"I am well and doing well," he answered; "my physical health is perfect; as for the rest--your coming is the very best thing that could have happened. Are you alone?" he asked, eagerly, "or did Mr. Underwood come with you?" "I came alone," Mr. Britton replied, with quiet emphasis, linking his arm within Darrell's as they ascended the road together. "How long have you been in town?" "But two days. I am on my way to the coast, and only stopped off for a few days. I shall spend to-morrow with you, go back with you Saturday to The Pines, and go on my way Monday." Having made his guest as comfortable as possible in his own room, Darrell laid aside his working paraphernalia, his hammer, and bag of rock specimens, and donning a house coat and pair of slippers seated himself near Mr. Britton, all the time conscious of the close but kindly scrutiny with which the latter was regarding him. "This is delightful!" he exclaimed; "but it is past my comprehension how Mr. Underwood ever let you slip off alone!" Mr. Britton looked amused. "I told him I was coming to see you, and I think he intended coming with me till he heard me order my saddle-horse for the trip. I think that settled the matter. I believe there can be no perfect interchange of confidence except between two. The presence of a third party--even though a mutual friend--breaks the magnetic circuit and weakens the current of sympathy. Our interviews are necessarily rare, and I want to make the most of them; therefore I would come to you alone or not at all." "Yes," Darrell replied; "your visits are so rare that every moment is precious to me, and think of the hours I lost by my absence to-day!" "Do you court Dame Nature so assiduously every day, subsisting on cold lunches and tramping the mountains till nightfall?" "Not every day, but as often as possible," Darrell replied, smiling. "And I suppose if I were not here you would now be burrowing into that pile over there?" Mr. Britton said, glancing significantly towards the table covered to a considerable depth with books of reference, note-books, writing-pads, and sheets of closely written manuscript. "Let me show you what I am doing; it will take but a moment," said Darrell, springing to his feet. He drew forth several sets of extensive notes on researches and experiments he was making along various lines of study, in which Mr. Britton became at once deeply interested. "You have a good thing here; stick to it!" he said at length, looking up from the perusal of Darrell's geological notes, gathered from his studies of the rock formations in that vicinity. "You have a fine field in which to pursue this branch, and with the knowledge you already have on this subject and the discoveries you are likely to make, you may be able to make some very valuable contributions to the science one of these days." "That is just what I hope to do!" exclaimed Darrell eagerly; "just what I am studying for day and night!"