g, "he came to see me in town, you know--or
rather you, but you were out--"

"He came to see me? He"--there was no mistaking the consternation in
the Captain's tone, nor his meaning either.

Julia and Rawson-Clew looked at one another; both had forgotten the
Captain's existence for a moment; now they were reminded, and though
the reminder seemed incongruous it was perhaps opportune.

"There is father," Julia said.

And he nodded. One cannot make love to a man's daughter almost in his
presence, when the proviso of his death is an essential to any
satisfaction. Rawson-Clew went to the door. "Good-bye," he said, "for
the present."

"Good-bye for always," she answered.

She spoke quite calmly, in much the same tone when, on the morning
after the excursion to the Dunes, she had bid him good-bye and tried
to face the consequences alone. She had had so many tumbles with fate
that it seemed she knew how to take them now with an indifferent face.
At least, nearly always, not quite--the wood block still lay before
the corner in which she had crouched the marks on his coat where her
tears had fallen were hardly dry. There was passion and to spare
behind the indifferent face, passion that for once at least had broken
through the self-mastery.

He held out his hand and she put hers into it. "Good-bye," he
repeated; "good-bye for the present, brave little comrade."

CHAPTER XIX

CAPTAIN POLKINGTON

Captain Polkington was watching a pan of jam. It was the middle of the
day and warm; too warm to be at work out of doors, as Johnny was, at
least so the Captain thought. He also thought it too warm to watch jam
in the back kitchen and that occupation, though it was the cooler of
the two, had the further disadvantage of being beneath his dignity.
The dignity was suffering a good deal; was it right, he asked himself,
that he, the man of the house, should have the menial task of watching
jam while Julia talked business with some one in the parlour? He did
not know what business this person had come on; he had seen him arrive
a few minutes back, had even heard his name--Mr. Alexander Cross--but
that was all he knew about him; Julia had taken him into the parlour
and shut the door. Naturally her father felt it and was annoyed.

There was a door leading into the parlour from the front kitchen. It
was fast closed but the Captain, leaving the jam to attend to itself,
went and looked at it. While he was standing there he heard