ips and a dull red tinge his cheek. Without
answering he turned into the long avenue and presently drew up before the
side door.

"There you are!" he remarked stiffly.

Lucy did not need to look at him to sense that the kindliness had left his
countenance, and his jaw had become grim and set.

Had she been able to read his thoughts, she would have realized that the
short detour into Ellen Webster's territory had brought Martin to himself,
and that he was already deploring with inward scorn the weakness that had
led him to do the thing he had pledged his word never to do. He could not
even shunt off the blame for his act and say, as did his illustrious
ancestor: "The woman tempted me and I did eat." No, he had open-eyed
stalked voluntarily into temptation,--willingly, gladly, triumphantly. He
had sinned against his conscience, his traditions, his forbears, and
behold, angry as he was with himself for yielding to it, the sin was
sweet.

CHAPTER XII

THE TEST

Martin had guided his horse round the triangle of sweet-williams and,
still torn by conflicting emotions of ecstasy and self-reproach, was
proceeding down the driveway when a cry of distress reached his ear:

"Martin--Mr. Howe!"

He turned to see Lucy Webster beckoning frantically to him from the door.

"Come back, please," she cried. "Hurry!"

That she was excited was evident. Indeed she must have been quite out of
her mind to have called him Martin in that shameless fashion. The fact
that the name had slipped so spontaneously from her lips and that she
hastened to correct her mistake caused the man to speculate with delight
as to whether she was wont to think of him by this familiar cognomen. This
thought, however, was of minor importance, the flash of an instant. What
chiefly disturbed Martin was the girl's agitation.

Bringing his horse to a stop, he sped back to where she was standing, and
on reaching her side he was startled to see that the face but a short
interval before so radiant had blanched to a deathly pallor.

"My aunt!" she whispered in a frightened tone. "Something terrible has
happened to her!"

If Lucy entertained any doubts as to whether he would aid her in the
present emergency she had either cast them aside or was determined to
ignore such a possibility, for she held the door open with the obvious
expectation that he would follow her into the house.

A year ago, a month, nay--a week, he would never have consented to cross