rcival's
smile. And once again Darsie wondered, and doubted, and feared and felt
the weight of invisible chains. There are moments, however, when doubts
and fears are apt to be swept away in a rush of overwhelming emotions,
and one of those is surely the beginning of a new year. To be young and
pretty; to be by general acceptance the queen of the evening--no normal
girl could help being carried away by such circumstances as these! When
the last chime of the twelve rang slowly out, and the audience with one
accord burst into the strains of "Auld Lang Syne," Darsie's eyes shone
with excitement, and she returned with unction the pressure of Ralph's
fingers.

"Then here's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine!"

The volume of sound swelled and sank, here and there a voice took a
husky tone; here and there an eye grew dim, but these belonged as a rule
to the patriarchs among the guests, for whom the past was full of tender
memories, for whom but a few more New Years could dawn. Perhaps this
might be the last, the very last, they would live to see. The young
folks shed no tears; they were not unconscious of the prevailing
emotion, but with them it found vent in a tingling expectation. Life
lay ahead. Life was to come. What would life bring?

When the song ceased, and the linked circle broke up into separate
groups, Darsie, glancing up into Ralph's face, was surprised to see it
white and tense. She smiled, half amused, half sad, bracing herself to
hear some emotional protest or vow for the future; but Ralph spake no
word. Instead, he led her to a seat, bowed formally before her, and,
still with that white, fixed look, marched straight across the room to
his father.

Darsie's pulse quickened, her little teeth clenched on her lower lip,
she pressed her hands against her knee the while she watched the
eloquent scene. Father and son faced each other; handsome man, handsome
youth, strangely alike despite the quarter of a century between their
respective ages; the Squire's face, at first all genial welcome and
unconcern, showing rapidly a pained gravity. Ralph was speaking
rapidly, with an occasional eloquent gesture of the arm, obviously
recounting some facts of pressing importance to himself and his hearer,
as obviously pleading a cause. With a thrill of excitement Darsie
leaped to the true explanation of the situation. Fresh from the singing
of the New Year song, Ralph had not paused to consi