"Some act of homage to the sun," he suggested. "They have come down to the sea to meet him--they look over the Atlantic from aloft there--and perform in his honour. Who knows?" Across Ruth's inner vision there flashed a memory of Mr. Hichens, black-suited and bald, bending over his Hebrew Bible and expounding a passage of Job: "_Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place_. . . ." To herself she said: "If it be so, the eagle's faith is mine; my lord's also, perchance, if he but knew it." Aloud she asked, "Why are the noblest, birds and beasts, so few and solitary?" Sir Oliver laughed. "You may include man. The answer is the same, and simple: the strong of the earth feed on the weak, and it takes all the weaklings to make blood for the few." She mused; but when she spoke again it was not to dispute with him. "You say they look over the sea from aloft there. Might we have sight of it from the top of the hill?" "Perhaps. There is plenty of time to make sure before the coach overtakes us--though I warn you it will be risky." "I am not afraid." They cantered off gaily, plunged into the woods and breasted the slope, Sir Oliver leading and threading his way through the undergrowth. By-and-by they came to the bed of a torrent and followed it up, the horses picking their steps upon the flat boulders between which the water trickled. Some of these boulders were slimed and slippery, and twice Sir Oliver reached out a hand and hauled the mare firmly on to her quarters. The belt of crags did not run completely around the hill. At the back of it, after a scramble out of the gully, they came on a slope of good turf, and so cantered easily to the summit. Ruth gave a little cry of delight, and followed it up with a yet smaller one of disappointment. The country lay spread at her feet like a vast amphitheatre, ringed with wooded hills. Across the plain they encircled a river ran in loops, and from the crag at the edge of which she stood a streamlet emerged and took a brave leap down the hill to join it. "But where is the sea?" "That small hill yonder must hide it. You see it, with its line of elms? If those trees were down, we should see the Atlantic for a certainty. If you like the spot otherwise, I will have them removed." He said it seriously; but of course she took it for granted that he spoke in jest, albeit the jest puzzled her a little. Indeed when she glanced up at him he was smiling, with his eyes on the distant landscape. "The mountain too," he added, "if the trees will not suffice. Though not by faith, it shall be removed." Chapter X. THREE LADIES. "You may smoke," said Dicky politely, setting down his glass. "Thank you," answered Mr. Hanmer. "But are you sure? In my experience of houses there's always some one that objects."