noon ride?" Purdy inquires, in a
pleasant tone.

"Well, my dear, you shall not be disappointed. The matter Harvey and I
were discussing can be deferred. Go and enjoy an hour's exercise. I
shall be home when you arrive."

"Won't you go with us, papa?"

"Not to-day. I have a Board meeting to attend."

"I do wish you would pay as much attention to your health as you do to
business. You are not looking well. Have you forgotten what the doctor
told you about over-working?"

"No, my dear; I remember his advice; but he does not know what a
responsibility rests upon me as the President of the Paradise Coal
Company. If I did not attend to the details of this business, there
would be a dozen competitors in the coal industry within a year. Even if
I cannot go with you every day, you have Harvey as an escort. You two
will not miss me. When I courted your mother, I should not have insisted
upon a third party accompanying us on our rambles."

"Then we will join you at dinner," says Harvey, as he walks towards the
door.

At the curb in front of the entrance of the office building, a groom
stands holding the bridles of three magnificent hunters.

Harvey assists Ethel to her saddle and springs on to his horse. "Take
Nero back to the stables," Harvey instructs the groom. "Mr. Purdy will
not use him this afternoon."

The riders are soon out on the turnpike that leads to Woodward. For a
November afternoon, the weather is delightful. The prospects of a
bracing canter over the mountain roads could not be brighter. The high
color on the cheeks of Harvey and Ethel show that they are not strangers
to outdoor exercise. Indeed they are types of perfect physical
condition.

Since the day Harvey Trueman became the attorney of the Paradise Coal
Company, and the protege of Gorman Purdy, the young couple have been
constant companions. They have been encouraged to seek each other's
company by Mr. Purdy, who appreciated the worth of Harvey and who
secretly hoped that the brilliant young lawyer would bec