mewhat distantly:--

"It is not safe to judge that way, especially of any one of Highland
blood. If there is fighting in his blood, he will fight when the proper
time comes. And we have a good Gaelic saying--it has a great deal of
meaning in it, that saying--'_You do not know what sword is in the
scabbard until it is drawn._'"

"What did you say was the proverb?" she asked; and for second her eyes
met his; but she immediately withdrew them startled by the cold
austerity of his look.

"'_You do not know what sword is in the scabbard until it is drawn_,'"
said he, carelessly. "There is a good deal of meaning in it."

CHAPTER VIII.

LAUREL COTTAGE.

A small, quaint, old-fashioned house in South Bank, Regent's Park; two
maidens in white in the open veranda; around them the abundant foliage
of June, unruffled by any breeze; and down at the foot of the steep
garden the still canal, its surface mirroring the soft translucent
greens of the trees and bushes above, and the gaudier colors of a barge
lying moored on the northern side. The elder of the two girls is seated
in a rocking-chair; she appears to have been reading, for her right
hand, hanging down, still holds a thin MS. book covered with coarse
brown paper. The younger is lying at her feet, with her head thrown back
in her sister's lap, and her face turned up to the clear June skies.
There are some roses about this veranda, and the still air is sweet with
them.

"And of all the parts you ever played in," she says, "which one did you
like the best Gerty?"

"This one," is the gentle answer.

"What one?"

"Being at home with you and papa, and having no bother at all, and
nothing to think of."

"I don't believe it," says the other, with the brutal frankness of
thirteen. "You couldn't live without the theatre, Gerty--and the
newspapers talking about you--and people praising you--and bouquets--"

"Couldn't I?" says Miss White, with a smile, as she gently lays her hand
on her sister's curls.

"No," continues the wise young lady. "And besides, this pretty, quiet
life would not last. You would have to give up playing that part. Papa
is getting very old now; and he often talks about what may happen to
us. And you know, Gerty, that though it is very nice for sisters to say
they will never and never leave each other, it doesn't come off, does
it? There is only one thing I see for you--and that is to get married."

"Indeed!"

It is easy to fence with a chi