Quietly walking up behind him she gently laid one plump hand
caressingly on his shoulder. Wondrous was the change that stole over
his doughty face: the corrugated lines on his forehead gradually
vanished, his eyebrows hovered no longer belligerently near the lids,
while his chin--really a well-modelled one--receded slowly, but
surely, back to its accustomed position, revealing a very pleasant
mouth indeed. It could now be seen that the thin face of Mr. Lawson
was a most kindly one.

"John," began Mary, in a dangerously soft tone: "I--I think more about
thy going away than thou thinks. But thou knows how afeered I am that
they'll nivver come together again, and so--and--so, just only for the
moment, my thoughts had gone away from thee. And now thou knows this,
lad, won't thou make some effort to save 'em from wrecking their
lives? Maybe we can't do much, John, but we mun try and do something.
Now, if we can prevent the maister from going away to-night, something
may turn up to-morrow that'll give 'em a chance to talk it over, and
then it may come all reet between 'em once more. As for the train,
lad, if the maister should miss it" (both hands were on his shoulders
now, and her comely head was very near his), "he simply couldn't get
away till to-morrow."

By this time John's face was gloriously radiant, and he was just about
to turn around and promise her anything under the sun, when a shrewd
expression flashed into his eyes, and composing his countenance, he
said, in a somewhat independent, yet nervous tone, as he faced her and
adjusted his now disturbing spectacles: "Er--er, Mary, think o' the
trouble I'd likely get into if I intrigued for the maister to miss the
train; and what should I get for all my trouble? But still, lass, I'm
willing" (the glasses were needing no end of adjusting now) "to do