x months at your age, and yet here I sit on a
pedestal and have the impudence to talk to you as a child----"

"But you're not impudent, Jim," she broke in eagerly, "and I
understand."

Her eyes were looking steadily into his.

"I'm beginning to wonder," Stuart continued, "whether Nature made a
mistake when she made woman as she is. I once knew a girl of fifteen to
whom I believe life was the deepest tragedy or the highest joy of which
her heart will ever be capable. Else why did the blood come and go so
quickly in her cheeks?"

A sudden flush mantled Harriet's face and she turned away that he might
not see.

"Why did she fuel the loud beating of her heart at the approach of the
man she imagined to be her hero? Why did she drop her eyes in
confusion----"

The deep brown eyes were looking into his now with a steady light. She
had mastered herself and he could not guess her secret. Her heart beat
so loudly she wondered if he could hear.

Stuart's voice had grown dreamy, as if a thousand tender memories were
trooping into his heart from the past and he was talking to himself.

"Why were her hands so moist and warm to the touch of the boy who held
them, and why did they tremble so violently? Why did she turn so
pale?--so pale and so suddenly, he thought she was about to faint? When
again in life can one see this moment of the blossoming of both soul
and body--this quivering readiness for the touch of the lover for whose
coming she waits with such frank and honest eagerness?"

Again the little figure bent forward with breathless interest as she
slowly asked:

"Oh, Jim, when did you see this?"

Stuart's head bent low and rested between his hands.

"I loved such a little girl once, dear----"

Harriet's face suddenly flushed with joy. It was too wonderful to be
true, but it was true! And he had chosen this curious way to tell her.
Her voice sank to the softest whisper as she bent closer:

"And you love her still, Jim?"

His head drooped lower as he sighed:

"I loved and lost her, little pal! She was married two days ago. God
called me in the morning of life to claim my own. But I wasn't bold
enough. I waited, and worldly wisdom, prudence, and common sense became
her tutors to make her wise. She came to the great city, learned its
ways and sold herself for gold. A priest of God standing before his
altar confirmed the sale while a crowd of fools looked on in awe----"

The colour had slowly returned to the lit