.'"

"That was he. I captured him. He was desperately wounded, and I had the
pleasure of having him attended to, and afterwards of getting him
exchanged. How is he? Is he still living?"

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Lancaster turned to the ladies. "He was one of the bravest men I
have known," he said. "I was once a recipient of his gracious
hospitality. I went South to look into some matters there," he explained
to the ladies.

The speech brought a gratified look into Keith's eyes. Mrs. Yorke was
divided between her feeling of relief that Mr. Lancaster should know of
Keith's social standing and her fear that such praise might affect
Alice. After a glance at the girl's face the latter predominated.

"Men have no sense at all," she said to herself. Had she known it, the
speech made the girl feel more kindly toward her older admirer than she
had ever done before.

Gordon's face was suffused with tenderness, as it always was at any
mention of his father. He stepped forward.

"May I shake hands with you, sir?" He grasped the hand of the older man.
"If I can ever be of any service to you--of the least service--I hope
you will let my father's son repay a part of his debt. You could not do
me a greater favor." As he stood straight and dignified, grasping the
older man's hand, he looked more of a man than he had ever done. Mr.
Lancaster was manifestly pleased.

"I will do so," he said, with a smile.

Mrs. Yorke was in a fidget. "This man will ruin everything," she said to
herself.

Seeing that his chance of seeing Alice alone was gone, Keith rose and
took leave with some stateliness. At the last moment Alice boldly asked
him to take lunch with them next day.

"Thank you," said Keith, "I lunch in Sparta to-morrow. I am going South
to-night." But his allusion was lost on the ladies.

When Keith came out, a handsome trap was standing at the door, with a
fine pair of horses and a liveried groom.

And a little later, as Keith was walking up the avenue looking at the
crowds that thronged it in all the bravery of fine apparel, he saw the
same pair of high-steppers threading their way proudly among the other
teams. He suddenly became aware that some one was bowing to him, and
there was Alice Yorke sitting up beside Mr. Lancaster, bowing to him
from under a big hat with great white plumes. For one moment he had a
warm feeling about his heart, and then, as the turnout was swallowed up
in the crowd, Keith felt a sudden sense of loneli