r two and
then stopped, Mark making no effort to assist him. Then stifling a cry
of pain, he took another step or two and tottered, when Mark caught his
arm.

"You're shamming," he cried angrily.

Ralph's brow wrinkled, and he looked down at his bare legs and feet,
raising one a little, painfully, to draw attention to the terribly
swollen state of his ankles and knees.

"Shamming!" he said quietly. "Am I? Well, they are not."

Ralph held out first one leg, and then the other, before seating himself
again, drawing his hose from his belt, and trying to draw them on; but
at the end of a minute the pain from his swollen wrists forced him to
give up the task, and he slowly replaced the hose in his belt.

Twice over, unseen by Ralph, his companion made a gesture as if to
advance and help him, but he mastered the inclination; and after a
while, Ralph sat perfectly still, waiting for the giddy feeling from
which he suffered to go off. And at last, feeling a little better, he
rose to his feet, bowed distantly, and began to descend the steep slope;
but in a few minutes he was clinging to a tree, helpless once more, and
he started, as Mark suddenly said, roughly:

"Here; you don't know our cliff: let me show you--"

Ralph was under the impression that he had left Mark Eden quite behind,
and his surprise was the greater when he found that his enemy was
offering him his arm, and ended by helping him down the remainder of the
way to the river, where the injured lad gladly seated himself at the
edge upon a stone, which enabled him to lave both feet at once in the
clear cool current, to the great comfort and relief of his swollen
ankles.

After a time he was able to use his feet, resume his hose and shoes, and
rise to start back; but it was awkward to part without some word of
thanks, and these were very difficult to say to one who stood by all the
time, watching every action, with a mocking smile upon his lips.

But the words had to be said, and making an effort Ralph turned to
speak. But before a sound had left his lips, Mark burst out with:

"Going now? Very well. Wait till we meet again. That way, sir. I
dare say you know that you can cross the river there?"

Ralph bowed coldly, and took a few steps toward the shallows, before
stopping short.

"I must go and thank him for what he has done," he said to himself; and
he turned to walk back, but Mark was not visible.

"Master Mark Eden," he cried; but there was