At the Time Appointed

During his stay at The Pines Mr. Britton spent the greater portion of

his time with Mr. Underwood, either at their offices or at the mines.

Darrell, therefore, saw little of his new-found friend except as they

all gathered in the evening around the glowing fire in the large family

sitting-room, for, notwithstanding the lingering warmth and sunshine of

the days, the nights were becoming sharp and frosty, so that an open

fire added much to the evening's enjoyment. Each morning, however,

before his departure, Mr. Britton stopped for a few words with Darrell;

some quaint, kindly bit of humor, the pleasant flavor of which would

enliven the entire day; some unhackneyed expression of sympathy whose

very genuineness and sincerity made Darrell's position seem to him less

isolated and solitary than before; or some suggestion which, acted upon,

relieved the monotony of the tedious hours of convalescence.

At his suggestion Darrell took vigorous exercise each day in the morning

air and sunshine, devoting his afternoons to a course of light, pleasant

reading.

"If you are going to work," said Mr. Britton, "the first requisite is to

have your body and mind in just as healthful and normal a condition as

possible, in order that you may be able to give an equivalent for what

you receive. In these days of trouble between employer and employed, we

hear a great deal about the laborer demanding an honest equivalent for

his toil, but it does not occur to him to inquire whether he is giving

his employer an honest equivalent for his money. The fact is, a large

percentage of working-men and working-women, in all departments of

labor, are squandering their energies night after night in various forms

and degrees of dissipation until they are utterly incapacitated for one

honest day's work; yet they do not hesitate to take a full day's wages,

and would consider themselves wronged were the smallest fraction

withheld."

Darrell found himself rather restricted in his reading for the first few

days, as he found but a limited number of books at The Pines, until Mrs.

Dean, who had received a hint from Mr. Britton, meeting him one day in

the upper hall, led him into two darkened rooms, saying, as she hastened

to open the blinds,-"These are what the children always called their 'dens.' All their books

are here, and I thought maybe you'd like to look them over. If you see

anything you like, just help yourself, and use the rooms for reading or

writing whenever you want to."

Darrell, left to himself, looked about him with much interest. The two

rooms were similar in style and design, but otherwise were as diverse as

possible. The room in which he was standing was furnished in embossed

leather. A leather couch stood near one of the windows, and a large

reclining-chair of the same material was drawn up before the fireplace.

Near the mantel was a pipe-rack filled with fine specimens of briar-wood

and meerschaum pipes. Signs of tennis, golf, and various athletic sports

were visible on all sides; in the centre of the room stood a large

roll-top desk, open, and on it lay a briar pipe, filled with ashes, just

where the owner's hand had laid it. But what most interested Darrell was

a large portrait over the fireplace, which he knew must be that of

Harry Whitcomb. The face was neither especially fine nor strong, but the

winsome smile lurking about the curves of the sensitive mouth and in the

depths of the frank blue eyes rendered it attractive, and it was with a

sigh for the young life so suddenly blotted out that Darrell turned to

enter the second room.