nd its object. He had one satisfaction, however, out of which
he gleaned grim comfort--he held the power now to eject Wyvern from
Seven Kloofs within the space of a few months; in the acquisition of
which power Vincent Le Sage had made the first bad bargain he had ever
been known to make in his life.

Her small brothers having skipped off down the kloof, clad in their old
garments and armed with a catapult apiece--to the latter extent
supremely happy, Lalante dropped into a roomy cane chair upon the stoep
and let herself go in meditation. Let it not be supposed, however, that
hers was any mere contemplative life; far from it. Her strong, capable
young nature was eminently cut out for the discharge of everyday duties,
and the discharge of them well, too. We have seen how she managed her
two small brothers, but her father's comfort came second to nothing, and
into all that concerned him, and occupied his daily interest, she
entered thoroughly. Whereby it is manifest that from his point of view
there was a good deal of excuse to be made for his soreness now. And
if, as we have said, she had no "accomplishments," and no high opinion
of mere schooling, of which, by the way, she had undergone her full
share, she had what was better, tact and the capability of rendering the
lives of those belonging to her happy and comfortable.

Leaning back in her chair now, in an attitude of meditative ease, her
hands knitted behind the soft masses of her sheeny hair, the curving
lines of her figure, gowned in cool white, revealed to a sensuous
advantage that was wholly unstudied and unconscious, her large grey eyes
dilated between their thick lashes, accentuated by the sun-kissed tinge
of brown in her clear complexion, the girl made a beautiful picture. In
and out beneath the green leaves of the trellised vine which verandahed
the stoep, long-waisted hornets winged their way, the winnowing draught
of their flight fanning her face; but to such she paid no heed. Her
wide gaze was fixed on nothing, but wandered afar--beyond the green and
gold of the rolling, _spek-boem_ clad ridges. What was _he_ doing on
this heavenly morning? If only he would come over, moved by some
afterthought? Why not? Surely a few words need not open so wide a
gulf--a few words between men, and one of them angry. But with a sigh
she recognised, young as she was, that a few words might open a wider
gulf than even a few deeds. If only he would!

There was