n
snatched his hat and stick in the hall and overtook her as she fled
through the iron grille. They ran together a short distance. Then
Phyllis slackened the pace to a rapid walk. She was breathless, her
hands pressed to her heart; a maid distraught. Pitiful, inarticulate
little cries escaped her from time to time. John walked beside her,
silently. They passed through the gates of the park, and she walked more
slowly. Slowly, and still more slowly they wandered, aimlessly, under
the leafless trees. She turned to him at last, her lips blue with the
cold.

"You must take care of me now, John. I have no one else," she said
quietly.

V

Was it Dr. Johnson who remarked that one great charm of London is that
you may walk in a crowded street, eating a twopenny bun, without
attracting a second glance? Or was it Benjamin Franklin? Not that it
matters.

On a wintry morning, in a public conveyance a hatless and coatless young
woman of unusual beauty, and a very self-conscious young man, sitting
beside her, were not annoyed by more than a curious stare or two.

John had suggested a cab.

"We must economize from the very beginning," said Phyllis, with a wan
smile.

She blushed deliciously when John handed her money, and she hurried into
a shop. Such a simple, brown hat she found, a little shopworn; the
long, warm coat she bought matched perfectly. Standing at the street
corner, waiting for her, John counted the money in his pockets; enough
for luncheon, fares, and even contingencies, he was glad to find. But he
thought with satisfaction of the full quarter's income at his lodgings.
When she rejoined him, John looked her over critically.

"I suppose that is a terribly cheap coat," he said, trying to remember
other coats he had seen on her pretty figure.

"It is a lovely coat. I like it very much," replied Phyllis, stroking
the flaps of the pockets.

"Well, it really is becoming," John assured her. "So is the hat."

"I think so, too," said Phyllis. "And I am particular about hats."

"I would be willing to wager five shillings you never had such an
inexpensive one before," said John. Phyllis didn't answer that; and
John added, "Your uncle will send your pretty clothes to--to--wherever
you go," he ended lamely.

Phyllis held up two slender fingers.

"Two things I didn't like in one sentence" she admonished him. "First,
Uncle Peter will send me nothing. Oh, John, I couldn't, couldn't take
anything from him now