ng good. In the best sense of the word she is his Queen and he is
her knight, who will perform noble and gallant deeds at her behest.

Jack of the humbugging eyes, handsome, happy-go-lucky Jack
O'Shaughnessy, had been what he called "in love" since the days when he
wore pinafores and little round collars with frills at the edge, but he
had never known what love meant until this winter evening, when at the
vision of Sylvia's face his heart leapt with painful violence, and he
stood still appalled by the strength of his own emotions.

He had known Sylvia Trevor for one month, four short weeks in all, yet
now here she was occupying the foremost position in his thoughts, making
the past years seem blank and empty, blocking the gate of the future
with her girlish figure. Jack felt dazed and bewildered, a trifle
alarmed, too, at the extent of the journey which he had travelled so
unthinkingly, but he never attempted to deny its reality. He loved
Sylvia--that was an established truth; the only question which remained
concerned the next step in the drama.

When a man loved a girl, when a girl blushed when he appeared, and,
despite all her little airs of superiority, could not hide her pleasure
in his society, it was generally easy enough to prophesy a speedy
engagement and marriage, but what if Providence had made other ties for
the man before the Queen's appearance? What if, though unmarried, he
was still master of a household, a bread-winner to whom brothers and
sisters looked for support?

Jack's thoughts drifted longingly towards a little home of his own,
where Sylvia reigned as mistress, and cast pretty, saucy glances at him
from the other side of the table, but he knew all the time that it was
the veriest castle of dreams. He could not keep a wife who was hard
pressed to fulfil his present obligations; marriage was out of the
question until the boys were self-supporting, and the girls either
settled in homes of their own, or comfortably portioned off. That being
so, it was plainly the duty of an honourable man to keep out of the
girl's way, to make no attempt to win her affections, but to hide his
love both from her and those at home, who would otherwise be made to
feel themselves in the way.

Jack turned and renewed his pacings up and down. There was a heavy
weight of depression on his spirits, but he never flinched from the
right path, nor did it occur to him that there was anything heroic in
this simple acce