Yet the apparition that now stood in the doorway was far from being terrifying or discomposing.

It was evidently the stranger,--a slender, elegantly-knit figure, whose upper lip was faintly shadowed by a soft, dark mustache indicating early manhood, and whose unstudied ease in his well-fitting garments bespoke the dweller of cities.

Good-looking and well-dressed, without the consciousness of being either; self-possessed through easy circumstances, yet without self-assertion; courteous by nature and instinct as well as from an experience of granting favors, he might have been a welcome addition to even a more critical company.

But Red Jim, hurriedly seizing his outstretched hand, instantly dragged him away from the doorway into the road and out of hearing of his audience.
"Did you hear what I was saying ?" he asked hoarsely.
"Well, yes,--I think so," returned the stranger, with a quiet smile.
"Ye ain't goin' back on me, Clarence, are ye,--ain't goin' to gimme away afore them, old pard, are ye ?" said Jim, with a sudden change to almost pathetic pleading.
"No," returned the stranger, smiling.

"And certainly not before that interested young lady, Jim.