Then had followed the journey to Salem. Yet all the while for Sheila
one dark thought kept hovering over everything. Why should life be so
complicated? Why should this one man who seemed capable and had the
temperament of the Irish hills and vales be the victim of punishment and
shame--why should he shame her?
Suddenly, without her mother's knowledge, she sent Darius Boland through
the hills in the early morning to Enniskillen, Dyck Calhoun's place, with
a letter which said only this: "Is it not time that you came to wish us
well in our new home? We shall expect you to-morrow."
When Dyck read this note he thought it was written by Sheila, but
inspired by the mother; and he lost no time in making his way down across
the country to Salem, which he reached a few hours after sunrise. At the
doorway of the house he met Mrs. Llyn.
"Have you told her?" he asked in anxiety. Astonished at his presence
she could make no reply for a moment. "I have told her nothing," she
answered. "I meant to do so this morning. I meant to do it--I must."
"She sent me a letter asking if it was not time I came to wish you well
in your house, and you and she would expect me to-day.
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