e of her father, and apparently at the same time impress her with
his own intelligence.

As the evening progressed Michael slightly increased the number of times
he tapped Kathleen's hand with his, and after about an hour's promenade
of the pier he was doing a steady three taps a minute. He now began to
speculate whether Kathleen was aware of these taps, and from time to
time he would glance round at her over his shoulder, hopeful of catching
her eyes.

"Are you admiring my sister's brooch?" asked Miss McDonnell. "Eh, I
think it's grand. Don't you?"

Kathleen giggled lightly at this, and asked her sister how she could,
and then Michael with a boldness that on reflection made him catch his
breath at the imagination of it, said that while he was admiring Miss
Kathleen's brooch he was admiring her eyes still more.

"Oh, Mr. Fane. How can you!" exclaimed Kathleen.

"Well, he's got good taste, I'm sure," said Miss McDonnell. "But, there,
after all, what can you expect from an Irish girl? All Irish girls have
fine eyes."

When Michael went to bed he felt that on the whole he had acquitted
himself that first evening with considerable success, and as he fell
asleep he dreamed triumphantly of a daring to-morrow.

It was an April day, whose deeps of azure sky made the diverse foliage
of spring burn in one ardent green. Such a day spread out before his
windows set Michael on fire for its commemoration, and he made up his
mind to propose a long bicycling expedition to the two Miss McDonnells.
He wished that it were not necessary to invite the elder sister, but not
even this April morning could embolden him so far as to ask Kathleen
alone. Mrs. Fane smilingly approved of his proposal, but suggested that
on such a warm day it would be wiser not to start until after lunch. So
it was arranged, and Michael thoroughly enjoyed the consciousness of
escorting these girls out of Bournemouth on their trim bicycles. Indeed,
he enjoyed his position so much that he continually looked in the
shop-windows, as they rode past, to observe the effect and was so much
charmed by the result that he crossed in front of Miss McDonnell, and
upset her and her bicycle in the middle of the town.

"Eh, that's a nuisance," said Miss McDonnell, surveying bent handlebars
and inner tyre swelling like a toy balloon along the rim. "That was
quite a mishap," she added, shaking the dust from her skirt.

Michael was in despair over his clumsiness, especially w