d and that he had made up his mind not to reenlist but to try
his fortunes with Mary Josephine in Australia. Before McDowell received
that letter, they could be on their way into the mountains. The "hunch"
offered an opportunity for a clean getaway, and in his jubilation
Miriam Kirkstone and her affairs were important only as a means to an
end. He was John Keith now, fighting for John Keith's life--and Derwent
Conniston's sister.

Mary Josephine herself put the first shot into the fabric of his plans.
She must have been watching for him, for when halfway up the slope he
saw her coming to meet him. She scolded him for being away from her, as
he had expected her to do. Then she pulled his arm about her slim
little waist and held the hand thus engaged in both her own as they
walked up the winding path. He noticed the little wrinkles in her
adorable forehead.

"Derry, is it the right thing for young ladies to call on their
gentlemen friends over here?" she asked suddenly.

"Why--er--that depends, Mary Josephine. You mean--"

"Yes, I do, Derwent Conniston! She's pretty, and I don't blame you, but
I can't help feeling that I don't like it!"

His arm tightened about her until she gasped. The fragile softness of
her waist was a joy to him.

"Derry!" she remonstrated. "If you do that again, I'll break!"

"I couldn't help it," he pleaded. "I couldn't, dear. The way you said
it just made my arm close up tight. I'm glad you didn't like it. I can
love only one at a time, and I'm loving you, and I'm going on loving
you all my life."

"I wasn't jealous," she protested, blushing. "But she called twice on
the telephone and then came up. And she's pretty."

"I suppose you mean Miss Kirkstone?"

"Yes. She was frightfully anxious to see you, Derry."

"And what did you think of her, dear?"

She cast a swift look up into his face.

"Why, I like her. She's sweet and pretty, and I fell in love with her
hair. But something was troubling her this morning. I'm quite sure of
it, though she tried to keep it back."

"She was nervous, you mean, and pale, with sometimes a frightened look
in her eyes. Was that it?"

"You seem to know, Derry. I think it was all that."

He nodded. He saw his horizon aglow with the smile of fortune.
Everything was coming propitiously for him, even this unexpected visit
of Miriam Kirkstone. He did not trouble himself to speculate as to the
object of her visit, for he was grappling now with his own oppor