad!'

'And is it to be Jim and Lucy still?'

'Yes, to be sure. How changed you are! Come, come, sit down and talk.
Talk till my senses come back to me. I am bushed!' She laughed a little
hysterically.

'I have startled you.'

'No, no, it's pure gladness--it is indeed. It was good of you to come.'

'You are changed, too. Have you stood to your determination to be happy?'

'I am not unhappy.' She had seated herself beside him, and passed an arm
about the shy child, of whom little more than one dark eye was visible,
peeping at Jim from the other side, and yet that one eye recalled
humorous impressions of Mrs. Donald Macdougal of Boobyalla. He expected
to see it start revolving coquettishly.

'You are stronger. You have grown,' he said.

'Yes, I ride a lot with the children. It is good for me. I love it. This
life agrees with me well. But it is not only a change in you, it is a
transformation. Why, you can laugh!'

'Come, come! I could always laugh.'

She shook her head. 'Not convincingly. You love the new land? You have
prospered?'

'Yes,' he answered, 'I have had a wonderful spell of life.'

'And the people--you find you can like them?'

The question gave him rather a shock; he had to think a moment to recall
her optimistic advice and his old frame of mind.

'Like is too feeble a word,' he said presently. 'The thought of them
warms my heart.'

'Ah, that is good!' She clasped his hand impulsively. 'That is best of
all. I was afraid you might cling to your mistrust, and shut the kindly
people out of your life.'

'Before it was the people shut me out.'

'Are you sure?'

He had never doubted, now the question set him wondering for a minute. He
looked at her again. Ce