The Half-Hearted

arched avenues, bowers and summer-houses of rustic make, and a terraced lawn fringed with a Georgian parapet. A former lord had kept peacocks innumerable, and something of the tradition s

s were instinct with the quiet of ages. It needed but Lady Prue with her flounces and furbelows and Sir Perti

n of the house and gone riding in the haughlands till lunch. Now she suffered the penalty and dozed, but her companion was very wide awake, being a tireless creature who knew not lethargy. Besides, there was suff

y. After breakfast she had captured one of the spectacled people, whose name was Hoddam. He was a little shy man, one of the unassuming tribe of students by whom all the minor intellectual work of the world is done, and done well. It is a great class, living in the main in red-brick villas on the outskirts of academic towns,

here this afternoon," she ha

his book," sa

him at Oxford? You were the

, of course, for he was a very well-known person.

ean?" asked t

ty was one of his characteristics-"he was very well off, a

clever-I thought he

t winning the 'Varsity Grind. Men who knew him said he was an extremely good fellow, but he had scores of rich sporting friends, and nobody else ever got to know him. I have heard him speak often, and his manner gave one the impression that he was a tremendous swell,

st unlovely charac

pposed to be intolerant of mediocrity; and also he used to offend quite honest, simple-minded people by treating

ted arrogance. Before, if she had asked herself what type on earth she hated most, she would have decided for the unscrupulous, proud man. And

his best in such surroundings. He was the typical townsman, and bore with him wherever he went an atmosphere of urban dust and worry. He hungered for ostentation, he could only talk well when he felt that he impressed his hearers; Bertha, who wa

w," he said. "I feel sure that we have many i

nd here. We simply live on a patch in the middle of it. The shooting is splendid, and Lewie is a very keen sportsman. His

cratic politician though he was, he looked always forward to the day when he should own a p

were decent merchants in Abbeykirk three centuries ago, they were busy making history. When you go to Etterick you must see the pictures. There is a fine one by Jameson of the Haysto

is he the only o

with himself by risking his precious life in Hindu Kush or

his responsibilities!" said the p

ker of responsibilities was appearing in person. There str

d he caught her small woman's hand in a ha

ble left hand. "Oh, Lewie, you wretch! how glad we are to see you again.

of them, for he shook hands cordially with the two spectacled people. "Hullo, Hoddam, how are you? And Imrie! Who woul

at once, but he, too, seemed to lose for a moment his flow of greetings. His tone insensibly changed to a conventional politeness, and he asked her some of the stereotyped questions with which one greets a stranger. She felt sharply that she was a stranger t

ave some pleasant talk on matters dear to the heart of both. At which Lewis shunned the vacant seat between Bertha and that gentlema

ock at peace n

rs, while Tam is simply a human collie. He has the same endearing manners and

r said in wonder, "I didn't know

red accidentally at the Midb

never told me! Why, it is the best water about here, and

s-about four

ulking chap got all the sport!" And the boy int

ater for company, and Lewis was put through a str

hat outlandish place, m

restless interest in frontier politics which now and

islaw?" asked Mr.

nt up, but I often saw him at Oxford, and he has helped me innumerable times." The young

es crossed swords," sa

bore to ask which had

ble," said Mr. Stocks, ma

be told of a man's ability when

gularly when I was abroad, but of course he never would speak abou

dressed waved a

rt. But we who believe in the people and work for them have found him a bitter enemy. The idle, academ

ut I have never seen anything like Tommy. He is a perfect mill-horse, wasting his fine ta

so he forbore to be irritat

erfered to pr

r some place like that there are two hundred miles of utterly unknown land till you come to Ru

dant savage tribes with a particularly effective crooked kind of knife. And, finally, our Governm

an adventurer!" said Al

ure in the chair above him, and

shart-who knows?" he sai

. It was no longer the kindly, humorous face of the sportsman and good fellow, but the keen, resolute face of the fighter, the schemer, the man

t by her position, for otherwise life might have gone differently with both. But the things which we cal

ion and fire as well as common sense. It was the purple and fine gold which first caught her fancy, though on reflection she

A small, dainty figure tripped through the mazes of his thoughts. This man, usually oblivious of woman's presence, now mo