'So it will--but the country wants every stick of it. And as to not cutting, one sees that from the woods--the tragedy of the woods!'--said the young man with emphasis. 'There has been no decent forestry on this estate for half a century. I hope you will be able to persuade him, Miss Bremerton. I expect, indeed, it's Hobson's choice.' 'You mean the timber will be commandeered?' 'Probably. The Government have just come down on some of Lord Radley's woods just beyond our borders--with scarcely a week's warning. No "With your leave" or "By your leave"! The price fixed, Canadians sent down to cut, and a light railway built from the woods to the station to carry the timber, before you could say "Jack Robinson."' 'You think the price these people offer is a fair one?' She pointed to the draft contract. 'Excellent! The Squire won't get nearly as much from the Government.' 'What one might do with some of it for the estate!' said Elizabeth, looking up, her blue eyes dancing in the lamplight. 'Rebuild half the cottages?' said the other, smiling, as he rose. 'A village club-house, a communal kitchen, a small holdings scheme--all the things we've talked about? Oh yes, you could do all that and more. The Squire doesn't know what he possesses.' 'Well, I'll take the papers to him,' said Elizabeth, holding out her hands for them. 'I may perhaps catch him to-night' A little more business talk, and the agent departed. Then Elizabeth dreamily--still cogitating a hundred things--touched an electric bell. A girl typist, who acted as her clerk, came in from an adjoining room. Elizabeth rapidly dictated a number of letters, stayed for a little friendly gossip with the girl about her father in the Army Service Corps, who had been in hospital at Rouen, and had just finished, when the gong rang for afternoon tea. * * * * *