upon him, Tom felt considerably more light-hearted, and returned with renewed vigour to the loading of the corrugated iron.  He would hardly have felt so satisfied had he seen John Girdlestone receiving that same letter from the hands of the footman, and reading it afterwards in the privacy of his bedroom with a sardonic smile upon his face.  Still less contented would he have been had he beheld the merchant tearing it into small fragments and making a bonfire of it in his capacious grate.  Next morning Kate looked in vain out of the accustomed window, and was sore at heart when no tall figure appeared in sight and no friendly hand waved a morning salutation.

CHAPTER XXV.

A CHANGE OF FRONT.

This episode had occurred about a fortnight before Ezra’s return from Africa, and was duly retailed to him by his father.

“You need not be discouraged by that,” he said.  “I can always keep them apart, and if he is absent and you are present—­especially as she has no idea of the cause of his absence—­she will end by feeling slighted and preferring you.”

“I cannot understand how you ever came to let the matter go so far,” his son answered sullenly.  “What does the young puppy want to come poaching upon our preserves for?  The girl belongs to us.  She was given to you to look after, and a nice job you seem to have made of it!”

“Never mind, my boy,” replied the merchant.  “I’ll answer for keeping them apart if you will only push the matter on your own account.”

“I’ve said that I would do so, and I will,” Ezra returned; and events soon showed that he was as good as his word.

Before his African excursion the relations between young Girdlestone and his father’s ward had never been cordial.  Kate’s nature, however, was so sweet and forgiving, that it was impossible for her to harbour any animosity, and she greeted Ezra kindly on his return from his travels.  Within a few days she became conscious that a remarkable change had come over him—­a change, as it seemed to her, very much for the better.  In the past, weeks had frequently elapsed without his addressing her, but now he went out of his way to make himself agreeable.  Sometimes he would sit for a whole evening describing to her all that he had seen in Africa, and really interesting her by his account of men and things.  She, poor lass, hailed this new departure with delight, and did all in her power to encourage his better nature and to show that she appreciated the alteration in his bearing.  At the same time, she was rather puzzled in her mind, for an occasional flash of coarseness or ferocity showed her that the real nature of the man was unaltered, and that he was putting an unnatural restraint upon himself.