nt, and felt it necessary
to tell her something about it.

"On that day," he said, "though you didn't know it, I was awfully in
love with you." She looked at him, wonderfully. "No, I didn't know
that! What a donkey I was! But I was wretched. I simply longed for
you."

"If you hadn't cried, you would never have had me." That she
understood.

"You wanted to pity me."

"No, I had been afraid of you. Your tears brought you down to earth."

"That's poetry," said Lucy.

"It's the nature of man," he maintained.

She wanted to know if he "minded" her seeing Urquhart. He did, very
much; but wouldn't say so.

"You needn't mind a bit," she told him. "He has terrified me. I'm not
adventurous at all; besides--"

"Besides--?"

"No, no, not now." She would say nothing more.

* * * * *

An expedition was made to the foot of the snow-field--for the benefit
of the boys. From a distance they saw the great cornice, and the
plateau where James had watched by Urquhart. Lancelot was here
confronted with irony for the first time. His loyalty was severely
tried. By rights Mr. Urquhart ought to have rescued the lot. Not for
a moment could he doubt of that. As for his father, accepted on all
hands as a hero, there were difficulties in the way which he could not
get over. He had to go very warily to work because of his mother; but
he went as far as he could. Why was it that Mr. Urquhart was hurt and
Father was not, when they both had the same drop? Lucy could only say
that Father dropped better--or fell better. And then there was a
pause. "What! With an eyeglass!" He allowed himself that--with her;
but with Patrick Nugent he was short and stern. Patrick had said
something of the same kind, as they were journeying home together. Why
hadn't Lancelot's governor smashed his eyeglass when he dropped?
Lancelot sniffed offence immediately, and snorted, "Hoo! Jolly good
thing for him he didn't! It kept the cold out of his eye. It's like
feeding a mouse when you're a prisoner in dungeons. Afterwards it
comes and gnaws the rope. Pooh, any ass could see that." And so much
for Patrick and cheek.

* * * * *

But the sick man, fretting in his bed, took short views. To see Lucy
again had become so desirable that he could think of nothing else.
She glanced before him as a Promise, and his nature was such that a
Promise was halfway to a fulfilling. As strength grew, so did he wax
sa