Alton rose, and when they went out together gravely held out his hand.

"We used to be good friends, and you were kind to me," said he. "Now is there nothing that I can do?"

"No," said Miss Townshead hastily. "Of course there is nothing, and you will hear that I am prospering presently."

Alton bent a trifle over the little hand in the shabby glove that rested a moment in his palm. "Well, if ever there is anything you will let me know. You are a brave girl," said he.

Nellie Townshead turned and left him, feeling for no apparent reason a slight choking sensation, and Alton, who watched the little figure in the threadbare dress for at least a minute, strode resolutely back to the commercial school.

"I want to see the man who runs this place," he said.

He was shown into an office, where a man, whose face he was pleased with, greeted him. "You taught Miss Townshead here?" he said.

"Yes," said the other. "She is a lady of considerable ability, and I could recommend her with confidence."

Alton stared at him a moment out of half-closed eyes. "Of course you would," he said. "Well now, she has been applying for some place where they want security. Is it fit for a lady?"

"Yes," said the man dryly. "Otherwise I should not have mentioned it to her. The storekeeper having been victimized lately, however, requires a deposit of one hundred dollars."

Alton took out his wallet. "He can have two hundred if he likes. Now I want you to fix it up without telling Miss Townshead or anybody."

"You are a relation of hers?" said the man.

"No," said Alton, "I am a friend."

"Then I'm afraid I can't assist you," said the other man. "It is necessary to avoid any probability of complications in my business."

Again a glint crept into Alton's eyes, but it vanished, and he spoke quietly. "I think you're straight," he said. "Well, I'm direct too, and I'm going right back to my ranch to-morrow. Anybody from that district will tell you all about Alton of Somasco. Now you'll take the dollars, and if you hear of me hanging round this city you can send them back to me."

The man appeared dubious, but finally nodded. "I'll make an exception in your case," he said. "The fact is, I'm sorry for Miss Townshead, because I fancy it is desirable that she should secure an appointment of any kind as soon as possible."

Alton went out contented, having, so he fancied, somewhat skilfully obtained Townshead's address, and found Seaforth awaiting him.

"They could, if I am an apt pupil, turn me out proficient for anything in three months," he said.

Alton laughed. "They'll have to do it in less, and we'll find a use for all they've taught you by and by," he said. "Now I came across Miss Townshead, and she wasn't looking well or happy. We'll call upon her father when we get through what we have to do."

Seaforth, who appeared disturbed, would have gone sooner, but it was afternoon when they strolled round the outskirts of the city, and his face was somewhat grim as they entered the Alsatia, which is the usual adjunct of such places. It would, however, have impressed the unsophisticated Eastern observer as being well painted, respectable, and especially prosperous, for virtue is not the only thing which is rewarded and recognized in a Western city. Finally, after traversing it, they found Townshead in a little wooden house which was apparently occupied by two other families. The remnants of a very meagre meal lay before him, and he sat wearing the red velvet jacket, which looked older and more faded than ever, in a canvas chair. He greeted the two men coldly and somewhat condescendingly.

"We have not been especially fortunate hitherto," he said presently.

"In fact, this city seems to be labouring under a commercial depression, and I have been unable to find any of the opportunities I had expected. Nor has my daughter been more successful."

Alton, who had been looking about him in the meanwhile, noticed that although the day was chilly there was no fire in the stove, while glancing at the man who lay, infirm alike in will and body, in the chair, he understood why the girl's fingers had trembled and the mistiness he had for a moment seen in her eyes. He was also wondering by what means he could lessen one difficulty, but it was Seaforth who devised one first.

"Things will get better presently," he said. "Now Harry and I often remember the pleasant evenings we spent at your ranch, and we never got suppers like those Miss Townshead made us, at Somasco."

"My daughter found it necessary to acquire the art of cookery in Canada," said Townshead a trifle distantly.

"Of course," said Seaforth, smiling. "Everybody is compelled to in this country, and I only referred to the subject because Harry seems to fancy it must be difficult to get any of the little things we are used to in the bush in the city, while your kindness to us would justify what might otherwise appear a liberty. We brought a few odds and ends you can't get quite so nice in Vancouver along. Hadn't you better go and bring them in, Harry?"

