t! alas, Cuthbert!"

"Why, how now? What ails thee, Cherry?"

"Cuthbert, my father hath been speaking with me."

"Well, and wherefore not? Thy father is no stern tyrant like mine,
sweet coz."

Cherry was panting with excitement and what appeared like terror.
She clung fast to Cuthbert's arm, and her eyes were dilated with
fear. She was an excitable little mortal, so he did not feel any
great alarm at her looks, but strove to reassure her in a friendly,
brotherly fashion. The Christmas festivities and excitements, which
had lasted above a week, had doubtless done something to upset the
balance of her mind. She had been so extravagantly and overwhelmingly
happy with the remembrance of her adventure at Lord Andover's house,
and her knowledge of the secret between herself and Cuthbert, that
the young man had felt half afraid lest she should contrive to betray
it to others by her blushes, her bright, fitful glances, and her
newborn softness in his presence, which gave a sweeter quality to her
childish charms. He himself did not wish Martin Holt to be aware that
anything had passed between him and Cherry till he could come boldly
forward and ask her at her father's hands, having the wherewithal
to support her. He had been surprised into an admission of youthful
devotion, and he by no means wished the words unsaid; for the secret
understanding now existing betwixt himself and Cherry was the sweetest
element in his daily life, and he was more and more in love every day
with his charming cousin. But he knew that until he could come with his
share of the Trevlyn treasure in his hands, he could scarce hope or
look for a patient hearing from the shrewd man of business. And though
he himself was increasingly confident that the treasure had been hidden
out of spite, and not really made away with, and that some day it would
be found, he knew that this opinion would be regarded by the world at
large as a chimera of ardent youth, and that Martin Holt for one would
bid him lay aside all such vain and idle dreams, and strive by steady
perseverance in business to win for himself a modest independence. Only
to the young, the ardent, the lovers of imaginative romance, had the
notion of hidden treasure any charm.

And here was Cherry crying, palpitating, trembling in his arms as
though some great trouble menaced them.

"What ails thee, sweetheart?" he asked, with playful tenderness;
and Cherry choked back her sobs to answer:

"Cuthbe