al equanimity and had
decided that he would watch for some sign of Millicent's feelings toward
him. He was aware that they had somewhat changed, but this was to a large
extent his fault, and with caution and patience he thought it might be
possible to reinstate himself in her favor.

CHAPTER XIX

GLADWYNE GAINS A POINT

Some weeks had passed since the accident and Lisle was lying one
afternoon on a couch near a window of Nasmyth's sitting-room. Two or
three Canadian newspapers lay on the floor and he held a few letters in
one hand. The prospect outside was cheerless--a stretch of leaden-colored
moor running back into a lowering sky, with a sweep of fir wood that had
lost all distinctive coloring in the foreground. He was gazing at it
moodily when Millicent came in. His face brightened at the sight of her,
and he raised himself awkwardly with his uninjured arm, but she shook her
head at him in reproof.

"You had orders to keep as quiet as possible for some time yet. Lie down
again!"

"Keeping quiet is fast breaking me up," he protested. "I'm quite able to
move about."

"All the same, you're not to try."

He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Then I suppose I'll have to give in. You're a determined person. People
do what you ask them without resenting it. You have an instance here,
though in a general way it's a very undignified thing to be ordered
about."

He resumed his former position and she seated herself.

"I don't see why you should drag my character in," she objected with a
smile. "Other people who occasionally obey me don't say such things."

"They're English; that accounts for a good deal. I'm inclined to think my
power of expressing my feelings on any point is a gift, though it's one
that's not uncommon in the West."

"Doesn't it presuppose an assurance that any one you address must be
interested in your views?"

"I deserve that," he laughed; "but you're not quite right. We say, in
effect, 'These are my sentiments, but I won't be down-hearted if you
haven't the sense to agree with them.' The last, however, doesn't apply
to you."

"Thank you for the explanation," she rejoined. "But why do you insist on
a national difference? You're really English, aren't you, in Canada?"

"No," he answered; "you and the others who talk in that strain are
mistaken. We're a brand new nation still fusing and fuming in the
melting-pot. The elements are inharmonious in some respects--French from