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"It was called--Look here, this subject wants a lot of talking overSuppose ait till we are alone and have lots of time before us"

"All right, sir"Adaht itbetter not to hurry ood ti Mr Caswall to spend the night inLiverpool

The following day the Lesser Hill party set out for Castra Regis, and forthe tiht no more of Diana's Grove or of what ht still contain

The guests were crowding in, and special places wereso ree, looked round forLady Arabella, but could not locate herIt was only when he saw the old-fashioned travelling carriage approach and heard the sound of cheeringwhich ith it, that he realised that Edgar Caswall had arrivedThen, on looking more closely, he saw that Lady Arabella, dressed as hehad seen her last, was seated beside hiht of steps, the host juave her his hand

It was evident to all that she was the chief guest at the festivitiesItwas not long before the seats on the dais were filled, while the tenantsand guests of lesser ienot reservedThe order of the day had been carefully arranged by acommitteeThere were so; andthen festivities were suspended till the ti his guests, speaking to all in afriendly uests camedown from the dais and followed his exaentle and simple

Adam Salton naturally folloith his eyes all that went on withintheir scope, taking note of all who see and a er from a far distance; so on all theseaccounts he naturally took stock rather of the wo and attractiveThere were lots of prettygirls a lancesThese did not concernhiroup ofthree, by their dress and bearing, of the farood-looking girls, one of a little overtwenty, the other not quite so oldSo soon as Adairl, who stood nearest to him, soins by recognition, and ends inobedienceMen call it "Love"

Both his coirl,and spoke of her to him in a hich made his heart warm to them

"Did you notice that party that passed?The old man is Michael Watford,one of the tenants of Mr CaswallHe occupies Mercy Farirls are his grand-daughters,the elder, Lilla, being the only child of his elder son, who died whenshe was less than a year oldHis wife died on the saood as she is prettyThe other is her first cousin, thedaughter of Watford's second sonHe went for a soldier when he was justover twenty, and was drafted abroadHe was not a good correspondent,though he was a good enough sonA few letters caiment that he had been killed by dacoitsin BurmahHe heard from the same source that his boy had been hter only a year oldWatford hadthe child brought hothat they heard of her birth was that her name was MimiThe twochildren adored each other, and do to this dayStrange how differentthey are!Lilla all fair, like the old Saxon stock fro a trace of her entle asa dove, but Mi that upsets her is when anything happens to injure or threaten orannoy LillaThen her eyes glow as do the eyes of a bird when her youngare menaced"

CHAPTER V--THE WHITE WORM

Mr Salton introduced Adahters, andthey all hbours in the position of theWatfords knew all about Adam Salton, his relationship, circue indeed if both girls did notdrealand, eligiblemen of any class are rareThis particularto a class in which barriers of caste were strongSo when it began to be noticed that he walked beside Mimi Watford andseeive thepros sounded for the banquet,he ith her into the tent where her grandfather had seatsMrSalton and Sir Nathaniel noticed that the young man did not come to claimhis appointed place at the dais table; but they understood and made noremark, or indeed did not seem to notice his absence

Lady Arabella sat as before at Edgar Caswall's right handShe wascertainly a striking and unusual wo fromher rank and personal qualities that she should be the chosen partner ofthe heir on his first appearanceOf course nothing was said openly bythose of her own class ere present; but words were not necessarywhen so much could be expressed by nods and s that at last there was to be a st the all her charm and beauty, placed her in the second rank,Lilla Watford being ence oftype, as well as of individual beauty, to allow of fair comment; LadyArabella represented the aristocratic type, and Lilla that of thecommonalty

When the dusk began to thicken, Mr Salton and Sir Nathaniel walkedho Adam tofollow in his own timeHe came in earlier than was expected, and seeNeither of the elders arettes, and, as dinner-tiet ready

Ada in the intervalHe joined the othersin the drawing-roosseen for the first tie, trusted to ti to waitAfter sitting down and standing up several times,Adam suddenly burst out

"That fellow seems to think he owns the earthCan't he let peoplealone!He seems to think that he has only to throw his handkerchief toany woman, and be her master"

This outburst was in itself enlighteningOnly thwarted affection inso manSirNathaniel, as an old diploe, the true inwardness of things, and asked suddenly, but ina matter-of-fact, indifferent voice: