ould turn to his old comrade in his loneliness
and grasp her strong hand for help and comfort! But the time had come
and gone, and he had not wanted her; there was nothing she could do for
him.

She had faced the bitter truth with all the courage she could muster,
and forced herself into calmness and acquiescence. For her the memory
of the past remained. In her inmost heart she had long ago erected a
shrine--a shrine where Memory was enthroned--a boyish, virile figure
with all the hope and joy of his young manhood on his beautiful, eager
face.

She laid down her pen after a while, and with it all pretence of any
other occupation than that of listening as "the muffled tramp of years
came stealing up the slope of time." She sat quite motionless, with
her head bent forward and her hands folded in her lap. It was an
attitude characteristic of her, and she had at all times a curious
power of stillness.

So engrossed was she, so intent upon hearing Voices which spoke for her
ear alone, that an unwonted stir at the cottage door failed to rouse
her, and it was not until Mrs. Palling hurried in, with excitement and
pleasure written large on her homely face, that Isabella became aware
that she had been called already several times.

"Miss! miss! there's the pony-shay from the High House a-comin' along
the lane. 'Twill be the young lady for a cup o' tea, for sure. It
don't surprise me, that it don't, for them bees have been buzzin' for a
stranger these four days or more; but I come to tell you, thinking as
though you might like to go and meet her. I made a bit o' plum bread
this very morning that rose as light as goosedown, and that'll just
come in handy for your tea----"

Isabella had risen hastily to her feet, and was out at the little green
gate before the woman had finished speaking.

The old pony was answering gamely to the encouragement which Philippa
was giving him with both whip and voice, and trotted across the green
at a pace which must have reminded him of his distant youth, and as she
pulled up he tossed his head and shook himself as though to disguise
the fact that he was blowing hard as the result of his unwonted
exertions.

Philippa got quickly out of the carriage and came close to her friend.
"Isabella," she said, "will you come? he wants you--now--at once."

Isabella made no answer, but she turned and fled into the cottage,
where she stumbled her way up the steep stairs with a blinding light
dan