to
penetrate, but stepped back until the whispering warnings were no
longer heard and there waited, hoping that patience might be rewarded.

It was. In a little while he heard some one coming along the path and
stepped out of the snug couch of leaves he had made for himself and
suddenly confronted the Mission girl. She started back in fright, then
laughed in confusion as she recognized him. She bore two empty baskets,
and Barry reached out for them.

"May I carry them?" he asked simply.

"Surely, Captain Barry. But you startled me. I was not expecting to meet
anybody here."

"Perhaps better me than others," replied Barry cryptically. "How is
Gordon, Miss Sheldon?"

"He is improving," the girl replied, and her eyes narrowed as she gazed
quizzically at him. "But what is the riddle about better you than
others? I don't understand."

"Never mind," smiled Barry. "It doesn't really matter, since I was the
lucky one, does it? But have you discovered whose man Gordon is, after
all?"

"Why, no, Captain. It isn't necessary, I think. Mr. Gordon has always
been accepted by my fellow workers as Mr. Leyden's man, and we have
known Mr. Leyden a long time. We don't know you so well, you must
admit."

"That's very true, Miss Sheldon. But I hope you will know me better
before long," replied Barry, flushing at the implied doubt as to his own
_bona fides_. He remembered, in time to avoid a bad break, that it was
no part of his business in Houten's interests to show his credentials to
Mission folks, no matter how devoutly he desired to place himself on a
secure footing with them. His visit was entirely on Houten's account,
and anything else was a side issue. So instead of blurting out an offer
to produce his credentials, he remarked quietly:

"If you will ask Mrs. Goring, she will tell you better than I can."

"Mrs. Goring?" echoed the girl. "Why, I don't know her any better than I
know you, Captain Barry. Why should I ask her to disavow something that
needs no disavowal?"

"Don't know her?" queried Barry, astonished. He had thought Mrs. Goring
an old acquaintance at least, if not actually a friend.

"No. We never saw her until the day your ship arrived. She brought a
letter, though, from mutual friends in Batavia, so we have accepted her
gladly. She has proved a wonderful nurse, too. Mr. Gordon could not be
better cared for by mother, wife, or sweetheart."

Miss Sheldon's face softened with the thought. She irradiated the