ow."

I have never yet painted Dolly Crewe as being a young person of angelic
temperament. I have owned that she flirted and had a temper in spite of
her Vagabondian good spirits, good-nature, and popularity; so my
readers will not be surprised at her resenting rather sharply what she
considered as being her lover's lack of faith.

"I think," she proceeded, opening her eyes wide and addressing him with
her grandest air,--"I think I will walk the rest of my way alone, if you
please."

It was very absurd and very tragical in a small way, of course, and
assuredly she ought to have known better, and perhaps she did know
better, but just now she was very fierce and very sharply disappointed.
She positively turned away as if to leave him, but he caught hold of her
arm and held her.

"Dolly," he cried, huskily, "you are not going away in that fashion. We
never parted so in our lives."

She half relented,--not quite, but nearly, so very nearly that she
did not try very hard to get away. It was Griffith, after all, who was
trying her patience--if Gowan or any other man on earth had dared to
imply a doubt in her, she would have routed him magnificently--in two
minutes; but Griffith--ah, well, Griffith was different.

"Whose fault is it?" she asked, breaking down ignominiously. "Who is
to blame? I never ask you if other people make you forget me. I wanted
to--to see you so much that I--I ran madly after you for a quarter of a
mile, at the risk of being looked upon as a lunatic by any one who might
have chanced to see me. But you don't care for that. I had better have
bowed to you and passed on if we had met. Let me go!"

"No," said Griffith, "you shall not go. God knows if I could keep you,
you should never leave my arms again."

"You would tire of me in a week, if I belonged to you in real earnest,"
she said, not trying to get away at all now, however.

"Tire of you!" he exclaimed, in a shaken voice. "Of _you!_" And all at
once he drew her round so that the light of the nearest lamp could fall
on her face. "Look here!" he whispered, sharply; "Dolly, I swear to you,
that if there lives a man on earth base and heartless enough to rob me
of you, I will kill him as sure as I breathe the breath of life!"

She had seen him impassioned enough often before, but she had never seen
him in as wild a mood as he was when he uttered these words. She was so
frightened that she broke into a little cry, and put her hand up to his
lips