and they entered his
office together, and as soon as they were alone, John bent to his
brother, drew him closer, and kissed him.

"I have been restless and longing to see you, Harry. Where have you
been, dear lad?"

It was noticeable that John's tone and attitude was that of a father,
more than a brother, for John was ten years older than Harry and through
all his boyhood, his youth, and even his manhood he had fought for and
watched over and loved him with a fatherly, as well as a brotherly,
love. After their father's death, John, as eldest son, took the place
and assumed the authority of their father and was by right of birth head
of the household and master of the mill.

Hitherto John's authority had been so kind and so thoughtful that Harry
had never dreamed of opposing it, yet the brothers were both conscious
this afternoon that the old attitude towards each other had suffered a
change. Harry showed it first in his dress, which was extravagant and
very unlike the respectable tweed or broadcloth common to the
manufacturers of the locality. Harry's garb was that of a finished
horseman. It was mostly of leather of various colors and grades, from
the highly dressed Spanish leather of his long, black boots to the soft,
white, leather gauntlets, which nearly covered his arms. He had a
leather jockey cap on his head, and a leather whip in his hand, and he
gave John a long, loving look, which seemed to ask for his admiration
and deprecate, if not dispute, his expected dislike.

For John's looks traveled down the handsome figure, whose hand he still
clasped, with evident dismay and dissatisfaction, and Harry retaliated
by striking his booted leg with his riding-whip. For an instant they
stood thus looking at each other, both of them quite aware of the
remarkable contrast they made. Harry's tall, slight form, black hair,
and large brown eyes were a vivid antithesis to John's blond blue-eyed
strength and comeliness. To her youngest son, Mrs. Hatton, who was a
daughter of the Norman house of D'Artoe, had transmitted her quick
temperament, her dark beauty, and her elastic grace of movement.

Harry's beauty had a certain local fame; when people spoke of him it was
not of Henry Hatton they spoke, they called him "t' young master," or
more likely, "that handsome lad o' Hattons." He was more popular and
better loved than John, because his temper and his position permitted
him a greater familiarity with the hands. They came to