-sweet, condescending
compliments. Rilla felt flattered by Irene's condescension. She was an
Upper Glen girl of nineteen who seemed to like the society of the
younger girls--spiteful friends said because she could queen it over
them without rivalry. But Rilla thought Irene quite wonderful and loved
her for her patronage. Irene was pretty and stylish; she sang divinely
and spent every winter in Charlottetown taking music lessons. She had
an aunt in Montreal who sent her wonderful things to wear; she was
reported to have had a sad love affair--nobody knew just what, but its
very mystery allured. Rilla felt that Irene's compliments crowned her
evening. She ran gaily back to the pavilion and lingered for a moment
in the glow of the lanterns at the entrance looking at the dancers. A
momentary break in the whirling throng gave her a glimpse of Kenneth
Ford standing at the other side.

Rilla's heart skipped a beat--or, if that be a physiological
impossibility, she thought it did. So he was here, after all. She had
concluded he was not coming--not that it mattered in the least. Would
he see her? Would he take any notice of her? Of course, he wouldn't ask
her to dance--that couldn't be hoped for. He thought her just a mere
child. He had called her "Spider" not three weeks ago when he had been
at Ingleside one evening. She had cried about it upstairs afterwards
and hated him. But her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he was
edging his way round the side of the pavilion towards her. Was he
coming to her--was he?--was he?--yes, he was! He was looking for
her--he was here beside her--he was gazing down at her with something
in his dark grey eyes that Rilla had never seen in them. Oh, it was
almost too much to bear! and everything was going on as before--the
dancers were spinning round, the boys who couldn't get partners were
hanging about the pavilion, canoodling couples were sitting out on the
rocks--nobody seemed to realize what a stupendous thing had happened.

Kenneth was a tall lad, very good looking, with a certain careless
grace of bearing that somehow made all the other boys seem stiff and
awkward by contrast. He was reported to be awesomely clever, with the
glamour of a far-away city and a big university hanging around him. He
had also the reputation of being a bit of a lady-killer. But that
probably accrued to him from his possession of a laughing, velvety
voice which no girl could hear without a heartbeat, and a dan