he could not better frustrate her intentions than by preserving an
appearance of undisturbed complacency. Accordingly, he sat quietly,
studying the pretty figure in the blue linen dress, and noticing with
satisfaction that the pages were flicked over more rapidly than was
consistent with careful reading.

The book was evidently dull--so much the better! Miss Mollie might find
her own punishment even heavier than his. He himself had nothing to
read, but that did not distress him. A man is not to be pitied if he
cannot make himself happy for an hour or so, even with a sprained ankle,
when there is a charming landscape to gaze upon, of which a pretty girl
makes the foreground.

Jack smiled lazily to himself as he thrust his hand into the tail-pocket
of his coat, but his expression changed tragically as his fingers groped
in vain for the bulky pouch which he had refilled just before leaving
the house. Now, what in the world had happened to that pouch? Could it
have fallen out of his pocket? Impossible! It was too securely
weighted down by its own size. It could not have fallen, but it could
easily have been stolen by the hands of his mischievous charioteer as
she wheeled him across the grass. Jack had no doubt that that was
exactly what had happened, and he congratulated himself on having
smothered an exclamation of dismay, as he saw Mollie's head lifted
cautiously from the pages as if to listen for the expected explosion.

Jack smiled to himself, knowing full well that her patience would soon
be exhausted, and with it the limit of his punishment. It would be a
joke to pretend to be asleep when, at last, it pleased her ladyship to
turn round! The little witch no doubt was fully aware how pretty she
looked, and fondly imagined that he was wrapt in admiration. It would
be a useful snub to find that he had forgotten all about her. So Jack
rested his head against the cushions of his chair, folded his arms, and
kept his eyes rigorously shut for the next few minutes. He felt
delightfully at ease, and the rays of the sun shining through the
branches were at once so subdued, and so comforting, that it came to
pass that what he had plotted in fun came about in earnest, and at the
end of a few minutes his lids were tightly closed, and his breath came
through his lips in long, regular respirations.

Mollie heard the sound, and smiled derisively.

"As if I should believe for one moment that he had gone to sleep!" sa