Hector stared at her, his handsome face blank with astonishment. Given
a hundred guineas, he would never have thought of such an explanation,
and coming from a home where the advent of a dozen unexpected visitors
would have made no confusion, he found it difficult to realise the
seriousness of the occasion. There was no doubting Peggy's distress,
however, and that was the important point. Whether she was imagining
her trouble or not, he must come to her aid, and that as quickly as
possible. He stretched out his arms, set her lightly on the ground, and
put his own foot on the ladder.

"I will stay and help you," he said firmly; "that will be better than
going away! You don't expect me to walk off and leave you to risk your
little neck climbing up ladders to provide food for me, do you? Not
quite, Peggy, I think! Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. You want me
to get into the room up there?"

Peggy looked at him doubtfully. The window was small, and Hector was
big; she was afraid he would find it no easy task, but his ready offer
relieved and touched her more than she could express, for he had such an
acute sense of his own dignity that it meant much for him to perform
such a feat.

"You really mean it? It is good of you! You don't mind doing it to
help me?"

"I'd do a great deal more than that to please you, Peggy, if you would
give me the chance!"

This was dreadful. He was growing sentimental, gazing at her with an
expression which filled her with embarrassment, and speaking in a tone
which implied even more than the words. She could not snub him in the
face of an offered service; the only hope was to be brisk and matter-of-
fact.

"Up with you, then!" she cried, stepping back, and waving her hand with
imperious gesture. "Time is precious, and I am already far too late.
I'll watch here until you have got through the window. You will find a
key hanging on a nail. Open the door with it, and you will find me
panting on the threshold!"

No sooner said than done. Hector attempted no more sentimentalities,
but mounted the ladder and squeezed his heavy form through the store-
room window. It was no easy feat, and Peggy had one or two bad moments
as she watched him trembling on the brink. When one foot had already
disappeared he seemed for a moment to overbalance, and righted himself
only by a vigorous effort, but finally he reached the room, and Peggy
ran to meet him, aglow with relief. The key t