Nell of Shorne Mills

Drake went down to the stables with Dick and "looked at" the horses,

every now and then casting a glance through the open door at the

_Seagull_ as it sailed across the bay.

Did he regret the woman who had jilted him? Did he wish that he were on

board his yacht with his friends, with the badinage, the scandal of the

women, the jests and the doubtful stories of the men? He scarcely knew;

he thought that he was sorrowing for the fair woman who had deserted

him; but--he was not sure. From the meadows above there came the tinkle

of a sheep bell, a lowing of a cow calling to her calf; the scent of the

tar from a kettle on the beach rose with sharp pungency; the haze of the

summer evening was blurring the hills which half ringed the sapphire

sea. There was peace at Shorne Mills--a peace which fell upon the weary

man of the world. He forgot his troubles for a moment; his lost

inheritance, his debts, and difficulties; forgot even Woman and all she

had cost him.

Then suddenly, faintly, there came floating down to him the clear, sweet

voice of Nell. What was it she was singing?

"Though years have passed, I love you yet;

Do you still remember, or do you forget?"

A great wave of bitterness swept over him, and, between his teeth, he

muttered: "They are all alike--with the face and the voice of an angel, and the

heart of the Man with the Muck-rake. God save me from them from this

time henceforth!"