d to a turbulent
northern river that swirled along, brown with peat from the moors.

Dr. Longton, who was an enthusiastic angler, and had come armed with a
variety of fishing tackle, looked at the condition of the water with a
critical eye as he passed.

"Well, when I can't fish I can golf," he remarked. "The links here are
among the best in the kingdom. Dorothy, do you feel inclined to act
caddy?"

"I'd rather carry your baskets of fish," laughed Dorothy.

"You little impudence! Do you mean to hint that my catches will prove
such a light weight? Just wait and see. I'll make you earn your salt,
young lady. Perhaps you'll be staggering under a creel like a Newhaven
fishwife before you return. Here we are at last. Now, I hope they've
really kept the rooms I asked for. I stipulated for a south aspect."

The hydropathic, it appeared, was very full, and the doctor, greatly to
his dissatisfaction, was not able to have the particular accommodation
for which he had written.

"We must put up with what we can get, I suppose," he grunted. "At this
season everybody swarms out of town for a breath of mountain air and a
try at the trout."

Dorothy, at any rate, was not disposed to grumble at the little bedroom
which fell to her share, though it was on the top story. She liked going
up and down in the lift, and her window looked directly out on to the
woods at the back. There was a delicious smell of pines in the air, and
when she leaned out she could catch a glimpse, round the corner, of a
piece of brown river. In the highest spirits she unpacked and changed
her dress, and Mrs. Longton came to take her downstairs.

The ways of a hydropathic were unknown to Dorothy; it seemed new and
strange to her to enter the large public drawing-room, full of people
waiting for the dinner gong to sound. She looked round with keen
interest at the other visitors. A large party of gentlemen stood near
the piano, discussing fishing prospects; some golfers, collected round
the fire, were comparing notes and relating experiences; a few of the
ladies were busy with fancy work, and some were reading. Standing by the
bookcase, turning over the volumes, was a familiar little figure with a
round, rosy face.

"By all that's marvellous, it's Alison!" gasped Dorothy.

The recognition between the two girls was a mutual astonishment. Alison
rushed to welcome her friend in great excitement.

"Dorothy, is it really you? Oh, how delightful! Mother, Dorot