nce hastily broke the
seal and read as follows:

"DEAREST FLORENCE:--

"I have never forgiven you for your sudden flight last winter, and the
offense is of such long standing that I summon you to appear in Chicago
before Derby Day to answer a charge of infidelity to me. You will be
imprisoned here for at least one month,--longer if possible,--and I
charge Mr. Wainwright with the execution of this warrant. In other
words, dearest girl, I cannot live any longer without seeing you, and
must have you here for a visit. Pack up and come immediately, as the
Derby is a great 'function' here, and is run on the twenty-first of
June.

"With a world of love,
"I am, your devoted
"MARION."

"Did you come all the way from Chicago to bring me this?" Florence
asked, after she had finished the letter.

Harold was sitting up now, and looking into her face he said quietly: "I
came to tell you again that I love you."

Florence felt a sudden emotion thrill her heart, but a doubtful
expression came into her eyes as she glanced down and said slowly: "You
forget what happened the day before I left Chicago."

Harold smiled. He took her hand and held it firmly between his own. "I
remember that you are the bravest girl in the world," he said, "and
that, to save a friend, you accused yourself."

"You don't know that," said Florence anxiously.

"I know that nothing could make me believe you did wrong, for you are
incapable of it." Then he added earnestly: "I know, too, that I love you
better than my life."

Florence looked up into his face and he must have read her answer in
those gentle, brown eyes, for, without waiting for her to speak, he drew
her to his side and kissed her on both cheeks. "I love you, I love you,"
he repeated, as he held her tightly in his strong arms; "but I must hear
love spoken by those dear lips."

"I love you, Harold," she said, and the words made his heart leap with
happiness.

"Then why were you so cruel to me last winter?" he asked reproachfully.

"I did not know it then," she answered. "It was not until I left the
smoky city and came away into the free country air that I knew I cared
for you, Harold, dear."

"I wondered you cared for me at all," he replied laughingly. "We had
been friends so long that it was strange for me to speak of love."

"Yes; I always believed that love was some giant who crushes one by his
mighty power," she said, "and I found he was a little rasca