throwing herself into his arms clung to him
convulsively.

"There, there," said Benson, fondly, "don't cry, don't cry."

"To-morrow," said Olive, half-laughing, half-crying, "we will all come
round the well with hook and line and fish for it. It will be quite a
new sport."

"No, we must try some other way," said Benson. "You shall have it back."

"How?" asked the girl.

"You shall see," said Benson. "To-morrow morning at latest you shall
have it back. Till then promise me that you will not mention your loss
to anyone. Promise."

"I promise," said Olive, wonderingly. "But why not?"

"It is of great value, for one thing, and--But there--there are many
reasons. For one thing it is my duty to get it for you."

"Wouldn't you like to jump down for it?" she asked mischievously.
"Listen."

She stooped for a stone and dropped it down.

"Fancy being where that is now," she said, peering into the blackness;
"fancy going round and round like a mouse in a pail, clutching at the
slimy sides, with the water filling your mouth, and looking up to the
little patch of sky above."

"You had better come in," said Benson, very quietly. "You are developing
a taste for the morbid and horrible."

The girl turned, and taking his arm walked slowly in the direction of the
house; Mrs. Benson, who was sitting in the porch, rose to receive them.

"You shouldn't have kept her out so long," she said chidingly. "Where
have you been?"

"Sitting on the well," said Olive, smiling, "discussing our future."

"I don't believe that place is healthy," said Mrs. Benson, emphatically.
"I really think it might be filled in, Jem."

"All right," said her son, slowly. "Pity it wasn't filled in long ago."

He took the chair vacated by his mother as she entered the house with
Olive, and with his hands hanging limply over the sides sat in deep
thought. After a time he rose, and going upstairs to a room which was
set apart for sporting requisites selected a sea fishing line and some
hooks and stole softly downstairs again. He walked swiftly across the
park in the direction of the well, turning before he entered the shadow
of the trees to look back at the lighted windows of the house. Then
having arranged his line he sat on the edge of the well and cautiously
lowered it.

He sat with his lips compressed, occasionally looking about him in a
startled fashion, as though he half expected to see something peering at
him from the belt of tre