was tightly closed
on the glasses he held, and his face was tense and flushed, but he
stepped forward with a cry:

"Dick!"

The newcomer moved toward him, and Blanche knew that he was the man who
had brought dishonor upon her husband's family.

"This is a fortunate meeting," Bertram said, and his voice was cordial,
though rather strained. "Blanche, here's my cousin, Dick Blake."

Blake showed no awkwardness. Indeed, on the whole, he looked amused;
but his face grew graver as he fixed his eyes on Mrs. Challoner.

"Though I'm rather late, you'll let me wish you happiness," he said.
"I believe it will be yours. Bertram's a good fellow; I have much to
thank him for."

There was a sincerity and a hint of affection in his tone, and Bertram
looked uncomfortable.

"But how did you come here?" Bertram asked, as if to turn the
conversation from himself. "Where have you been since----"

He stopped abruptly, and Blake laughed.

"Since you surreptitiously said good-by to me at Peshawur? Well, after
that I went to Penang, and from there to Queensland. Stayed a time at
a pearl-fishing station among the Kanakas, and then went to England for
a few months."

"But how did you manage?" Bertram inquired with some diffidence. "It
raises a point you wouldn't let me talk about at Peshawur, but I've
often felt guilty because I didn't insist. Traveling about as you have
done is expensive."

"Not to me," Blake explained with a twinkle. "I've turned adventurer,
and I have the Blake gift of getting along without money." He added in
an explanatory aside to Blanche: "For two or three generations we kept
open house and a full stable in Ireland, on a revenue derived from
rents which were rarely paid, and if I hadn't been too young when a
disaster gave the creditors their chance. I'd have given them a
sporting run."

"But what did you do when you left England?" Bertram broke in.

"Went to East Africa; after that, to this country, where I tried my
hand at prairie farming. Found it decidedly monotonous and sold the
homestead at a profit. Then I did some prospecting, and now I'm here
on business."

"On business!" Bertram exclaimed. "You could never be trusted to get
proper value for a shilling!"

"I've learned to do so lately, and that's not going far. If you're in
commerce in this country, you must know how to put down fifty cents and
take up a dollar's worth. Anyhow, I'm here to meet an American whose
acquaintance I