of
this outward sign of his drunken condition smote the good-natured Bill
to the heart. It was nothing new to him in his erring brother. He had
seen it all before, years ago, so many, many times. But through all
these years apart he had hoped for that belated reforming which meant
so much. He had hoped and believed it had set in. Now he knew, and his
last hopes were dashed. Kate Seton had warned him, but her warning had
not touched him as the exhibition he now beheld did. Why, why had
Charlie done this thing, and done it to-night--their first night
together in the new world? He could have cried out in his bitterness
of disappointment.

As he looked upon the man's unsteady poise he felt as though he could
have picked him up in his two strong hands and shaken sober senses
into him.

But Charlie's mood had changed at the sound of the big man's regrets.
They had penetrated the mists of alcohol, and stirred a belated
contrition.

"I don't want any apologies from you, Bill," he said thickly. "Guess
I'm not worth it. You couldn't spy on a soul. It's not that----." He
broke off, and it became evident to the other that he was making a
supreme effort at concentration. "You saw me at the pine?" he suddenly
inquired.

Bill nodded. He had no desire to say anything more now. He felt sick
with himself, with everything. He almost regretted his own coming to
the valley at all. For a moment his optimism was utterly obscured.
Added to what he now beheld, all that Kate Seton had said was
revolving in his brain, an oppressive cloud depriving him of every joy
the reunion with his brother had inspired. The two thoughts paramount,
and all pervading, were suggested by the words "drunkard" and "crook."
Nor, in that moment of terrible disappointment, would they be denied.

Charlie sat down in his chair again, and, to the onlooker, his
movement was almost involuntary.

"I was there," he said, a moment later, passing one hand across his
frowning brows as though to clear away the cobwebs impeding the
machinery of his thought. "Why--why didn't you come and speak to me? I
was just--around."

Again Bill's eyes opened to their fullest extent.

"I hollered to you," he said. "When you heard me you just--vanished."

Again Charlie smoothed his brow.

"Yes--I'd forgotten. It was you hollered, eh! You see, I didn't know
it was you."

Bill sat swinging one leg thoughtfully. A sort of bewilderment was
getting hold of him.

"You didn't recogniz