“Have you seen him since he was invited here?” Jim asked bluntly.
“Ye-yes!––just for a moment in the smithy the day he took sick. I thought,––oh Jim!––I thought possibly he might have misunderstood something––something that happened there at that time,––but––ah well!––anyway, it doesn’t matter now.
“He does not say very much at any time, does he, Jim? He’s a queer fellow.”
“Ay!” said Jim drily, “and you’re a queer little fellow yourself, Eileen,––eh!”
“Do you know anything of him before he came to 210 Vernock?” she inquired suddenly, with a change of tone.
“Practically nothing! He has kept that a sealed book, and it is none of my affairs; but I do know that since he came here he has been the real stuff, and that is good enough for Jim Langford.”
She smiled.
“Oh you men! You stand by your pals to the very last ditch; while a woman will desert her woman friend at the first one.
“Never mind! Let us forget Mr. Ralston meantime.
“Did you hear the news, Jim?––the great news! Daddy,––my own daddy has been offered the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture on the new Cabinet. He will be the Honourable John Royce Pederstone. And this his first session in Parliament too! Isn’t it great?”