‘Phil! how you do startle one! What are you up to now?’
‘I’ve been talking with our respected uncle. I don’t think he’ll bother us much more. The open defiance will hardly be needed.’
‘You met Uncle Belassis?’
‘Yes; I have just parted from him.’
‘Was he riding?’
‘Well, I can hardly say that. He sat on his horse, and the horse ran.’
Maud laughed delightedly, and her mind was diverted from the question of the interview, as Tor intended it should be.
‘Oh, Phil,’ she said, ‘there came a letter for you by the mid-day post. It’s from Germany, and I think perhaps it’s from Tor, or about him.’
Tor hastened home with all the speed he could, an eager hope possessing him that he might see at last Phil’s familiar handwriting.
