Kilmeny of the Orchard 
     
    
   
   
    
     room several times in silence. Finally he 
     
     halted before Eric. 
     
    

    
     “ So you have done what I foreboded 
     
     all along you would do — left your com— 
     
     mon sense behind you when you went 
     
     courting.” 
     
    

    
     “ If I did,” said Eric quietly, “ I took 
     
     with me something better and nobler than 
     
     common sense.” 
     
    

    
     David shrugged his shoulders. 
     
    
   
   
    
     “ You’ll have hard work to convince me 
     
     of that, Eric.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     “ N o, it will not be difficult at all. I 
     
     have one argument that will convince you 
     
     speedily — and that is Kilmeny Gordon 
     
     herself. But we will not discuss the mat— 
     
     ter of my wisdom or lack of it just now. 
     
     What I want to know is this — what do 
     
     you think of the case as I have stated it 
     
     to you? ” 
     
    

    
     David frowned thoughtfully. 
     
    

    
     “ I hardly know what to think. It is 
     
     very curious and unusual, but it is not 
     
     totally unprecedented. There have been 
     
    

    
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