will save her yet!"

She put out her hand and pressed his again.

"Courage!" he repeated, finding it so well received.

There were alarms and excursions without. She turned her back to the

fire, and he sat down suddenly in the big armchair, which suited his

dimensions admirably. Then the door opened, and the girl showed in

Dangle, who looked curiously from one to the other. There was emotion

here, he had heard the armchair creaking, and Mrs. Milton, whose face

was flushed, displayed a suspicious alacrity to explain. "You, too," she

said, "are one of my good friends. And we have news of her at last."

It was decidedly an advantage to Widgery, but Dangle determined to show

himself a man of resource. In the end he, too, was accepted for the

Midhurst Expedition, to the intense disgust of Widgery; and young

Phipps, a callow youth of few words, faultless collars, and fervent

devotion, was also enrolled before the evening was out. They would scour

the country, all three of them. She appeared to brighten up a little,

but it was evident she was profoundly touched. She did not know what

she had done to merit such friends. Her voice broke a little, she moved

towards the door, and young Phipps, who was a youth of action rather

than of words, sprang and opened it--proud to be first.

"She is sorely troubled," said Dangle to Widgery. "We must do what we

136

The Wheels of Chance