"You have lost your party?" he said.
"These are not your friends? I thought not.
Be good enough to put your hand on my arm,
and have no uneasiness."

Then he turned to the scapegrace lads, who
took different attitudes at his interference,
some ready to pick a quarrel, some inclined for
a more prudent retreat.

"Come, young sirs," he said severely,
"begone and get you home to your beds. Such
youngsters cannot be trusted out of the nursery
without mischief. As the friend of this lady I
owe each of you a horsewhipping, but I will
let you off on account of your tender years.
When you have slept on this matter, I trust,
for the sake of the men you may one day
become, that you will have the grace to feel
ashamed of your conduct."

No other form of treatment could have
punished the delinquents so keenly. Afraid of
such terrible words being overheard, as
addressed to them, they slunk away; one or two
hanging their heads, the rest with a faint
attempt at bluster and swagger.

After this was over and they had finally
disappeared, Sir Archie and Hester passed half an
hour on the staircase, watching in vain for a
glimpse of any member of Lady Humphrey's
party. At the end of that time Sir Archie
became uneasy; looked at his watch, and grew
more uneasy still. He had pressing business
of his own on hand, important as life and
death, yet how could he desert this trembling
girl, whom he had volunteered to protect?
At last he said:

"I fear it is useless our waiting here longer.
Strange as it may appear, I think your friends
must have left the place without you. If you
will tell me your address, I will bring you home
myself without further delay."

"Oh!" said Hester, with a new dismay;
"but it is such a distance—such a very long
distance—all the way to Hampton Court
Palace."

"Hampton Court Palace!" repeated Sir
Archie. "Ah! that is far, that is too far,
indeed."

The hands of his watch were wearing towards
four, and at half-past that hour it was required
of him to be present in a very different place
from this, and engaged upon far other affairs
than the relief of distressed damsels. Whilst
considering what there was that could be done
he brought Hester down the lower stair,
into the hall below, into the open air; and
then without further pause he hailed a waiting
vehicle, placed Hester within it, gave instructions
to the driver, and took his place in the
coach at her side.

As they drove along he explained himself.
"When you reflect upon this adventure
tomorrow," he said, "you will not blame me, I
hope, for not consulting your wishes more than I
have done. You must excuse me also if I have
been brusque or stern. I am doing the best I
can for you. It would be impossible for me to
drive with you to Hampton Court to-night, and
I could not send you on so long a journey in a
hired carriage alone. I have not a moment to
lose for my own part, and I am going to leave
you in the only place of safety I can think of.
To-morrow I will call to see you, and we will
contrive to send a message to your friends."

The carriage at this moment turned into an
old-fashioned square, with a dusty-looking
garden in the centre, and tufts of grass growing
up here and there between the paving
stones. It stopped before a tall, wide, aged-
looking house, with a gateway and windows
which suggested that the house might have
once been a nobleman's dwelling, perhaps in
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. A great lantern
hung before the entrance, whose flame still
burned feebly in the grey daylight. Sir Archie,
who had been scribbling in his pocket-book on
his knee, sprang out of the coach, and pulled
the heavy handle of a bell, which answered
immediately with a great voice, that, in the utter
silence of this place, they could hear making
its sudden startling music among the passages
and chambers within. Sir Archie then assisted
Hester from the coach, led her to the still-
closed door under the shadow of a great black
arch, and placed a written leaf of paper,
unfolded, in her hand.

"There may be yet some moments' delay
about the opening of the door," he said, " and
I have not one to spare. But you need not
have a shadow of fear. You are safe to gain
admittance here," he added, with a latent smile
about his eyes and lips as he looked down at her
standing with her passport in her hand, full of
faith—" as safe to gain admittance, as if you
were waiting at the gate of heaven itself."

And then Sir Archie returned to his coach,
and gave a fresh instruction to the driver. A
moment longer he waited to hear the first bolt
withdrawn behind the massive door, and to let
his eye dwell with infinite approval on the slim
white strip of a figure, the pale rim of a
cheek, the little red hood half huddled over the
loose golden hair. Truly Sir Archie had the
eye of an artist, since, even in a moment like
this, he could make pictures for himself out of
a masquerading girl, a patch of dawn-streaked
sky, and an old black archway with its lantern.
A man who had seen all the wonderful sights of
the world ought to have been less easily charmed
with such simple materials. Yet, long years
later, it was found that this quaint bit of painting
in the deserted old square had held its own
in his memory, through light and through
shade, against all the finer experiences of his
educated eyes.

Meanwhile, Hester, standing on the grass-
grown pavement, under the expiring lamp, and
with the daylight brightening all round her,
read the words written on the slip of paper in
her hand:

"Dear Mary. [So ran the pencil marks.]
Take the bearer in, and be kind to her. She is
a young lady who has been parted from her
friends by accident, through no fault of hers. I