"Right!" he cried heartily. "Right! I'll help you! The lad's a good
lad, and a clever lad; but what I do will be for your sake, not his!
You are a dear girl! The dearest girl I have ever met--save one! For
the sake of the bit of her that lives again in you, I am at your
service. You shall have your chance. From to-day forward I will see to
it that George makes a member of our party wherever we go. He has done
enough writing; it is time that he began to play. Make him play, Miss
Vane! He has been old all his life; teach him to be young! He is the
best fellow in the world, but he is fast asleep. Wake him up! There is
just one condition, and that is, that you leave your brother and his
scribblings alone for the time being! Don't mention them, or any
question of the sort, but be content just to show yourself to George,
your own bright, natural girl-self, as you have shown it to me. Learn
to know one another, and forget all about the boy. His turn will come
later on! You promise?"
"Ye-es!" faltered Margot shyly. "Yes, I do; but you must promise too--
that you will, that you won't, won't let your brother think--"
The Chieftain touched her arm once more, with a gesture of kindly
reassurement.
"Don't you worry, little girl! He shall have no thoughts about you that
are not altogether chivalrous and true. It's not you who are going to
move in this matter, remember! You've given it over into my hands; it
is I who am to pull the strings. No, you needn't thank me. It strikes
me that we are going to work out pretty even over this business. If you
want help for your brother, I need it just as badly for mine. I have
realised for a long time that he needed a medicine which no doctor could
supply." He looked into her face with a sudden radiant smile. "It
strikes me I might have searched a very long time before finding any one
so eminently fitted to undertake his cure!"