ck gravity. "Well, we are 'two
different men,' still; just let your pretty little head rest, and
leave Percy to me."

"I wish to Heaven you had made an end--"

"'Ah-h-h. I have sighed to rest me,'" warbled Davlin. "Cora, my love,
never put your foot on too dangerous ground."

"Well, I do wish so, all the same," said she, with feminine
pertinacity.

"Now, tell me what your plan is. We want to understand each other, and
have no more bungling."

"All you will have to do will be to keep quiet and follow my cue. When
I come down, we must manage it that I meet Percy in Miss Arthur's
absence. The rest is easy; this Mr. Percy will not find his path free
from obstacles, I think."

"What game will you play?"

"Precisely what I am playing now. I am your brother. That will explain
some things that puzzled him some time ago," dryly. "I am your sole
protector, saving the old chap, don't you see."

The woman pondered a moment. "I think it will answer," she said, at
last. "At any rate, it is the best we can do now."

A little more conversation, and Cora was quite satisfied with that and
other arrangements. Then the ponies were headed toward the village,
and driven at a brisk pace, thus enabling Mr. Davlin to catch the
afternoon train back to the city. No one at Oakley was any the wiser
for his visit. It was no uncommon thing for Cora to drive out
unattended, and she returned to the manor in a very good humor,
considering the situation.

Cora's drive had given her an appetite, and she had partaken of no
luncheon. She therefore ordered a very bounteous one to be served in
the red parlor. Mr. Arthur was enjoying his usual afternoon siesta;
Miss Arthur was invisible, for which Cora felt duly thankful; and so
she settled herself down to solitude, cold chicken and other edibles,
and her own thoughts.

Ever and anon she gazed listlessly from the window, letting her eyes
rove from the terrace to the hedgerow walk, the woods beyond, and back
again to the terrace. Suddenly she bent forward, and looked earnestly
at some object, moving toward the stile from the grove beyond. A
moment later, it appeared in the gap of the hedge.

Cora leaned back in her chair, still observant, muttering:

"I thought so! It is that ugly old woman. Now, what in the world does
she want here, for--yes, she is entering the grounds, coming up the
terrace."

True enough, old Hagar was coming slowly along the terrace, taking a
leisurely survey of the win