"Helen, you are needed in the house," he said abruptly; and then
turning to Selwyn, he asked him to take a walk up the hill. The young
man complied. He was quite unconscious of the anger in the tone of the
request. For a few yards neither spoke; then the laird, with an
irritable glance at his placid companion, said, "Mr. Selwyn,
fore-speaking saves after-speaking. Helen Crawford is bespoke for
young Farquharson of Blair, and if you have any hopes o' wiving in my
house--"

"Crawford, thank you for your warning, but I have no thoughts of
marrying any one. Helen Crawford is a pearl among women; but even if I
wanted a wife, she is unfit for my helpmate. When I took my curacy in
the East End of London I counted the cost. Not for the fairest of the
daughters of men would I desert my first love--the Christ-work to
which I have solemnly dedicated my life."

His voice fell almost to a whisper, but the outward, upward glance of
the inspired eyes completely disconcerted the aggressive old
chieftain. His supposed enemy, in some intangible way, had escaped
him, and he felt keenly his own mistake. He was glad to see Colin
coming; it gave him an opportunity of escaping honorably from a
conversation which had been very humiliating to him. He had a habit
when annoyed of seeking the sea-beach. The chafing, complaining waves
suited his fretful mood, and leaving the young men, he turned to the
sea, taking the hillside with such mighty strides that Selwyn watched
him with admiration and astonishment.

"Four miles of that walking will bring him home in the most amiable of
moods," said Colin. And perhaps it would, if he had been left to the
sole companionship of nature. But when he was half way home he met