Colonel Schuyler has come and, I hear, is storming angrily over the mishaps that have delayed the progress of his new dwelling. He says he will not go away again till it is completed, and has been riding all the morning in every direction, engaging new men to aid the dilatory workmen already employed. Does Orrin know this? I will go down to his house and see. * * * * * And now I know _Orrin's_ secret. He was not at home, of course, and being determined to get at the truth of his mysterious absences, I mounted a horse of my own and rode off to find him. Why I took this upon myself, or whether I had the right to do it, I have not stopped to ask. I went in the direction he had last gone, and after I had ridden through two villages I heard of him as having passed still farther east some two hours before. Not in the least deterred, I hurried on, and having threaded a thicket and forded a stream, I came upon a beautiful open country wholly new to me, where, on the verge of a pleasant glade and in full view of a most picturesque line of hills, I saw shining the fresh boards of a new cottage. Instantly the thought struck me, "It is Orrin's, and he is building it for Juliet," and filled with a confusion of emotions, I spurred on my horse, and soon drew up before it. Orrin was standing, pale and defiant, in the doorway, and as I met his eye, I noticed, with a sick feeling of contempt, that he swung the whip he was holding smartly against his leg in what looked like a very threatening manner. "Good-evening, Orrin," I cried. "You have a very pleasant site here--preferable to the Colonel's, I should say." "What has the Colonel to do with me?" was his fierce reply, and he turned as if about to go into the house. "Only this," I calmly answered; "I think he will get his house done first." He wheeled and faced me, and his eye which had looked simply sullen shot a fierce and dangerous gleam. "What makes you think that?" he cried. "He has come back, and to-day engaged twenty extra men to push on the work." "Indeed!" and there was contempt in his tone. "Well, I wish him joy and a sound roof!" And this time he did go into the house. As he had not asked me to follow, I of course had no alternative but to ride on. As I did so, I took another look at the house and saw with a strange pang at the heart that the plastering was on the walls and the windows ready for glazing. "I was wrong," said I to myself; "it is Orrin's house which will be finished first." * * * * *