ied.

"Without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion?"

"Not as yet."

"What would you wish to do, were you given your choice?"

"What I wish to do, and what I intend to do if possible, is to devote
the next few months to the completion of my book. I can now afford to
devote my entire time to it, but I could not do the work justice unless
amid the right surroundings, and the question is, where to find them. I
do not care to remain here, and yet I shrink from going among
strangers."

"There is no need of that," Mr. Britton interposed, quickly; after a
pause he continued: "You once expressed a desire for a sort of hermit
life. I think by this time you have grown sufficiently out of yourself
that you could safely live alone with yourself for a while. How would
that suit you for three or four months?"

"I should like it above all things," Darrell answered enthusiastically;
"it would be just the thing for my work, but where or how could I live
in such a manner?"

"I believe I agreed at that time to furnish the hermitage whenever you
were ready for it."

"Yes, you said something of the kind, but I never understood what you
meant by it."

"Settle up your business here, pack together what things you need for a
few months' sojourn in the mountains, be ready to start with me next
week, and you will soon understand."

"What is this hermitage, as you call it, and where is it?" Darrell
asked, curiously.

The other only shook his head with a smile.

"All right," said Darrell, laughing; "I only hope it is as secluded and
beautiful as Camp Bird; I am homesick to-night for my old quarters."

"You can spend your entire time, if you so desire, without a glimpse of
a human being other than the man who will look after your needs, except
as I may occasionally inflict myself upon you for a day or so."

"Good!" Darrell ejaculated.

"It is amid some of the grandest scenery ever created," Mr. Britton
continued, adding, slowly, "and to me it is the most sacred spot on
earth,--a veritable Holy of Holies; some day you will know why."

"I thank you, and I beg pardon for my levity," said Darrell, touched by
the other's manner. And the two men clasped hands and parted for the
night.

A few days later, as Darrell bade his friends at The Pines good-by, Kate
whispered,--

"You think this is a parting for three or four months; I feel that it is
more. Something tells me that before we meet again there will be a
change--I cannot t