ve waited for it so long, so that the three years of our
probation will not be altogether wasted. I expect there will be a good
deal of talk about Carl Sartoris for a few days to come, but that need
not concern Mary, who has never been identified with that scoundrel, and
whose name is Grey, after all. In the course of a few days I am going to
take Mary away and we shall be married very quietly. I am determined to
try to get the roses back to her cheeks again."

"I hope you will be happy, as you deserve to be," Beatrice said with
some emotion. "But I shall be sorry to lose two such good, kind friends,
and----"

"You are not going to lose us," Berrington said. "I am going to give up
soldiering altogether. I have only carried it on for the last few years,
because I needed something to keep me from brooding over my troubles. I
am going to settle down on my property at last. Good-night."

Beatrice shook Berrington warmly by the hand, and he kissed her little
fingers. He had barely departed before Mark was back with a little wiry
man with a keen face and a pair of grey eyes that seemed to see into
everything.

"So this is Beatrice," he said, as he shook hands. "You must let me call
you that, my dear, because you are going to be my daughter, Mark tells
me. I am a plain man who has more or less lived for business all his
life, but begins to see lately that business is not everything. It does
not make for happiness, for instance. When I was ill I began to see
that. But at any rate the result of my business can make others happy."

Beatrice blushed and smiled. She began to see that she was going to like
Mark's father very much indeed. In quite a natural way she kissed him.
The little grey man beamed with pleasure.

"Now that was real nice of you," he said. "Mark has a great deal more
sense and discretion than I gave him credit for. He is making a name for
himself, too. But you can't live on that kind of thing, at least not at
first, and I'm going to give Mark L5000 a year, on condition that he
takes a pretty little place in the country, where I can come and see you
week ends. My dear, I feel that we are going to be very good friends
indeed."

"I am quite certain of it," Beatrice said with tears in her eyes.
"Everybody is so good to me. I can't think why, but they are."

"You'll find out if you look at yourself in the glass," Mr. Ventmore
laughed. "There the secret lies. Not a bad compliment, eh, from a man
who never trie