unted he came to the off side of Carter's horse. There was a
request written in every line of the earnest face.

"Well?" asked Carter bending down from his saddle.

"May I go too, sir? Just as groom, sir. Please, sir?" he added, seeing a
shade of dissent upon his master's face. "The truth is, sir, I 'ad a bad
dream last night. Don't laugh," he pleaded as the corners of Carter's
mouth twitched suggestively, "don't laugh. It was too real, too
'orrible. I thought an army rode over you and 'Er Grace and tramped you
down. You called out to me to 'elp. I could 'ave saved you, but was too
far away. Let me go, sir; just as groom. I'll keep far be'ind." The
fellow was honestly distressed, so Carter sent him to Trusia, who gave
him the desired permission. Then for the first time the Major noted that
Carrick wore his sabre. The holster by his saddle held a revolver.

XXI

CARRICK WAS FAR BEHIND

Carrick was far behind. Overhead the tattered roof of leaves made a
lacework of the sun. Birds were singing; their bright eyes turned
curiously on the young couple passing beneath their verdant bowers. Tiny
feathered brides nodded dainty heads, urging the great, stupid, human
fellow to sing the love song in his heart to the girl by his side. "Mate
now," they chirped, "in leaf time, in flower time, while fields are warm
and nature yielding. The great mother, herself, commands it."

The impulses of nature were astir in the breasts of both Trusia and
Carter, awakening in each a silent rebellion against a destiny which was
forcing them to talk of trivial nothings which add naught to the greater
issues of life. So far they had bowed to the dictates of destiny, but
were growing more and more restive under the self-imposed restraint.

The horses stopped to drink from a stream which crossed their path.
Carter, glancing in the direction of its source, saw that a heavy limb
had fallen from a dead tree, blocking the passage of what had otherwise
been but a wavering string of water. Restrained, however, it had
mounted higher and higher, until at last, broadened, strengthened, and
deepened, it had swept triumphantly over the dam and kept on its way. He
felt that he was undergoing the same process in restraining the natural
expression of his love for Trusia. Unconscious of his comprehension,
she, too, had grasped the lesson of the stream. Their satiny nozzles
dripping sparkling drops of water, the horses resumed their progress
beneath the