282 The Little Minister

and twice he disappeared in hollows of the road,
and then was suddenly tearing down upon us. I
recognised in him young Mr. McKenzie, a rela-
tive of Rintoul, and I stretched out my arms to
compel him to draw up. He misunderstood my
motive, and was raising his whip threateningly,
when he saw the Egyptian. It is not too much
to say that he swayed in the saddle. The horse
galloped on, though he had lost hold of the
reins. He looked behind until he rounded a
corner, and I never saw such amazement mixed
with incredulity on a human face. For some
minutes I expected to see him coming back, but
when he did not I said, wonderingly, to the
Egyptian :

“He knew you.”

“ Did he?” she answered, indifferently, and I
think we spoke no more until we were in Windy-
ghoul. Soon we were barely conscious of each
other’s presence. Never since have I walked
between the schoolhouse and Thrums in so short
a time, nor seen so little on the way.

In the Egyptian’s eyes, I suppose, was a pic-
ture of Gavin lying dead; but if her grief had
killed her thinking faculties, mine, that was only
less keen because I had been struck down once
before, had set all the wheels of my brain in
action. For it seemed to me that the hour had
come when I must disclose myself to Margaret.

I had realised always that if such a necessity
did arise it could only be caused by Gavin’s
premature death, or by his proving a bad son to
her. Some may wonder that I could have looked
calmly thus far into the possible, but I reply that