orant as I was of the ways of the world and the
rules of coquetry, my instinct (I suppose) warned me not to distinguish
one of the gentlemen too readily at the expense of the other. I took my
aunt's arm and settled it in that way.

A winding path led us into the wood.

On a nearer view, the place disappointed me; the further we advanced,
the more horribly gloomy it grew. The thickly-growing trees shut out
the light; the damp stole over me little by little until I shivered; the
undergrowth of bushes and thickets rustled at intervals mysteriously,
as some invisible creeping creature passed through it. At a turn in the
path we reached a sort of clearing, and saw the sky and the sunshine
once more. But, even here, a disagreeable incident occurred. A snake
wound his undulating way across the open space, passing close by me, and
I was fool enough to scream. The Captain killed the creature with his
riding-cane, taking a pleasure in doing it which I did not like to see.

We left the clearing and tried another path, and then another. And still
the horrid wood preyed on my spirits. I agreed with my aunt that we
should do well to return to the carriage. On our way back we missed the
right path, and lost ourselves for the moment. Mr. Varleigh consulted
his compass, and pointed in one direction. Captain Stanwick, consulting
nothing but his own jealous humor, pointed in the other. We followed
Mr. Varleigh's guidance, and got back to the clearing. He turned to
the Captain, and said, good-humoredly: "You see the compass was right."
Captain Stanwick, answered, sharply: "There are more ways than one
out of an English wood; you talk as if we were in one of your American
forests."

Mr. Varleigh seemed to be at a loss to understand his rudeness; there
was a pause. The two men looked at each other, standing face to face
on the brown earth of the clearing--the Englishman's ruddy countenance,
light auburn hair and whiskers, and well-opened bold blue eyes,
contrasting with the pale complexion, the keenly-observant look, the
dark closely-cut hair, and the delicately-lined face of the American.
It was only for a moment: I had barely time to feel uneasy before
they controlled themselves and led us back to the carriage, talking as
pleasantly as if nothing had happened. For days afterward, nevertheless,
that scene in the clearing--the faces and figures of the two men, the
dark line of trees hemming them in on all sides, the brown circular
patch