ettled herself contentedly upon the stone, as if to take
up a serious discussion. "I often do so in the mirror. Vain? Of course
I am!"

"I am only too willing to examine it," said Max, laughingly.

"My mouth," she said, pursing her lips and lifting her face temptingly
for his inspection, "my mouth is--"

"Perfect," interrupted Max.

She looked surprised and said, "Ah, that was nicely spoken, Little Max,
and quickly, for you."

"'Little Max'!" exclaimed the young man. "Where heard you that name? No
one save my mother has ever used it; no one but Karl and my father has
ever heard her speak the words. Did Karl tell you of it?"

"Karl did not tell me," she responded, "and I never heard any one speak
the name. The name fits you so well--by contraries--that it came to me,
perhaps, by inspiration."

"That hardly seems possible," returned Max, "and your knowledge of how I
received the ring is more than remarkable."

"Let us talk about my face," said the girl, full of the spirit of
mischief, and wishing to put off the discussion of the ring. "Now, my
eyes, of which Sir Karl spoke so kindly, are--"

"The most wonderful in the world," interrupted Max. "They are brilliant
as priceless jewels, fathomless as deep water, gentle and tender as--"

"There, there, Little Max," she cried, checking with a gesture his flow
of unexpected eloquence. "I declare! you are not so slow as you seem. I
will tell you just how much of a sorceress I am. I thought to flatter
you by saying a great lady had given you the ring, and lo, I was right
unless you are adroitly leading me to believe in my own sorcery. Is she
a great lady? Come, tell me the story."

She unconsciously moved nearer to him with an air of pleasant
anticipation.

"Yes, it was a great lady, a very great lady who gave me the ring," he
said most seriously.

"And was I right in my other divination?" she asked, looking down and
flushing slightly. "Did--did she wish to marry you? But you need not
answer that question."

"I will gladly answer it," returned Max, leaning forward, resting his
elbow on his knees and looking at the ground between his feet. "I hoped
she did. I--I longed for it."

"Perhaps she possessed vast estates?" asked the girl, a slight frown
gathering on her brow.

"Yes, she possessed vast estates," said Max, "but I would gladly have
taken her penniless save for the fact that I am very poor, and that she
would suffer for the lack of luxuries she has always