Alton glanced at him in bewildered astonishment. "Bring them in?" he said.

Seaforth shook his head deprecatingly. "You haven't forgotten already, and you are not going to escape in that fashion," he said. "If you'll ask at the hotel they'll tell you where to find the things."

Alton moved so that Townshead could not see him, and his face was utterly perplexed. "What things?" he said.

"Two or three fowls," said Seaforth reflectively. "There were some eggs, a bag of the big yellow apples, and--now it's curious I forgot the rest."

Alton's eyes twinkled. "Oh, yes," he said. "Some venison. There was the deer you shot in the potatoes, and a bag of dried plums. Our orchard has done very well, Mr. Townshead."

"I wonder if I forgot the Excelsior pears," said Seaforth. "They're as big as your two fists, and Harry's quite proud of them."

Townshead, who was not an observant man, appeared astonished, and also a trifle touched. "I'm afraid I have not always appreciated my bush friends as I should have done, and your kindness will I think lessen my daughter's difficulty respecting the commissariat," he said. "There are, of course, many of the little things we were used to which she feels the loss of."

Seaforth, who read a good deal more than his words expressed in the speaker's face, signed to his comrade, who went out and returned later with a hamper. "Somebody must have forgotten to put the venison in, but the other things are all there," he said.

Townshead assisted them to unpack the hamper, and while they were busy over it his daughter came in. It was apparently raining, for the thin white dress clung about her, and she seemed very white and weary.

Darkness was drawing on, the room was dim, and at first she apparently only saw her father as she stood taking off her hat by the window.

"Nothing again to-day, and I am very tired," she said. "Still, I am to call at another store to-morrow, and I was wickedly extravagant. I was kept until it was too late for dinner, and I bought something that will please you for supper."

Then as she turned to lay the wet hat down the blood rushed to her face, for she saw Alton kneeling by the hamper and Seaforth standing in the shadow behind her father's chair. The former did not rise, but his comrade came forward smiling in another moment.

"I am glad we did not miss you, as we were about to go when you came in," he said. "These are one or two trifles Harry fancied might be useful. He is absurdly proud of all the products of Somasco, and seems to think nobody can get anything nice in the city."

Seaforth also talked a good deal, and Miss Townshead smiled now and then at him, but when she went with them to the door he lingered a moment because he felt her eyes were on him.

"Your comrade didn't support you well, and I don't think the expedient would have occurred to him," she said, with a little tremor in her voice. "Still, it was done in kindness--and I am grateful."

Seaforth smiled gravely, though his face perplexed the girl. "A little faith is a good thing, and people should believe what they're told,"

said he. "Now I wonder if one could take the liberty?"

"No," said the girl. "Even if he had the best intentions. I and my father have not lost our pride."

Seaforth sighed as he turned away, and, when he rejoined Alton, stared at the lights of the city savagely, while as they passed along the water-front he said, "Will you give me a cigar, Harry?"

Alton drew out his cigar-case, glanced at it a moment, and then tossed it across the wharf. "What right have you and I to be going back to dinner when that girl hasn't enough to eat?" he said. "You know what those cigars cost me. Lord, what selfish brutes we are! Now stop right here and tell me what we are going to do!"

Seaforth made a gesture of helplessness. "The difficulty is that one can't do anything," he said. "You see, we can't attempt the hamper trick too frequently, and I scarcely think Miss Townshead would care to be indebted to either of us in any other fashion."

"Well," said Alton simply, "there must be a way somewhere, and I'm going to find it."

"Then," said Seaforth, with a trace of bitterness, "for the sake of everybody's peace of mind I hope you will. You seem especially compassionate towards Miss Townshead."

Alton glanced at him a moment, and then laughed a little. "I suppose you can't help being foolish, Charley, but you should know I've no time to think of anything beyond what I have to do just now," he said. "The biggest contract I've ever taken hold of is waiting for me."

"I am," said Seaforth dryly, "glad to hear you say so, even though your recent conduct would make it somewhat difficult for most people to believe you."

Alton glanced at him very gravely. "I don't like those jokes," he said. "You'll get more sense as you grow up, Charley."