He had opened the gates as they were talking, and he let her through with a smile. "There's a deal o' something better than human nature in men and women," he thought; but ere the thought was well formed, it was lost in the necessity for giving Lot Yates "a bit of his mind," for Lot had a deal of something worse than human nature in him, and was beating his horses unmercifully.
In spite of the rain and murky fog full of bits of coal-dust and burned flakes of carbon, in spite of the gutters running with black water, in spite of the sodden, slipshod men and women, Sarah trod the miserable lanes with a light heart. She hastened to Steve's cottage, though she had little hope of seeing him there. Still, Joyce could be comforted, and perhaps some one found who, knowing where Steve was, would go after him. Ere she opened the door, the shrill voice of Joyce, raised in loud, querulous tones, was audible enough; and when she entered, the sight that met her eyes was a painful one. Steve, wet, ragged, and perfectly reckless-looking, was standing upon the hearth-stone, and the once pretty Joyce, almost equally ragged, and in a violent passion, was railing at him in unmeas-
