t was a dream," she replied.

So low was her voice that he bent to hear, and saw the flush in her
cheeks that seemed communicated to her eyes, which were softly warm
and sensuous. He took the program from her and gravely and gigantically
wrote his name across all the length of it.

"An' now it's no good," he dared. "Ain't no need for it."

He tore it across and tossed it aside.

"Me for you, Saxon, for the next," was Bert's greeting, as they came up.
"You take Mary for the next whirl, Bill."

"Nothin' doin', Bo," was the retort. "Me an' Saxon's framed up to last
the day."

"Watch out for him, Saxon," Mary warned facetiously. "He's liable to get
a crush on you."

"I guess I know a good thing when I see it," Billy responded gallantly.

"And so do I," Saxon aided and abetted.

"I'd 'a' known you if I'd seen you in the dark," Billy added.

Mary regarded them with mock alarm, and Bert said good-naturedly:

"All I got to say is you ain't wastin' any time gettin' together. Just
the same, if' you can spare a few minutes from each other after a couple
more whirls, Mary an' me'd be complimented to have your presence at
dinner."

"Just like that," chimed Mary.

"Quit your kiddin'," Billy laughed back, turning his head to look into
Saxon's eyes. "Don't listen to 'em. They're grouched because they got to
dance together. Bert's a rotten dancer, and Mary ain't so much. Come on,
there she goes. See you after two more dances."

CHAPTER III

They had dinner in the open-air, tree-walled dining-room, and Saxon
noted that it was Billy who paid the reckoning for the four. They knew
many of the young men and women at the other tables, and greetings and
fun flew back and forth. Bert was very possessive with Mary, almost
roughly so, resting his hand on hers, catching and holding it, and,
once, forcibly slipping off her two rings and refusing to return them
for a long while. At times, when he put his arm around her waist, Mary
promptly disengaged it; and at other times, with elaborate obliviousness
that deceived no one, she allowed it to remain.

And Saxon, talking little but studying Billy Roberts very intently, was
satisfied that there would be an utter difference in the way he would do
such things... if ever he would do them. Anyway, he'd never paw a girl
as Bert and lots of the other fellows did. She measured the breadth of
Billy's heavy shoulders.

"Why do they call you 'Big' Bill?" she asked. "You're not so very ta