matter drop for good; unless, indeed, some fresh light
is ever thrown on it."

"That can't happen," Blake declared staunchly.

Challoner rose and laid a hand on his arm. "If you were once at fault,
you have since shown yourself a man of honor. Though the thing hurt me
at the time, I'm glad you are my nephew. Had there been any baseness
in you, some suspicion must always have rested on your cousin. Well,
we are neither of us sentimentalists, but I must say that you have
amply made amends."

He turned away and Blake went out into the open air to walk up and
down. The face of the old house rose above him, dark against the clear
night sky; in front the great oaks in the park rolled back in shadowy
masses. Blake loved Sandymere; he had thought of it often in his
wanderings, and now he was glad that through his action his cousin
would enjoy it without reproach. After all, it was some return to make
for the favors he had received. For himself there remained the charm
of the lonely trail and the wide wilderness.

For all that, he had been badly tempted. Poverty and disgrace were
serious obstacles to marriage, and had he been free to do so, he would
eagerly have sought the hand of Millicent Graham. It was hard to hold
his longing for her in check. However, Harding was confident that they
were going to be rich, and that would remove one of his disadvantages.
Thinking about the girl tenderly, he walked up and down the terrace
until he grew calm, and then he went in to talk to Miss Challoner.

CHAPTER XXIV

A WOMAN'S ADVICE

A fortnight later, Blake met Millicent in a fieldpath and turned back
with her to Hazlehurst. It was a raw day and the wind had brought a
fine color into the girl's face, and she wore a little fur cap and
fur-trimmed jacket which he thought became her very well.

"You have not been over often," she said; "Mr. Foster was remarking
about it."

Blake had kept away for fear of his resolution melting if he saw much
of her.

"My uncle seems to think he has a prior claim," he explained; "and I
may not be able to stay with him long."

"You are going back to Canada?" The quick way the girl looked up, and
something in her tone, suggested unpleasant surprise, for she had been
taken off her guard.

"I shall have to go when Harding needs me. I haven't heard from him
since I arrived, but I'll get my summons sooner or later."

"I thought you had come home for good!" Millicent's color deepe