er, though it had left
her friend smarting.

Presently she looked around with interest as a figure appeared farther up
the road, and recognizing the fine poise and vigorous stride, she stopped
and waited. Lisle was a bracing person to talk to, and she wanted to see
him. He soon came up with her and she greeted him cordially. Unlike
Gladwyne, he was a real man, resolute and resourceful, with a generous
vein in him, and she did not resent the fact that he looked rather hard
at her.

"You don't seem as cheerful as usual," he observed.

"I'm not," she confessed. "In fact, I think I was very nearly crying."

"What's the trouble?" He showed both interest and sympathy.

"Oh, you needn't ask. It's Jim again. I've tried every means and I can't
do anything with him."

"He is pretty uncontrollable. Seems to have gone back to Batley again. I
wonder if it would be any good if I looked for an opportunity for making
a row with the fellow?"

"No," she answered, with appreciation, for this was very different from
Gladwyne's attitude. "It would only separate Jim from you, and I don't
want that to happen. Please keep hold of him, though I know that can't be
pleasant for you."

"He is trying now and then, but I'll do what I can. Gladwyne, however,
has more influence than I have. Did you think of asking him?"

She colored, and in her brief confusion he read his answer with strong
indignation--she had pleaded with Gladwyne and he had refused to help.

"Do you know," she said, looking up at him, "you're the only real friend
I have. There's nobody else I can trust."

"I think you're wrong in that," he declared; and acting on impulse he
laid a hand protectingly on her shoulder, for she looked very dejected
and forlorn. "Anyway, you mustn't worry. I'll do something--in fact,
something will have to be done."

"What will you do?"

He knitted his brows. There was a course, which promised to be effective,
open to him, but he was most averse to adopting it. He could give
Gladwyne a plain hint that he had better restrain his confederate, but he
could enforce compliance only by stating what he knew about the former's
desertion of his cousin. He was not ready to do that yet; it would
precipitate the climax, and once his knowledge of the matter was revealed
his power to use it in case of a stronger need might be diminished. The
temptation to leave Jim Crestwick to his fate was strong, but his pity
for the anxious girl was stronger.

"I'