t grew between the
granite ledges of the island to the boundless ocean beating against its
cliffs, appealed to her as to him; insensibly, and quite beyond his
power to check, came the sweet illusion of love. Gone for the moment was
the memory of Ethel Sherman and the bitterness she had meted out to him,
and in its place opened a new world. Gone, too, was the influence of the
one man who, above all others, had forced his cynicism upon Winn and
taught him distrust of womankind. Almost, but not quite, did this gentle
thraldom win, and then--the reaction came.

"I will tell Mona, as a big brother should," he thought, "all she has a
right to know, and leave the island as I came. I may return and I may
not."

But Winn, of wayward impulse and changeful nature, now buoyant, now
despondent, knew not his own heart nor its needs, and understood not at
all how some straw, some pebble of chance, would inevitably swerve him
in spite of all resolution.

It is thus with us all.

And now came the business side of his dilemma.

"It goes without sayin' ye best do as yer friend says," advised Jess,
when Winn had read the letters to him, "'n' the sooner the better. Sell
yer own stock fust, if ye kin, an' then mine if ye hev the chance, but
don't worry if ye can't. I'll take keer o' matters here while ye're
gone, an' when ye git back, we'll haul in the net 'n' see whar we
stand."

"But how about the others here?" queried Winn, who had worried about
them fully as much as about himself. "I must see that they are taken
care of."

"Wal," answered Jess, slowly, "ye go ahead 'n' see how the land lays,
'n' mebbe I'll follow ye if ye send me word; 'n' if ye don't, an' things
go to smash, I'll see none on 'em here is loser."

And this was Jess Hutton, the man above all others whom J. Malcolm
Weston had urged his dupe to sell stock to! Never before did Winn feel
so ashamed that he came there as manager for the Rockhaven Granite
Company.

"Mr. Hutton," he said earnestly, "I shall always be thankful that I told
you from the start how matters stood, and if the worst comes, you will
know it was no fault of mine."

"I knowed ye war honest, the fust time I sot eyes on ye," responded
Jess, cordially, "an' now ez ye're goin' soon, it won't do ye no harm to
tell ye. An' more'n that, I'll tell ye I never doubted from the start
this boss o' yourn was a rascal, an' the only reason I bought a little
stock was 'cause I liked ye 'n' wanted to help ye."