between a
sigh and a grunt, whistled monotonously for a moment or two, then burst
into confidence.

"Look here, Ingred; I can't stand this any longer. I wish I were back in
the army! I've a jolly good mind to chuck everything up, and re-enlist!"

"Is it as bad as all that?" asked Ingred.

"Yes, I'm about fed up with life. If it weren't for the little Mater I'd
have cleared out before this. Perhaps she'll miss me, but I don't know
that anybody else will, and I don't care!"

"How about Miss Bertrand?" asked Ingred, obeying a sudden impulse of
mischief.

Egbert flung down a spanner, and turned to her the most astonished face
in the world.

"What do _you_ know about Miss Bertrand?" he queried.

Ingred chuckled delightedly. To use her own schoolgirl expression, she
felt she "had him on toast."

"More than you imagine! Who went into the Abbey Church, I should like to
know, and sat in a pew for ever so long, and looked tender nothings? Oh
yes! _I_ saw you, and a pretty sight it was, too!" she teased.

Egbert was gazing at her as if he could scarcely believe his senses.

"But--but--where were you?" he stuttered.

"In the peep-hole!" exploded Ingred. "I could see right down into the
church, and I watched you come in! I've been saving this up!"

Egbert drew a long breath.

"If I'd only known before!" he said slowly. "Ingred, stop laughing! You
don't understand. Look here, will you go and tell Dad that you saw me
there, and the exact day and time when it happened. You can remember
that?"

"Why, surely Father's the very last person you want to know?" said
Ingred, sobering down.

"No, he isn't, he's the one it's most important should hear about it
from a reliable witness whom he can believe. I don't mind telling you
about it now" (as Ingred expressed her astonishment in her face), "I'd
got myself into a jolly old mess, and you'll be able to clear me! It was
this way; I slipped out from the office one afternoon for an hour, and
went into the Abbey as you saw. Well, when I got back, somebody had been
into Dad's room during his absence, and a small sum of money was
missing. He taxed me with taking it!"

"_You!_ But why you?" exclaimed Ingred indignantly.

"Because I was the only person who had access to his private room. I
told Dad I had been out--which made him angrier still--but none of the
clerks had happened to see me go or come back, and I had no other
witness to prove my words. As a matter of fact, I went ou