her eyes were cast down. Now Jasper addressed her.

'A year ago, Miss Yule, I shouldn't have believed myself capable of such
activity. In fact I wasn't capable of it then.'

'You think such work won't be too great a strain upon you?' she asked.

'Oh, this isn't a specimen day, you know. To-morrow I shall very likely
do nothing but finish my West End article, in an easy two or three
hours. There's no knowing; I might perhaps keep up the high pressure
if I tried. But then I couldn't dispose of all the work. Little by
little--or perhaps rather quicker than that--I shall extend my scope.
For instance, I should like to do two or three leaders a week for one of
the big dailies. I can't attain unto that just yet.'

'Not political leaders?'

'By no means. That's not my line. The kind of thing in which one makes a
column out of what would fill six lines of respectable prose. You call
a cigar a "convoluted weed," and so on, you know; that passes for
facetiousness. I've never really tried my hand at that style yet; I
shouldn't wonder if I managed it brilliantly. Some day I'll write a few
exercises; just take two lines of some good prose writer, and expand
them into twenty, in half-a-dozen different ways. Excellent mental
gymnastics!'

Marian listened to his flow of talk for a few minutes longer, then took
the opportunity of a brief silence to rise and put on her hat. Jasper
observed her, but without rising; he looked at his sisters in a
hesitating way. At length he stood up, and declared that he too must be
off. This coincidence had happened once before when he met Marian here
in the evening.

'At all events, you won't do any more work to-night,' said Dora.

'No; I shall read a page of something or other over a glass of whisky,
and seek the sleep of a man who has done his duty.'

'Why the whisky?' asked Maud.

'Do you grudge me such poor solace?'

'I don't see the need of it.'

'Nonsense, Maud!' exclaimed her sister. 'He needs a little stimulant
when he works so hard.'

Each of the girls gave Marian's hand a significant pressure as she took
leave of them, and begged her to come again as soon as she had a free
evening. There was gratitude in her eyes.

The evening was clear, and not very cold.

'It's rather late for you to go home,' said Jasper, as they left the
house. 'May I walk part of the way with you?'

Marian replied with a low 'Thank you.'

'I think you get on pretty well with the girls, don't you?'