A STERNER WOOING It was an unusual thing for the middle of August to find Richard Dagworthy still in Dunfield.

Through all the other months of the year he stuck closely to the mill, but the best three weeks of August were his holiday; as a rule, he went to Scotland, sometimes in company with a friend, more often alone.

In the previous year he had taken a wider flight, and made his first visit to the Continent, but this was not likely to be repeated for some time.

He always referred to it as more or less of a feat.

The expense, to begin with, was greater than he could readily reconcile himself to, and the indulgence of his curiosity, not inactive, hardly compensated for his lack of ease amid the unfamiliar conditions of foreign travel.