e said. There were some who did not notice
it at all, but these were not people who knew Mavering, or knew Alice
very well.

XX.

The next morning Alice was walking slowly along the road toward the
fishing village, when she heard rapid, plunging strides down the wooded
hillside on her right. She knew them for Mavering's, and she did not
affect surprise when he made a final leap into the road, and shortened
his pace beside her.

"May I join you, Miss Pasmer?"

"I am only going down to the herring-houses," she began.

"And you'll let me go with you?" said the young fellow. "The fact
is--you're always so frank that you make everything else seem
silly--I've been waiting up there in the woods for you to come by.
Mrs. Pasmer told me you had started this way, and I cut across lots to
overtake you, and then, when you came in sight, I had to let you pass
before I could screw my courage up to the point of running after you.
How is that for open-mindedness?"

"It's a very good beginning, I should think."

"Well, don't you think you ought to say now that you're sorry you were
so formidable?"

"Am I so formidable?" she asked, and then recognised that she had been
trapped into a leading question.

"You are to me. Because I would like always to be sure that I had
pleased you, and for the last twelve hours I've only been able to
make sure that I hadn't. That's the consolation I'm going away with. I
thought I'd get you to confirm my impression explicitly. That's why I
wished to join you."

"Are you--were you going away?"

"I'm going by the next boat. What's the use of staying? I should only
make bad worse. Yesterday I hoped But last night spoiled everything.
'Miss Pasmer,'" he broke out, with a rush of feeling, "you must know why
I came up here to Campobello."

His steps took him a little ahead of her, and he could look back into
her face as he spoke. But apparently he saw nothing in it to give him
courage to go on, for he stopped, and then continued, lightly: "And I'm
going away because I feel that I've made a failure of the expedition. I
knew that you were supremely disgusted with me last night; but it will
be a sort of comfort if you'll tell me so."

"Oh," said Alice, "everybody thought it was very brilliant, I'm sure."

"And you thought it was a piece of buffoonery. Well, it was. I wish
you'd say so, Miss Pasmer; though I didn't mean the playing entirely. It
would be something to start from, and I want to ma