ss
of her life in the country. It was sapping her strength and energy; in
it she would grow old long before her time. The Twins had been used to
find her livelier and more spirited, keenly interested in their doings;
and the change troubled them. Doctor Arbuthnot prescribed a tonic for
her; and now and again, as in the matter of the peaches and now of the
trout, they set themselves to procure some delicacy for her. But she
made no real improvement; and the empty country life was poisoning the
springs of her being.

Sir James had expected to be annoyed frequently by the sight and sound
of the Twins on the bank of the stream. To his pleased surprise he
neither saw nor heard them. For the most part they fished in the early
morning and brought their catch home to tempt their mother's appetite
at breakfast. But if they did fish in the evening, one or the other
acted as scout, watching Sir James' movements; and they kept out of his
sight. They had gained their end; and their natural delicacy assured
them that the sight of them could not be pleasant to Sir James. As the
Terror phrased it:

"He must be pretty sick at getting a lesson; and there's no point in
rubbing it in."

Then one evening (by no fault of theirs) he came upon them. Erebus was
playing a big trout; and she had no thought of abandoning it to spare
Sir James' feelings. Besides, if she had had such a thought, it was
impracticable, since Mrs. Dangerfield had come with them.

He watched Erebus play her fish for two or three minutes; then it
snapped the gut and was gone.

"Evidently you're no so good at fishing as blackmailing," said Sir
James in a nasty carping tone, for the fact that they had worsted him
still rankled in his heart.

"I catch more fish than you do, anyhow!" said Erebus with some heat;
and she cast an uneasy glance over his shoulder.

Sir James turned to see what she had glanced at and found himself
looking into the deep brown eyes of a very pretty woman.

[Illustration: Sir James turned and found himself looking into the deep
brown eyes of a very pretty woman.]

He had not seen her when he had come out of the bushes on to the scene
of the struggle; he had been too deeply interested in it to remove his
eyes from it; and she had watched it from behind him.

"This is Sir James Morgan, mother," said the Terror quickly.

Sir James raised his cap; Mrs. Dangerfield bowed, and said gratefully:
"It was very good of you to give my chi