now!" He was out of the room and the
door shut behind him before Temple could frame a reply.

St. George shot an anxious, inquiring look at Teackle, who nodded his
head in assent, and the two hurried from the room and across the expanse
of white crash, Willits striding ahead, Harry at his heels, St. George
and the doctor following close behind.

Kate stood near the far door, her radiant eyes fixed on Harry's
approaching figure--the others she did not see. Willits reached her
first:

"Miss Kate, isn't this my dance?" he burst out--"didn't you promise me?"

Kate started and for a moment her face flushed. If she had forgotten
any promise she had made it certainly was not intentional. Then her mind
acted. There must be no bad blood here--certainly not between Harry and
Willits.

"No, not quite that, Mr. Willits," she answered in her sweetest voice,
a certain roguish coquetry in its tones. "I said I'd think it over, and
you never came near me, and so Harry and I are--"

"But you DID promise me." His voice could be heard all over the
room--even the colonel, who was talking to a group of ladies, raised
his head to listen, his companions thinking the commotion was due to the
proper arranging of the dance.

Harry's eyes flashed; angry blood was mounting to his cheeks. He was
amazed at Willits's outburst.

"You mean to contradict Miss Kate! Are you crazy, Willits?"

"No, I am entirely sane," he retorted, an ugly ring in his voice.

Everybody had ceased talking now. Good-natured disputes over the young
girls were not uncommon among the young men, but this one seemed to have
an ominous sound. Colonel Rutter evidently thought so, for he had now
risen from his seat and was crossing the room to where Harry and the
group stood.

"Well, you neither act nor talk as if you were sane," rejoined Harry
in cold, incisive tones, inching his way nearer Kate, as if to be the
better prepared to defend her.

Willits's lip curled. "I am not beholden to you, sir, for my conduct,
although I can be later on for my words. Let me see your dancing-card,
Miss Kate," and he caught it from her unresisting hand. "There--what did
I tell you!" This came with a flare of indignation. "It was a blank when
I saw it last and you've filled it in, sir, of your own accord!" Here he
faced Harry. "That's your handwriting--I'll leave it to you, Mr. Temple,
if it isn't his handwriting."

Harry flushed scarlet and his eyes blazed as he stepped toward the
s