t if he had not--"

"Never mind about that," interrupted Archie, impatiently, "proceed with
the story--or," he hastily interrupted himself, "not if it bothers you
to talk about it. I don't mind much, you know."

Minnie smiled, knowing well how much he did mind, and assured him that
it would not bother her at all to tell him, as she knew he would listen
patiently, and not ridicule anything she might say.

She then proceeded to tell him in as few words as possible, what had
taken place at Hollowmell on Saturday night, and how it came about that
Mabel happened to be there at such a late hour.

"Why," exclaimed Archie, when he had listened with an interest, which
surprised himself as entirely as it surprised Minnie; for though of an
unusually curious disposition, he invariably found his interest flag
after drinking in the first few details of anything. "Why, if you aren't
a party of complete 'bricks--' Seymour called you a saint, but I say a
'brick,' and if you aren't content with that, I don't know what _will_
content you." And he stared at her with an expression of intense
approval that was irresistible.

"But what I want to know is this," he continued in a tone of
confidential deliberation, when her amusement had subsided. "However did
you manage to get Charlie into such a pie? He and Seymour go together in
these affairs; I should have considered Ned a more suitable subject for
a purpose of that kind."

"O, I hadn't time to think, I suppose, I was in too great a hurry to get
away--and besides I wasn't sure whether Ned was in or not. I'm glad now
it was Charlie, for I don't think he'll look on these things with the
same eyes now, as he used to, after what he saw of their value and
necessity when nothing else could avail."

"Ah, well, I don't know much about it myself, but I suppose we must
attend to them some time, though there's no particular hurry at present
for any of _us_ that I can see."

"Oh, but there is!" cried Minnie anxiously, "don't you see that the end
may come any day, and that though we are young, we haven't any guarantee
that we will live even one day more--there are so many ways we may die,
and just consider that one of them might overtake us within an hour."

"O, yes, of course, it _might_," was his light reply, "but that's very
unlikely. It's a rather dull sort of subject this--I think I'll run
round to Jack Durnard's for a map I lent him yesterday."

He walked out unconcernedly, and Minnie ma