ss, and her manner of greeting him and presiding at
the lunch table was so assured, so different from the timid
hospitality she was wont to offer under Simeon's roof, that her whole
personality seemed changed. She more than ever satisfied his admiring
affection, but she was so unlike the Mrs. Ponsonby of Harmouth that he
felt like confiding to this gracious, sympathetic woman the tragedy
that threatened her other self.

Early in the day, before that woeful message came, he had counted the
minutes he could spend with her, and now he was timing his visit so as
to curtail it to the least possible duration, and taxing his ingenuity
as to how best to avoid seeing her alone. It was Saturday, and he
trusted to the half holiday for the protection of Ben's presence; his
depression of spirits would be less noticeable in general
conversation.

He arrived on the stroke of the hour set for lunch, and to his chagrin
was shown to the library, where Deena was sitting alone. His trouble
deepened, for, after motioning him to a chair beside her, she resumed
her embroidery and said, with a quizzical expression:

"You were in the midst of Simeon's last letter when we parted last
evening, Mr. French; please go on with it. You may remember you left
my unfortunate husband pledged to become a horseman."

Stephen could not respond to her merry mood; his anxiety was to steer
the conversation away from Simeon, and he had run against a snag at
the start.

"At all events, I left him safely surrounded by friends," he
said--more in answer to his own feelings than her banter.

In thinking over any disaster, the mind loves to dwell on the peaceful
moments that preceded it. Stephen found comfort in recalling the gay
tone of Simeon's letter, his delight in his coming adventure, and the
good feeling that evidently existed between him and the ship's
company.

Deena took exception to his remark.

"You have strange ideas of safety!" she laughed. "Not content with
mounting a confirmed pedestrian on a wild horse of the Pampas, you
must needs turn him loose among a horde of savages. The hunt had not
taken place when he wrote, had it? It is a pity, for I should like
Simeon safely back on shipboard without the loss of spectacles or
dignity."

She would like Simeon back! What wouldn't French give to know her
husband was still alive!

The butler announced lunch, and Ben came dashing downstairs, delighted
to see Stephen and full of excuses at having lin