Kilmeny of the Orchard

were to consult them they would tell you just what I have told you, neither more nor less.”

“ Then there is no hope,” said Eric in a tone of despair. “ You can do nothing for her? ”

David took from the back of his chair a crochet antimacassar with a lion rampant inthe centre and spread it over his knee.

“ I can do nothing for her,” he said, scowling at that work of art. “ I do not believe any living man can do anything for her. But I do not say—exactly—that there is no hope.”

“Come, David, I am in no mood for guessing riddles. Speak plainly, man, and don’t torment me.”

David frowned dubiously and poked his finger through the hole which represented the eye of the king of beasts.

“ I don’t know that I can make it plain to you. It isn’t very plain to myself. And it is only a vague theory of mine, of course. I cannot substantiate it by any

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