Barry, after coming in from his ride with Viola, had "tipped the jug" rather liberally. He kept a demi-john of whiskey in his room at the tavern, and to its contents all the "afflicted" were welcome. It could not be said of him that he was the principal consumer, for, except under unusual circumstances, he was a fairly abstemious man. As he himself declared, he drank sparingly except when his "soul was tried." The fact that he had taken several copious draughts of the fiery Mononga-Durkee immediately upon his return was an indication that his soul was tried, and what so reasonable as to assume that it had been tried by Viola. In a different frame of mine, Kenneth might have accepted this as a most gratifying augury. But, being without hope himself, he took no comfort in Barry's gloom. What would he not give to be in the roisterer's boots instead of his own? The spoken lament had barely passed his lips when the wheel of fate took a new and unexpected turn, bringing his dolorous meditations to a sudden halt and subsequently upsetting all his plans. He thought he was alone in the gloom until he was startled by the sound of a man's voice almost at his elbow. "Evenin', Mr. Gwynne." CHAPTER XII ISAAC STAIN APPEARS BY NIGHT Whirling, he made out the lank shadow of a man leaning against a tree close by. "Good evening," he muttered in some confusion, conscious of a sense of guilt in being caught in the act of spying. "I've been follerin' you fer quite a ways," observed the unknown. "Guess you don't remember me. My name is Stain, Isaac Stain." "I remember you quite well," said Kenneth, stiffly. "May I inquire why you have been following me, Mr. Stain?" "Well, I jest didn't know of anybody else I could come to about a certain matter. It has to do with that feller, Lapelle, up yander in Trentman's place. Fust, I went up to Mrs. Gwyn's house, but it was all dark, an' nobody to home 'cept that dog o' her'n. He knowed me er else he'd have jumped me. I guess we'd better mosey away from this place. A good many trees have ears, you know." They walked off together in the direction of town. Stain was silent until they had put a hundred paces or more between them and the grove.