d, saw her pursuer already stretching
out his hand, and broke away suddenly to one side.

Olof slipped, and went down full length on the grass.

The girl's eyes twinkled mischievously, and a shout of laughter came
from the rest.

Olof would have been furious, but he paid no heed to the laughter now,
having just at that moment noticed something else. The girl's glance
as she turned--heavens, what eyes! And he had never noticed her
before....

He sprang up like a rocket and continued the pursuit.

The broad-shouldered partner was making hopeless efforts from the
other side of the course. "Don't waste your breath!" cried the men.
"He's got her now."

The big fellow stopped, and waited calmly for the end.

But it was not over yet. Olof was gaining steadily on the girl; turn
which way she pleased, he would have her now.

She saw the danger, and turned to rush down the slope. But, in
turning, one of her shoes came loose, and was flung high in air.

A shout of delight went up from the playground in the rear.

The girl stopped, at a loss now what to do. Olof, too, forgot the
pursuit, and stood watching the shoe; then suddenly he sprang forward
and caught it in the air as it fell.

A fresh burst of applause came from the lookers-on. "Bravo, bravo,
that's the way!"

"Go on, go on! Never mind about the shoe!" cried some of the girls, to
urge her on.

She dashed off again, Olof after her with the shoe in his hand.

The chase was worth looking at now; no ordinary game this, but a
contest, with victory or defeat at stake. The spectators were wild
with excitement, taking sides for one or other of the two.

The girl shot this way and that, like a shuttle in a loom, her slender
body gracefully bent, her head thrown back defiantly. Her plait had
come loose, and the hair streamed out behind her like a tawny mane. A
glimpse of a red stocking showed now and again beneath her dress.

For Olof, too, it had ceased to be a game. She was no longer one of a
couple he had to part, but a creature fie must tame--a young wild foal
with sparkling eyes and golden mane.

They reached the edge of the course; only a few feet now between them.

At last! thought Olof, holding himself in readiness for her next turn
up the slope.

But again she turned off downward. And as she wheeled about, Olof
again was aware of something he had not marked before--the curve of
her hips, her lithe, supple waist, and the splendid poise of her head.
He