t they were hurrying
up the path behind the rose pergola under the magnolias and beneath the
light from their Cloud Cote.

"Wait," whispered Marie. "Let's hide a moment. They might see us going up
the stairs. Wait beneath the roses until they are gone."

Only faint sounds came up to them as the two men, bruised and sore,
painfully picked themselves up from the rocks and the prickly shrubs.
Evidently they realized there was no hope of further pursuit, for in a
short while the girls could hear the faint echo of their heavy footsteps
as they retraced their way down the canyon.

Eveley held Marie in her arms until the last sound had echoed away, and
then silently they climbed the stairs, crossed the little garden on the
roof, and crawled through the window into the safety of the Cote.

"Are you hurt, Marie?" asked Eveley, the first to break the tense silence
that fell upon them when they were conscious of shelter and security.

Marie shook her head. Then she moved one step toward Eveley, and asked in
a pleading whisper: "Are you angry with me? Do you hate me?"

"Oh, Marie, don't talk so," cried Eveley, nervous tears springing to her
eyes. "How could I be angry with you? But I was so frightened and
shocked. I did not know how very much I loved you. You must never go into
the canyon again at night. Never once,--for one minute. Will you promise
me?"

"I will promise whatever you wish, Eveley, you know."

Eveley smiled at her weakly, and turning to take off her wraps saw with
surprise that the sleeves were torn almost from her coat.

"I must have come down with quite a bang," she said faintly, suddenly
aware that her shoulders were quivering with pain.

With a little cry of pity, Marie ran to her, and tenderly helped to
remove her blouse. The tears ran down her face when she saw the red and
swollen shoulders beneath.

"Oh, my poor angel," she mourned. "All bruised and sore like that. For
me. You never should have done it."

Very sweetly she bathed the shoulders, and when Eveley crept painfully
into bed, she arranged soft compresses of cotton and oil for her to lie
upon. And she asked, shyly, if she might sit by the bed.

"Until you fall asleep," she pleaded. "I can not leave you like this,
when you are in such pain,--for me."

"Come and sleep with me, then," said Eveley. "I do not want to let you go
off alone, either, when--something so terrible might have happened to
you."

Eagerly and with great joy Marie av