horse and waited, with the quietude, the
self-possession and dignity which seemed so strange in one so young,
and which, by its strangeness, fascinated him. "I--spoke to my father
about the land: he is innocent in the matter. It was bought through his
agent, and my father knows nothing of anything--underhand. I can't tell
you how glad I am that this is so. So glad that--I'll make a clean
breast of it--I rode over this morning in the hope of meeting you and
telling you."

She made a little gesture of acceptance.

"I am glad, too. Though it does not matter...."

"Ah, but it does!" he broke in. "I should have been wretched if you had
been right, and my father had been guilty of anything of the kind. But,
as a matter of fact, he isn't capable of it--as you'd say if you knew
him. Now, there's no reason why we shouldn't be friends, is there?" he
added, with a suppressed eagerness.

"Oh, no," she responded. She glanced up at the sky. Unnoticed by him a
cloud had drifted over the Langdale pikes, as the range of high
mountain is called. "It is going to rain, and heavily."

"And you have no umbrella, waterproof!" exclaimed Stafford.

She laughed with girlish amusement.

"Umbrella? I don't think I have such a thing; and this cloth is nearly
waterproof; besides, I never notice the rain--here it comes!"

It came with a vengeance; it was as if the heavens had opened and let
down the bottom of a reservoir.

Stafford mechanically took off his coat.

"Put this on," he said. "That jacket is quite light; you'll get wet
through."

Her face crimsoned, and she laughed a little constrainedly.

"Please put your coat on!" she said, gravely and earnestly. "_You_ will
be wet through, and you are not used to it. There is a shed round the
corner; ride there as quickly as you can."

Stafford stared at her, then burst into a laugh which echoed hers.

"And leave you here! Is it likely?"

"Well, let us both go," she said, as if amused by his obstinacy.

"Is it far?" he asked. "See if you can manage to balance on the
saddle--I would run beside you. It's all very well to talk of not
minding the rain, but this is a deluge."

She glanced at the horse.

"I couldn't get up--I could if he were barebacked, or if it were a
lady's saddle--it doesn't matter. Look, Donald and Bess are laughing at
you for making a fuss about a shower."

"Will you try--let me help you?" he pleaded. "I could lift you quite
easily--Oh, forgive me, but I'm not