hildren made a glad, mad
dash for their seats and with glowing eyes "fell to."

Hugh went to the grey slab table.

"My dear Miss Bibby, am I always to be doing you an injury?" he said.

And at that instant there rolled away from Agnes Bibby's soul all the
heaviness that had oppressed it, and the sun shone out.

Of course, of course there was some mistake,--he had never meant to take
credit for her work!

"Oh," she gasped, "it was a mistake, of course. You--you sent them the
wrong MS, that is all." Why had no lightning flash of this possibility
come to her before in her darkness?

Hugh looked at her in speechless admiration.

Then he spoke, and slowly. "I think," he said, "you are without
exception the most sensible woman I have ever met."

And now there ran into Agnes Bibby's face a flood of colour, quite as
delicate and beautiful as that which sometimes stained the fresh young
skins of Dora and Beatrice. She felt so guilty--she had thought--what
had she not thought? She began to try to tell him she was not as
sensible as he imagined, but he was so busy explaining to her how it all
happened, and pressing the ten-guinea cheque upon her which he insisted
her story had earned, that she simply was afforded no chance.

"But," she said, pushing back the cheque gently--"I can only accept four
guineas of this--that is the most my story would have earned. The rest
your name commanded!"

"Nonsense, nonsense," he said, "that _Review_ always pays well, this is
your own cheque, fairly earned; remember I have deprived you of all the
glory of the story. For I know Wilkie too well to be able to hope that
he will condescend to explain such a mistake in his columns."

So Miss Bibby, dazzled, tucked the bit of pink paper away in her little
basket.

"And now," said Hugh, "will you just see if the children have enough to
eat?"

"Oh dear, oh dear," said Miss Bibby, fluttering up, "I really had
forgotten them for the moment. I--I hope they have not made themselves
ill."

When she had obtained doubtful satisfaction on this point and turned her
head again towards Hugh, she found him in the act of tossing all her
packets of eatables one after the other over the edge of the rock where
the water went plunging down to yet another fall.

"Hurrah! hurrah!" shouted Lynn, who had seen the act, "now she'll have
to eat some of our lovely things."

"Have a lawberry, Miss Bibby, go on," Max enjoined, his little mouth
full of the delici