s love and begging for her heart in return.

He mused, tenderly:

"How it would have startled her--shy little dove--if I had followed my
impulse to tell her of my love during that blissful drive over from the
station! But I must be patient, and woo her fondly a little while ere I
dare to speak."

How vexed he was at his step-mother's selfishness in keeping Dainty by
her side the whole evening, and leaving him to be entertained by the
other two girls, whom he secretly despised for their meanness to Dainty.

It made him smile sarcastically to remember how palpably each girl had
angled for his heart, giving him the sweetest smiles and most honeyed
words, while expressing their chagrin at missing his company on their
journey.

"If they could have guessed how glad I was of their absence, they would
not have seemed so complaisant," he thought, recalling the happy day he
had spent with Dainty; while he resolved to make sure of more like it by
inviting some other fellows to Ellsworth, so that Olive and Ela might be
provided with escorts, and not keep him from Dainty's side.

Before long, say a week at furthest, he would tell Dainty of his love,
and ask her to be his wife. No use putting off his happiness, he
thought; and if he could win the little darling, the wedding should
follow soon--as soon as he could persuade her to name the day.

So, lost in these happy reveries, he sat at the open window till
midnight, when he suddenly rose, stretched his full length, and
exclaimed:

"Heigh-ho! I must not dream here all night, for--ah, _what_ was that?"

For down the length of the broad corridor a piercing shriek was wafted
to his ears, followed by the patter of flying feet, and a body was
hurled violently against the door, while an anguished voice cried,
entreatingly:

"For God's sake, let me in!"

He sprang to the door, tore it open, and the fainting form of Dainty
fell forward into his arms.

"Good heavens!" he cried, in wonder and alarm; and at the same moment he
heard the opening of doors and the sound of excited voices outside, as
Mrs. Ellsworth, Olive, and Ela, in dressing-gowns, appeared on the
scene, wearing faces of lively consternation.

"What is the meaning of these shrieks and this strange scene, Love?"
demanded his step-mother, harshly--and suspiciously, it seemed to him.

Still holding Dainty's unconscious form most tenderly in his arms, he
replied, haughtily:

"I know no more than you do, madame. I he