“But we won’t walk hereabouts,” murmured she after a pause. “I’d not like to meet—folks. I tell ye what I should like if mother ’ll spare me, and that’d be for to go off right early and up in the train to see yer poor mother.” “Would ye now?” declared he, well satisfied. “She’d be rare and pleased. Then that’s what we’ll do.” The grey eyes stole a look at him. “And by-gones to be by-gones?” begged she timidly. “And not a word to Charlie Lambert?” He frowned a little. “That’s as I sees fit,” said he. “No, it’s as I sees fit,” murmured she softly, and her face was very close to his. He smiled vaguely. “You leave Charlie Lambert to me,” she added presently. “He pretty soon knew I was off it as soon as I was on. He’s got a flea o’ mine in his ear a’ready, and ’e’ll ’ave another if ’e don’t look out. You leave ’em all to me.” “I s’pose everybody’s bound to do yer bidding sooner or later,” laughed Frewin half ruefully, “me as well as most.” “Yes, don’t you make no mistake about that,” smiled she. “And what’s more, don’t ye ever go for to fancy that because I was such a bold-faced silly as to lay that wager I ever went for to win it. If ever there was a man I _didn’t_ try to catch, it was you.” Frewin laughed. “Ye’ve caught me though,” said he. “That’s as may be,” she said. “But I was too frightened at what I’d done to fish for you.” “P’r’aps that’s ’ow ye caught me then,” he said. “And p’r’aps that’s ’ow I must needs forgive ye!” So the wager was won, but never paid. For the trip to town was so deftly managed from a neighbouring station in the early hours of the Sunday, that nobody guessed it had taken place; and on the evening of the same day upon the old bridge, Letty swore a bold, brave lie that she had lost what she declared she had never tried to win. The laugh against her was loud, but then so was her own in reply, and when, six weeks later, instead of accepting Mr. Lambert’s gloves, she accepted Bob Frewin himself, she was too happy to care which way the laugh went. But to tell the truth, folk are good-natured enough; and if the girls suspected Letty’s little fraud, and, nudging one another, declared she was a clever one, they had no objection to her triumph, for Charlie Lambert was the better match of the two, and he was left for somebody else. A NE’ER-DO-WEEL A NE’ER-DO-WEEL Two women and a lad came down the hill towards the stream on a frosty January evening at sunset. It had been a good typical Christmas, and though the snow had partially disappeared, the river ran grey in the cold air, and the frost sparkled on the twigs of willows and on the brown stalks of tall water plants upon the banks.