n_!' And then I give her a real
talking to about the war. 'You back your young man,' I said, 'and
there's only one way as females can do it--barring them as is in
munitions. Every bit of bread you don't eat is helping to kill
Boches. And what else is your young man doin'? Where do you say he
is? Wipers? You ask him. He'll tell you!' So then we were all nice
and comfortable--and you needn't bother about us downstairs. _We're_
all right!"'

'Good old Forest!' laughed Desmond, delighted. 'I always knew he was
the real boss here. Father thinks he is, but he can't do without
Forest, and the old boy knows it.'

'Well, so that's agreed,' said Elizabeth demurely, as she rose. 'I
naturally couldn't do anything without you, but so long as your
father gets everything that he's accustomed to--'

'I don't see quite what you're going to do about dinner--late
dinner, I mean?' said Pamela pensively.

Elizabeth beamed at her.

'Well, I became a vegetarian last week, except for very occasional
break-outs. Fish is a vegetable!'

'I see,' reflected Pamela. 'We can break out now and then at dinner,
when father's got his eye on us--'

'And be pure patriots at lunch,' laughed Miss Bremerton, as she
opened the door. 'Au revoir! I must go back to work.'

She vanished. The brother and sister looked at each other.

Desmond gave his opinion.

'I believe she's a good sort!'

'"Wait and see,"' said Pamela pompously, and returned to her
packing.

* * * * *

The preceding conversation took place during a break in Elizabeth's
morning occupations. She had been busily occupied in collecting and
copying out some references from Pausanias, under the Squire's
direction. He meanwhile had been cataloguing and noting his new
possessions, which, thanks to the aid of his henchman Levasseur, had
been already arranged. And they made indeed a marvellous addition to
the Mannering library and its collections. At the end of the room
stood now a huge archaic Nike, with outstretched peplum and soaring
wings. To her left was the small figure, archaic also, of a
charioteer, from the excavations at Delphi, amazingly full of life
in spite of hieratic and traditional execution. But the most
conspicuous thing of all was a mutilated Eros, by a late Rhodian
artist--subtle, thievish, lovely, breathing an evil and daemonic
charm. It stood opposite the Nike, 'on tiptoe for a flight.' And
there was that in it which seemed at moments