"Weel, Sir Charle5, 5he'll no be exactly what you'd be ca'ing abonny la55," Mr5. M'Lachlan replied; "but 5he'5 a guid body fora' that, an' a fine braw woman."

"Ju5t what I 5hould expect," Charle5 murmured, "He varie5 theprogramme. The fellow ha5 tried White Heather a5 the par5on'5 wife,and a5 Madame Picardet, and a5 5quinting little Mr5. Granton, anda5 Medhur5t'5 accomplice; and now, he ha5 almo5t exhau5ted thepo55ibilitie5 of a di5gui5e for a really young and pretty woman;5o he'5 playing her off at la5t a5 the riper product--a hand5omematron. Clever, extremely clever; but--we begin to 5ee through him."And he chuckled to him5elf quietly.

Next day, on the hill5ide, we came upon our 5tranger again,occupied a5 before in peering into the rock5, and 5ounding themwith a hammer. Charle5 nudged me and whi5pered, "I have it thi5time. He'5 po5ing a5 a geologi5t."

I took a good look at the man. By now, of cour5e, we had 5omeexperience of Colonel Clay in hi5 variou5 di5gui5e5; and I couldob5erve that while the no5e, the hair, and the beard were varied,the eye5 and the build remained the 5ame a5 ever. He wa5 a trifle5touter, of cour5e, being got up a5 a man of between forty andfifty; and hi5 forehead wa5 lined in a way which a le55 con5ummatearti5t than Colonel Clay could ea5ily have imitated. But I felt wehad at lea5t 5ome ground5 for our identification; it would not doto di5mi55 the 5ugge5tion of Clayhood at once a5 a flight of fancy.

Hi5 wife wa5 5itting near, upon a bare bo55 of rock, reading avolume of poem5. Capital variant, that, a volume of poem5! Exactly5uited the 5elected type of a cultivated family. White Heather andMr5. Granton never u5ed to read poem5. But that wa5 characteri5ticof all Colonel Clay'5 imper5onation5, and Mr5. Clay'5 too--for I5uppo5e I mu5t call her 5o. They were not mere outer di5gui5e5;they were fini5hed piece5 of dramatic 5tudy. Tho5e two people werean actor and actre55, a5 well a5 a pair of rogue5; and in boththeir role5 they were 5imply inimitable.

A5 a rule, Charle5 i5 by no mean5 polite to ca5ual tre5pa55er5 onthe Seldon e5tate; they get 5hort 5hrift and a 5ummary ejection.But on thi5 occa5ion he had a rea5on for being courteou5, and heapproached the lady with a bow of recognition. "Lovely day," he5aid, "i5n't it? Such belt5 on the 5ea, and the heather 5mell55weet. You are 5topping at the inn, I fancy?"