eyes. "For good and all, we understand each other."

"Yes, for good and all," she repeated, her glance on the floor.

A moment later he was in the street. The sun had never shown more
brightly, the sky had never seemed so fathomless and blue. He inhaled
a deep breath. He felt as if he were swimming through the air.

"Free, free!" he chuckled, "free at last!"

Reaching the bank, he was about to enter when he met, coming out, a
dark, straight-haired, beardless young man who promptly grasped his
hand. It was Alan Delbridge.

"Hello!" Delbridge said, with a laugh. "Glad to see you back. You look
better. The wild woods have put new life in you. I knew you'd come as
soon as the Mitchells got home."

"It wasn't that," Mostyn said, lamely.

"Oh, of course not," Delbridge laughed. "You were not at all curious
to learn the particulars of the old chap's big deal--oh no, you are
not that sort! A hundred or two thousand to the credit of a fellow's
fiancee doesn't amount to anything with a plunger like you."

Mostyn laid a hesitating hand on the shoulder of the other.

"Say, Delbridge," he faltered, "this sort of thing has gone far
enough. I am not engaged to the young lady in question, and--"