She seemed as little impressed by the
suggestion of beauty contained in the valley where the old Altarnun
Church stands, as she was by the bleak moors on to which she presently
entered. She might be looking into her own soul rather than on the
vast sweep of hill and dale which presently stretched out before her.
Now and then she muttered like one talking to herself, but she never
faltered on her way. She seemed to know no weariness. Firmly and
resolutely she went her way, her mind evidently set upon some grim
purpose. It was two o'clock when she left Five Lanes, and considerably
past three when she saw a dark object in the road in front of her. "It
must be he," she said to herself, and her lips quivered and her eyes
shone with a new light. As they drew nearer she quickened her
footsteps.

"My boy!" she said; "what will he say--what will he do? But he must
know, for his own sake and for mine. He must know that his mother is
an honest woman and tried to do right."

The day was dark and drear. Clouds hung heavily in the sky and the
moorland was wrapt in a fine mist so peculiar to that district. The
roads were heavy, and one could hear the silt crush beneath her feet as
she walked.

A little later the two met, and the relationship was evident at the
first glance. They were mother and son. The youth was about seventeen
years of age, tall and muscular. He wore the dress of a mechanic, and
there was in his appearance a suggestion of capability and of resolute
resolve. Strangely handsome he was, and yet no one seemed attracted by
him. During his journey from Bodmin a labourer would pass the time of
day, but he seemed to take no notice. And once the driver of a
farmer's cart offered to give him a lift, but he only shook his head
and trudged on. There was an eager questioning look in his eyes, and
he seemed to be wondering greatly as to the result of his journey. Two
days before he had received a letter, urging him to come to a certain
spot on Altarnun Moors, and promising him that he should hear of things
concerning which he had long been anxious to know. The letter had no
signature, but the address given was "Lancroft, near Launceston." Who
the writer of the letter was the youth had not the slightest idea, but
he never thought of refusing the request made. Almost ever since he
could remember he had wondered concerning his father and mother, and
now he felt sure that the time of revelation was come.

Pr