uite gray on the temples; she liked the contrast
between the quizzical humour in his eyes and the earnest expression of
his generous mouth with its deep corners. He stood in her mind for the
straight and simple things of life, and she had lost her way so often
among the bewildering ramification of human motives. He had no trivial
words, she knew. He was incapable of "making conversation"; and she, who
had been bred in a community of ceaseless chatter, was mentally
refreshed by the sincerity of his interest. It was as restful, she said
to herself now, as a visit to the country.

"So Gershom asked you to give me a message?" remarked Vetch abruptly to
Patty. "Where did you see him?"

"He joined me when I went out," replied Patty, speaking slowly and
carefully with her eyes on Corinna. "I tried to slip away, but he
wouldn't let me. He asked me to speak to you about something that was
worrying him, and a great many others, he said. He didn't put it into
words, but I think he meant the strike--"

Vetch looked up quickly. "Oh, that is worrying him, is it?"

"What is it all about, Father? Why are they going to strike?"

"Can you answer that, Mrs. Page?" The Governor turned to Corinna with a
sportive gesture, as if he were casting upon her the burden of a reply.
His smile was sketched so faintly about his mouth that it seemed merely
to emphasize the gravity of his expression.

"I?" Corinna looked round with a start of surprise. "Why, what should I
know of it?"

"Then they don't talk about it where you are?"

"Oh, yes, they talk about it a great deal." She appeared to hesitate,
and then added with deliberate audacity, "but they think that you know
more about it than any one else."

He did not smile as he answered her. "Do they expect the men to strike?"

Though she made a graceful gesture of evasion, she met his question
frankly. "They expect them to, I gather--unless you prevent it."

A shade of irritation crossed his features. "How can I prevent it? They
have a right to stop work."

"They seem to think, the people I know, that it depends upon how safe
the leaders think it will be."

"How safe? I can't tie their hands, can I?"

"Of course I am only repeating what I hear." She gazed at him with
friendly eyes. "No one could know less about it than I do."

"People are saying, I suppose," he continued in a tone of exasperation,
"that these men had an understanding with me before I came into office.
They seem to thi