'That is not a bad idea of yours, Sheila. I suppose Mr. Woodford will come too?'

'Oh yes, I hope so. They cannot both leave him, and I do not want Martha to remain behind.'

'All right, I'll go in about four and wheel him over,' observed Ned in a contented tone. And then they sat down on the bench by the roadside, and looked across the dark shadowy moor, faintly lit by the pale moonlight.

The sweet breath of a thousand wild-flowers, hidden away in hedgerows and hollows, pervaded the evening breeze, and the deep stillness was only broken by the hoot of an owl and the rusty notes of the nightjar. The sound of soft cropping of the herbage near them was followed by the sudden flinging up of hoofs, as two or three ponies left off browsing and scampered over the moor, their neigh of dismay answered by a distant companion.

There was a fresh salty fragrance in the air that lifted Sheila's soft hair from her temples which was wonderfully reviving and invigorating. She had felt tired and jaded from the excitement of the day, but as she sat there in the summer darkness, enveloped by the mystery and silence of the coming night, a sense of peace and well-being seemed to enfold her, and in Longfellow's quaint words—

The cares that infest the day

Seemed to fold their tents like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

Involuntarily she stretched out her hand to her companion. But Ned was in a brown study, and did not notice her light touch.

'I am not so tired now, Ned; the air has done

me good, and I feel that I shall sleep.' Then he roused himself with some degree of effort.

'It has been rather a trying day for both of us. What a puzzle life is, She; one can't fit in the pieces somehow.'

'How do you mean, dear?' unwilling to be questioned.

But he was evidently

'Oh, one has to work out one's difficulty; there is no Ready Reckoner in the arithmetic of life-every one must do their sum for themselves.' And then he continued thoughtfully, 'We seem to have come to a fresh milestone to-day, and I have an odd sort of fancy that I should like to peep round the next corner.'

'I think I know what you mean, Ned.'

'We have done our bit of level ground,' he went on, and now there is a hill or two to climb, and the road is a bit rough, I am afraid. Well, we shall see. But it is getting late, my dear, and I must not keep you up.'

'But I would rather sit here and talk to you, Ned.' But Ned was deaf to this appeal. He took Sheila gently by the arm and piloted her across the dark brae. As they passed the Old Cottage he paused for a moment.

'I hope the old man is not unwell,' he said uneasily. 'There is a light in his room, and I am sure I see a shadow moving across the blind.'

'It is probably Martha,' returned Sheila quietly; 'she often goes in to see if her father is asleep. There, I am right, you see-she has taken the candle away.'

'It is far too late for her to be up,' he returned in a low voice; 'she gives herself no rest.' And Sheila

thought this solicitude for her friend's welfare was very nice on Ned's part.

'She is such a good daughter,' she said quickly; 'what a wife she would make, if only

Sheila checked herself.

but here

'If only what?' asked Ned rather sharply. 'Why don't you finish your sentence, She?'

'I was only going to say, if she were not so plain; but I am afraid no nice man will fall in love with her.'

'Pshaw!' was all Ned's answer to this; but his manner was so impatient that Sheila fancied that her remark had not pleased him. A moment later he wished her good-night and went up to his study, followed closely by his faithful satellite Kaiser.

CHAPTER XXIV

AN EVENING HOUR

The earth is every day overspread with the veil of night, for the same reason that the cages of birds are darkened, namely, that we may the more readily apprehend the higher harmonies of thought, in the hush and quiet of darkness.-RICHTER.

A FEW days after the arrival of 'Tommy and Co.,' as Ned phrased it, Sheila went down to the village to have a prescription made up at the chemist's. On her way she was overtaken by Mr. Brett. He had evidently hurried a little, for he was somewhat breathless.

'If you do not mind waiting for a moment,' he panted, 'I should like to walk with you, as we are both bound for the same destination'; and as Sheila smiled assent to this, he leant against the fence and looked over the long meadow towards the church

tower.

Sheila stood beside him silently. Mr. Brett had been away for some days, and had only returned late the previous evening; and the week of his absence had seemed unusually long to Sheila. She was much pleased at this unexpected meeting, but all the same her first word was a reproof.

'Mr. Brett, how can you be so unwise? you ought not to walk so fast in this heat.'

You know

'It was your fault,' he returned with a wilful look. 'If you had only walked more slowly, I should have had no difficulty in overtaking you. But I shall be all right in a minute. When will you follow Shakespeare's advice?

To climb steep hills

Requires slow pace at first.'

'I don't call this a hill,' returned Sheila, rather surprised at this counter-attack; 'and I did not know that I was walking fast. Please don't talk till you are quite rested'; for his breathlessness rather alarmed her. But he brushed aside this remark.

'Peter deserves a scolding too,' he observed, looking down at the little dachshund. 'I explained to him that it was very hot, and that he had better stay in my study; but evidently solitude was not to his taste. The result is that I shall have to carry him all the way home.'

'Peter will never learn to be obedient if you spoil him so,' returned Sheila.. But he is a faithful little creature,' she continued smilingly; 'I believe, if he had his choice, he would rather follow his master through the burning fiery furnace than be left alone.' Something in Sheila's words, lightly as they were spoken, seemed to strike Luke rather forcibly.

'They teach us lessons, these dumb companions of ours,' he observed thoughtfully. Peter's devotion to his master rather shames me sometimes; it is so utterly selfless. I wonder which of us, Miss Lassiter, would choose the burning fiery furnace'; and Luke's dark face had a strangely vivid look on it.

Sheila made no response in words, but she evidently