lder woman. He could not become Conward's rival
in such a case, and, repugnant as the idea was to him, he felt no
assurance that such a match might not develop. And Conward, as a
prospective father-in-law, was a more grievous menace to his peace of
mind than Conward as a defeated rival.

The more he contemplated this aspect of the case the less he liked it.
He would not do Conward the compliment of supposing that he had, or
might develop, a genuine attachment for Mrs. Hardy. It was true that
Mrs. Hardy, notwithstanding her years and her eccentricities, had a
certain stateliness of manner through which at times protruded a
reckless frankness that lent a unique charm to her personality, but it
was impossible to suppose that Conward had been captivated by these
interesting qualities. To Conward the affair could be nothing more
than an adventure, but it would give him a position of a sort of
semi-paternal authority over both Irene and Elden. Fortunately for his
train of thought, which was floundering into more and more difficult
travel, the prospect of having to appeal to Conward for the honour of
Irene's hand in marriage touched Dave's sense of humour, and he
suddenly burst into inappropriate laughter in the course of Mrs.
Hardy's panegyric upon the life and morals of her late husband.

Mrs. Hardy contracted her eyebrows.

"I beg your pardon," said Dave. "I have to confess I allowed my wits
to go rambling, and they stumbled upon a--upon a very amusing
absurdity." Elden's mind was engaged with Mrs. Hardy and Conward, and,
unintentionally, he allowed his eyes to embrace them both in his
remark. One more astute than Mrs. Hardy might have had a glimmer of
the absurdity which had provoked Dave's untimely mirth, but she was a
woman who took herself with much seriousness. If Conward guessed
anything he concealed his intuition behind a mask of polite attention.

Mrs. Hardy addressed a severe gaze at Elden. "You should keep your
wits better in hand, young man. When you find them rambling it might
be well to--ah--_lasso_ them. Ha, ha, Mr. Conward. That's the word,
is it not? _Lasso_ them." This unexpected witticism on Mrs. Hardy's
part had the fortunate effect of restoring that lady's good humour, and
Elden found an easy way out of the situation by joining in the general
laughter.

"I fear a thought would be a somewhat elusive thing to get a rope on,"
he ventured.

"But if it could be done, Dave would do it," I