THE ROCK POOL Ida was quietly gracious to Weston during the week that followed his opposition to her wishes at the portage.

This was not so much because she knew she had been wrong in insisting on his taking her down the fall, for, after all, that matter was a trifling one, but it was more because she was pleased by the part that he had played.

The man, it seemed, had preferred to face her anger rather than to allow her to run any personal risk, and afterward had undertaken a very laborious task to prevent her from discovering why he had borne it.

This was as far as she would go, though she was aware that it left something to be explained.
In any case, there was a subtle change in her manner toward Weston.
She had never attempted to patronize him, but now she placed him almost on the footing of an intimate acquaintance.

It was done tactfully and naturally, but Mrs.Kinnaird noticed it, and took alarm.
Why she should do so was not very clear, for Stirling certainly had not encouraged her to put herself to any trouble on his daughter's account, but perhaps it was because Ida was going to England, and she had a well-favored son.