d. The stone spent itself and began to fall. Thea drew
back and struck her knee furiously with her palm.

"There it goes again! Not nearly so far as yours. What IS the matter
with me? Give me another." She faced the cliff and whirled again. The
stone spun out, not quite so far as before.

Ottenburg laughed. "Why do you keep on working AFTER you've thrown it?
You can't help it along then."

Without replying, Thea stooped and selected another stone, took a deep
breath and made another turn. Fred watched the disk, exclaiming, "Good
girl! You got past the pine that time. That's a good throw."

She took out her handkerchief and wiped her glowing face and throat,
pausing to feel her right shoulder with her left hand.

"Ah--ha, you've made yourself sore, haven't you? What did I tell you?
You go at things too hard. I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Thea,"
Fred dusted his hands and began tucking in the blouse of his shirt, "I'm
going to make some single-sticks and teach you to fence. You'd be all
right there. You're light and quick and you've got lots of drive in you.
I'd like to have you come at me with foils; you'd look so fierce," he
chuckled.

She turned away from him and stubbornly sent out another stone, hanging
in the air after its flight. Her fury amused Fred, who took all games
lightly and played them well. She was breathing hard, and little beads
of moisture had gathered on her upper lip. He slipped his arm about her.
"If you will look as pretty as that--" he bent his head and kissed her.
Thea was startled, gave him an angry push, drove at him with her free
hand in a manner quite hostile. Fred was on his mettle in an instant. He
pinned both her arms down and kissed her resolutely.

When he released her, she turned away and spoke over her shoulder. "That
was mean of you, but I suppose I deserved what I got."

"I should say you did deserve it," Fred panted, "turning savage on me
like that! I should say you did deserve it!"

He saw her shoulders harden. "Well, I just said I deserved it, didn't I?
What more do you want?"

"I want you to tell me why you flew at me like that! You weren't
playing; you looked as if you'd like to murder me."

She brushed back her hair impatiently. "I didn't mean anything, really.
You interrupted me when I was watching the stone. I can't jump from one
thing to another. I pushed you without thinking."

Fred thought her back expressed contrition. He went up to her, stood
behind her