ch is repugnant to
him in the other--that which has remained hidden through years of
friendship.

The door of the office is unceremoniously opened, and a girlish voice
says:

"Ah, father--I thought you must be keeping Mr. Trueman. Don't you
remember you promised me at breakfast you would not? Our ride was fixed
for three o'clock. It is now nearly four. Why, you both look positively
serious!"

Ethel Purdy, gowned in a black riding habit which displays a dainty,
enamelled bootleg, and wearing a gray felt hat of the rough rider type,
gracefully poised on one side of her head, smiles incredulously as she
stands, one hand on the knob, looking in through the door at the two
men.

CHAPTER IV.

A QUIET AFTERNOON AT WOODWARD.

Ethel enters Harvey's office just in time to avert a quarrel between the
Coal King and his attorney. In her presence both men resume their normal
reserve of manner.

"So you have come for your afternoon ride?" Purdy inquires, in a
pleasant tone.

"Well, my dear, you shall not be disappointed. The matter Harvey and I
were discussing can be deferred. Go and enjoy an hour's exercise. I
shall be home when you arrive."

"Won't you go with us, papa?"

"Not to-day. I have a Board meeting to attend."

"I do wish you would pay as much attention to your health as you do to
business. You are not looking well. Have you forgotten what the doctor
told you about over-working?"

"No, my dear; I remember his advice; but he does not know what a
responsibility rests upon me as the President of the Paradise Coal
Company. If I did not attend to the details of this business, there
would be a dozen competitors in the coal industry within a year. Even if
I cannot go with you every day, you have Harvey as an escort. You two
will not miss me. When I courted your mother, I should not have insisted
upon a third party accompanying us on our rambles."

"Then we will join you at dinner," says Harvey, as he walks towards the
door.

At the curb in front of the entrance of the office building, a groom
stands holding the bridles of three magnificent hunters.

Harvey assists Ethel to her saddle and springs on to his horse. "Take
Nero back to the stables," Harvey instructs the groom. "Mr. Purdy will
not use him this afternoon."

The riders are soon out on the turnpike that leads to Woodward. For a
November afternoon, the weather is delightful. The prospects of a
bracing canter over the mountain roads could not