aud."

The voice was firm, but the lady herself hesitated as she stepped from
the tonneau. There was no answer. Holding the flapping ends of her
veil away from her face, she turned and looked fairly at the driver of
the machine.

He seemed a businesslike, capable man, though certain minor details of
his chauffeur's rig were a bit unusual, and now that he had been
obliged, by some discomfort, to remove his goggles, his face appeared
pleasant and quite untanned. His passenger noted these things,
remarking: "Oh, it isn't Renaud!"

"No, Mademoiselle; Renaud hadn't showed up at the office when you
telephoned, so they put me on in his place."

"Ah, I see." Accent seemed to imply, however, that she was not quite
pleased. "The manager sent you. And your name is--?"

"My name--rather odd name--Hand."

The face half hidden behind the veil remained impassive. A moment's
hesitation, and then the lady turned away with a short, "You will wait?"

"As mademoiselle wishes. Or shall I perhaps follow slowly along the
drive?"

"No, wait here. I shall return--soon."

The young woman walked away, erect, well-poised, lifting skirts
skilfully as she paused a moment at the top of the stone steps leading
down into the tiny park. The driver of the machine, free from
observation, allowed a perplexed look to occupy his countenance. "What
the devil is to pay if she doesn't return--_soon_!"

The avenue lifts a camel's hump toward the sky in the space of fifteen
blocks, and on the top, secure as the howdah of a chieftain, stands the
noble portico of the old college. To the westward, as every one knows,
lie the river and the more pretentious park; on the east an abrupt
descent offers space for a small grassy playground for children, who
may be seen, during the sunny hours of the day, romping over the slope.

As the gaze of the woman swept over the charming little pleasance, and
beyond, over the miles of sign-boards, roofs, chimneys, and
intersecting streets, the serious look disappeared from her face.
Summer haze and distance shed a gentle beauty over what she knew to be
a clamoring city--New York. Angles were softened, noises subdued,
sensational scenes lost in the dimmed perspective. To a chance
observer, the prospect would have been deeply suggestive; in the woman
it stirred many memories. She put back her veil; her face glowed; a
long sigh escaped her lips. Slowly she walked down the steps, along
the sloping path to a