The Squire's Daughter   By: Silas K(itto) Hocking

BY SILAS K. HOCKING

AUTHOR OF "PIONEERS" "THE FLAMING SWORD" "THE WIZARD'S LIGHT" "THE SCARLET CLUE" ETC.

WITH ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR TWIDLE

Fourth Edition

LONDON FREDERICK WARNE & CO. AND NEW YORK 1906

( All Rights Reserved )

[Illustration: "IF YOU CAN ONLY BRING YOURSELF TO SAY YES, I WILL DO MY BEST TO MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD."]

CONTENTS

I. AN IMPERIOUS MAIDEN

II. APPREHENSIONS

III. A NEW SENSATION

IV. A BITTER INTERVIEW

V. THE CHANCES OF LIFE

VI. WAITING FOR THE BLOW TO FALL

VII. DAVID SPEAKS HIS MIND

VIII. CONFLICTING EMOTIONS

IX. PREPARING TO GO

X. RALPH SPEAKS HIS MIND

XI. UNCONSCIOUS SPEECH

XII. DOROTHY SPEAKS HER MIND

XIII. GATHERING CLOUDS

XIV. THE STORM BURSTS

XV. SIR JOHN GETS ANGRY

XVI. THE BIG HOUSE

XVII. DEVELOPMENTS

XVIII. A CONFESSION

XIX. A SILENT WELCOME

XX. WILLIAM MENIRE'S RED LETTER DAY

XXI. A GOOD NAME

XXII. A FRESH START

XXIII. THE ROAD TO FORTUNE

XXIV. LAW AND LIFE

XXV. IN LONDON TOWN

XXVI. TRUTH WILL OUT

XXVII. HOME AGAIN

XXVIII. A TRYING POSITION

XXIX. A QUESTION OF MOTIVES

XXX. SELF AND ANOTHER

XXXI. A PARTNERSHIP

XXXII. FOOD FOR REFLECTION

XXXIII. A PROPOSAL

XXXIV. A FRESH PAGE

XXXV. FAILURE OR FORTUNE

XXXVI. THE PENALTY OF PROSPERITY

XXXVII. LIGHT AND SHADOW

XXXVIII. LOVE AND LIFE

XXXIX. PERPLEXING QUESTIONS

XL. LOVE OR FAREWELL

XLI. THE TABLES TURNED

XLII. COALS OF FIRE

XLIII. SIR JOHN ATONES

List of Illustrations

"IF YOU CAN ONLY BRING YOURSELF TO SAY YES, I WILL DO MY BEST TO MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD."

"SIR JOHN RAISED HIS HUNTING CROP, AND STRUCK AT RALPH WITH ALL HIS MIGHT."

"RUTH THREW HER ARMS ABOUT HER MOTHER'S NECK AND BURST INTO A PASSION OF TEARS."

"WILLIAM, BREATHLESS AND EXCITED, BURST IN UPON HIM."

THE SQUIRE'S DAUGHTER

CHAPTER I

AN IMPERIOUS MAIDEN

The voice was soft and musical, but the tone was imperative.

"I say, young man, open that gate."

The young man addressed turned slowly from the stile on which he had been leaning, and regarded the speaker attentively. She was seated on a high stepping horse with that easy grace born of long familiarity with the saddle, and yet she seemed a mere girl, with soft round cheeks and laughing blue eyes.

"Come, wake up," she said, in tones more imperious than before, "and open the gate at once."

He resented the tone, though he was charmed with the picture, and instead of going toward the gate to do her bidding he turned and began to climb slowly over the stile.

She trotted her horse up to him in a moment, her eyes flashing, her cheeks aflame. She had been so used to command and to prompt obedience that this insubordination on the part of a country yokel seemed nothing less than an insult.

"You dare disobey me?" she said, her voice thrilling with anger.

"Of course I dare," he answered, without turning his head. "I am not your servant."

The reply seemed to strike her dumb for a moment, and she reined back her horse several paces.

He turned again to look at her, then deliberately seated himself on one of the posts of the stile.

There was no denying that she made a pretty picture. With one foot on the top rung of the stile he was almost on a level with her, and he was near enough to see her bosom heave and the colour come and go upon her rounded cheeks.

His heart began to beat uncomfortably fast. He feared that he had played a churlish part. She looked so regal, and yet so sweet, that it seemed almost as if Nature had given her the right to command. And who was he that he should resent her imperious manner and refuse to do her bidding?