folded him in a cloak of invisibility, obliterated him in sleep. As he
lost consciousness he heard the trip hammer dully beating out Penny
iron, Penny gold; beating out, too, the Penny men ... Slag and metal and
ruffled muslin, roman candles and stars.




V


There came to him in the counting house, the following afternoon,
rumours and echoes of the day's happenings. David Forsythe had arrived
after dinner, and there had been word from Mr. Winscombe; he would be
obliged to return to Maryland, and trusted that Ludowika would not be an
onerous charge. David was to take Myrtle and Caroline back with him to
the city, for an exemplary Quaker party. "There's no good asking you,"
he told Howat, lounging in the door of the counting room. David was
flushed, his sleeve coated with dust. "Caroline," he exclaimed, "is as
strong as a forgeman; she upset me on the grass as quickly as you
please, hooked her knee behind me, and there I was. She picked me up,
too, and laughed at me," he stopped, lost in thought. "Myrtle's really
beautiful," he said again; "Caroline's not a thing to look at, and yet,
do you know, a--a man looks at her. She is wonderfully graceful."

Howat gave Caroline the vigorous stamp of his brotherly approval. "She
understands a lot, for a girl," he admitted. "Of course Myrtle's a
particular peach, but I'd never go to her if a buckle--" he stopped
abruptly as Myrtle appeared at David's side. "Isn't he industrious?"
she said indifferently. "You'd never guess how father's at him. Have you