"It is possible," he told her, "that you may hear some hard things of
me--and I count upon your not contradicting them. After all, I think you
owe me that favor. There's just another matter--now that I won't be here
to trouble you, won't you try to think of me leniently?"

He held her hand for a moment and then turned away, and a few minutes
later he and Carroll left the Dene.




CHAPTER XII

IN VANCOUVER


About a fortnight after Vane's return to Vancouver, he sat one evening on
the veranda of Nairn's house, in company with his host and Carroll,
lazily looking down upon the inlet. The days were growing shorter; the
air was clear and cool; and the snow upon the heights across the still,
blue water was creeping lower down. The clatter of a steamer's winches
rose sharply from the wharf, and the sails of two schooners gleamed
against the dark pines that overhang the Narrows.

In some respects, Vane was glad to be back in the western city. At first,
the ease and leisure at the Dene had their charm for him, but by degrees
he came to chafe at them. The green English valley, hemmed in by its
sheltering hills, was steeped in too profound a tranquillity; the stream
of busy life passed it by with scarcely an entering ripple to break its
drowsy calm. One found its atmosphere enervating, dulling to the