"How lovely! Was Barry glad to see you?"
"Glad! I thought he would never let go my hand. He insisted on my coming to visit him. He's living down at Nogalouche."
"Where?"
Ruth stopped in her tracks and turned to face her companion.
"At Nogalouche. Why?"
"Philip Westgate! Do you know that that's where Jane Chichester has gone? Her sister told me so yesterday. Do you—do you think she'll get him?"
"Heaven knows! Persistence is a jewel; and the man can't elude her forever."
"Poor Barry!"
"Why poor Barry? He might go farther and fare worse."
"Well, I don't know. I don't think—but it's nothing for me to worry about, after all."
"No."
They walked on in silence for a minute, then Ruth remembered something that she wanted to say to him:
"Philip, there's another thing I want to thank you for. Mrs. Malleson told me. She said it was not to be known. I don't know why she should tell me, but she did. It was about how you prevailed upon Mr. Malleson to take back the men who had left him, and give them their old places. Philip, it was—it was heavenly in you to do that."
They had reached the Tracy house, and were standing for a moment by the newel-post before ascending the steps.
"Yes," said Westgate; "what with peace in the mills, and peace in the church, the storm seems to be about over. There's only one cloud in the sky, and the shadow of that cloud rests on me alone. You can banish it. Everything else has been restored to its normal condition; is it not time for us to get back on
