he cried, with another laugh.

“Thanks for thy pains,” I said, blowing blue rings into the air.

“I have ridden to-day from Jamestown,” he went on. “I was the only man, i’ faith, that cared to leave its gates; and I met the world — the bachelor world — flocking to them. Not a mile of the way but I encountered Tom, Dick, and Harry, dressed in their Sunday bravery and making full tilt for the city. And the boats upon the river! I have seen the Thames less crowded.”

“There was more passing than usual,” I said; “but I was busy in the fields, and did not attend. What’s the lodestar?”

“The star that draws us all, — some to ruin, some to bliss ineffable, woman.”