Devon."

"I daresay you're right," and Helmsley gently stroked the tiny dog's
soft silky coat. "Rich women will pay any amount of money for such toy
creatures out of mere caprice, and will then lose them out of sheer
laziness, forgetting that they are living beings, with feelings and
sentiments of trust and affection greater sometimes than our own.
However, this little chap will be safe with me till he is rightfully
claimed, if ever that happens. I don't want to steal him; I only want to
take care of him."

"I should never part with him if I were you," said the chemist. "Those
who were careless enough to lose him deserve their loss."

Helmsley agreed, and left the shop. Finding a confectioner's near by, he
bought a few biscuits for his new pet, an attention which that small
animal highly appreciated. "Charlie" was hungry, and cracked and munched
the biscuits with exceeding relish, his absurd little nose becoming
quite moist with excitement and appetite. Returning presently to the inn
where he had left Meg Ross, Helmsley found that lady quite ready to
start.

"Oh, here you are, are you?" she said, smiling pleasantly, "Well, I'm
just on the move. Jump in!"

Helmsley hesitated a moment, standing beside the pony-cart.

"May I pay for my ride?" he said.

"Pay?" Meg stuck her stout arms akimbo, and glanced him all over. "Well,
I never! How much 'ave ye got?"

"Two or three shillings," he answered.

Meg laughed, showing a very sound row of even white teeth.

"All right! You can keep 'em!" she said. "Mebbe you want 'em. _I_ don't!
Now don't stand haverin' there,--get in the cart quick, or Jim'll be
runnin' away."

Jim showed no sign of this desperate intention, but, on the contrary,
stood very patiently waiting till his passengers were safely seated,
when he trotted off at a great pace, with such a clatter of hoofs and
rattle of wheels as rendered conversation impossible. But Helmsley was
very content to sit in silence, holding the little dog "Charlie" warmly
against his breast, and watching the beauties of the scenery expand
before him like a fairy panorama, ever broadening into fresh glimpses of
loveliness. It was a very quiet coastline which the windings of the road
now followed,--a fair and placid sea shining at wide intervals between a
lavish flow of equally fair and placid fields. The drive seemed all too
short, when at the corner of a lane embowered in trees, Meg Ross pulled
up short.

"The best of frien