Kilmeny of the Orchard mantel-piece, in a ruddy glow of sunset light striking through the window, hung one which caught and held Eric’s atten- tion to the exclusion of everything else. It was the enlarged “ crayon ” photo- graph of a young girl, and, in spite of the crudity of execution, it was easily the centre of interest in the room. Eric at once guessed that this must be the picture of Margaret Gordon, for, al- though quite unlike Kilmeny’s sensitive, spirited face in general, there was a subtle, unmistakable resemblance about brow and chin. The pictured face was a very handsome one, suggestive of velvety dark eyes and vivid colouring; but it was its expression rather than its beauty which fascinated Eric. Never had he seen a countenance indicative of more intense and stubborn will power. Margaret Gordon was dead and buried; the picture was a cheap and inartistic production in an impossible frame of gilt and plush; yet the vitality 160