"Thank you," Vane replied with a smile. "I'm afraid you have taken more
trouble on our account than you need have done. Except on special
occasions, we generally confine ourselves to strong green tea."

Mabel looked at him in amazement.

"Oh!" she cried. "The West is certainly decadent! You should be here when
the otter hounds are out. Why, it was only--"

She broke off abruptly beneath her mother's withering glance.

When Vane and Carroll were left alone, they strolled out, pipe in hand,
upon the terrace. They could see the fells tower darkly against the soft
sky, and a tarn that lay in the blackness of the valley beneath them was
revealed by its pale gleam. A wonderful mingling of odors stole out of
the still summer night.

"I suppose you could put in a few weeks here?" Vane remarked.

"I could," Carroll replied. "There's an atmosphere about these old houses
that appeals to me, perhaps because we have nothing like it in Canada.
The tranquillity of age is in it--it's restful, as a change. Besides, I
think your friends mean to make things pleasant."

"I'm glad you like them."

Carroll knew that his comrade would not resent a candid expression
of opinion.

"I do; the girls in particular. They interest me. The younger one's of a