y.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid, under the circumstances, I can't squeeze
out any sympathy even for Charles Svendt."

Arrived at St. Peter Port, the ladies permitted him to attend them to
the door of the largest drapery establishment they could find, and
then told him he was at liberty to go and enjoy himself for a couple
of hours.

"Two hours? Good Heavens! What can you want in there for two hours?"

"Usual thing!" sparkled Miss Penny. "Tablecloths!"--with which cryptic
utterance he had to be satisfied.

"And where do we meet again--if ever?"

"Hauteville House--Victor Hugo's. It's part of your honeymoon--a bit
on account."

"And whereabouts is it?"

"No idea. If we can find it, you can. Au revoir!"

He went first to get his hair cut, since the practice of the tonsorial
art in Sark is still in the bowl-and-scissors stage.

Then he sought out a lawyer of repute, whose name he had got from the
Vicar, and gave him instructions for the drawing of a brief but
comprehensive deed of settlement of all Margaret's portion on herself
absolutely and entirely. While this important document was being
engrossed, he sought out the Rector of St. Peter Port, in George
Place, and in a short but pleasant interview was accepted as tenant of
the whole of the Red House in Sark for the month of July, with the
option of a longer stay if he chose.

Then back to the lawyer's, where he signed his deed, paid the fees,
and took it away with him.

After that, to fill in the time occupied elsewhere by the purchase of
mythical tablecloths, he rambled up and down the quaint
foreign-flavoured streets till he found a jeweller's shop of size, in
the Arcade, and decided, after careful inspection from the outside,
that it would answer all requirements.

For he had a ring and half a ring to buy for Margaret, and he thought
he would buy one also for Hennie Penny, as a pleasant reminder of
their good days in Sark.

So utterly unconventional had their proceedings been, so thoroughly
had the spirit of the remote little island possessed them, and so
all-sufficient had they been to one another, that the thought of an
engagement ring had troubled his mind as little as the lack of it had
troubled Margaret's. But the absolute necessity of a wedding ring had
reminded him of his lapse, and now he would repair it on a scale
remotely commensurate with his feelings. Remotely, because, if his
pocket had borne any relation to his feelings, he would have bo