alone in the country roads.

"But I don't bicycle," said Mrs. Steel, shaking her head rather sadly.

"Ah, I forgot! People who ride and drive never do." And it was Morna's
turn to sigh.

"No, I should like it; but I have never tried."

"I'll teach you!" cried Morna at once. "What fun it will be!"

"I should enjoy it, I know. But--"

The sentence was abandoned--as was often the case in the subsequent
intercourse between Rachel Steel and Morna Woodgate. From the beginning,
Rachel was apt to be more off her guard with Morna than with any one
whom she had met during the last six months; and, from the beginning,
she was continually remembering and stopping herself in a manner that
would have irritated Morna in anybody else. But then--yet again, from
the beginning--these two were natural and immediate friends.

"You must learn," urged Morna, when she had waited some time for the
sentence which had but begun. "There are people who scorn it--or
pretend to--but I am sure you are not one. It may not be the finest
form of exercise, but wait till you fly down these hills with your feet
on the rests! And then you are so independent; no horses to consider, no
coachman to consult; only your own bones and your own self! The
independence alone--"

"May be the very thing for you, Mrs. Woodgate, but it wouldn't do for my