s from his
eyes.

For a brief moment neither spoke. Dorothy laid down her violin and
came over to him. Jim arose and took both her hands, saying softly,
"Dorothy girl, it was wonderful, but it makes me so sad. I just can't
bear to think of parting from you."

"Jim, dear, you too feel sad?" she questioned softly, but withdrawing
her hands.

Jim let the little hands slowly drop but took her by the shoulders,
looking eagerly into her eyes. "You will miss me?" he questioned,
"really miss me?"

"Of course I will, dreadfully so," she answered.

Then without a word of warning he drew her gently to him and kissed
her full on the lips. For one brief moment they clung together, then
Dorothy withdrew his arms.

"Jim, oh, Jim! what have you done?" she sobbed.

"Girl, I just couldn't help it," answered Jim, gently drawing her into
his embrace again. "Dorothy, little Dorothy, didn't you know before?
Couldn't you guess?"

"Jim, dear, I never thought of you that way, and it's so new and
strange. I can't realize it all." And with that Dorothy rushed away
and into her own room.

CHAPTER VIII.

"AMERICA."

Just before dinner Dorothy came slowly from her room into the sitting
room where she found Jim all alone, seated in the same large chair by
the window. She had dressed this evening with much care and wore a
white dress with blue ribbons at her waist.

She had also fixed her hair differently and more in the prevailing
fashion. The girls of New York she had noticed wore their hair "up,"
and as Dorothy was eighteen, she thought she too must dress it like
they did. So carefully this afternoon did she arrange it, with three
little curls at her neck and a tiny curl just peeping out at each ear.
It made her look a little older and very fascinating indeed. Decidedly
Jim so thought, as he turned to look at her as she entered the room.

"Come here and sit down. I want to talk to you just a few minutes,
dear," he said, drawing up a chair close to his for her.

Dorothy obeyed, as some way she always was accustomed to obeying this
boy, although he was really only five years older than she was. "What
is it you want to say?" she asked, seating herself leisurely.

"It's about what happened this afternoon," Jim began, and hesitated,
hardly knowing how to continue. Looking at Dorothy he thought that she
too had changed since the afternoon; she seemed more fair, more grown
up, as if she had become a full grown woman instead of