g, as he gathered his roses, "and if
your imagination is strong enough, you can feel their presence many
times. I made sure there was one hid somewhere, that day I first heard
you playing."

"And did you think so when you hid behind the rock and scared me half to
death?" she queried.

"No," he responded, "I knew it was a real flesh and blood fairy then,
for I had seen you come out of the gorge."

"And so you came back to scare me," she said playfully, "that wasn't
nice. If you wanted to know who it was, why didn't you ask Uncle Jess?
He would have told you."

"Yes, and spoiled all the romance of it," answered Winn. "It's like
detecting the presence of nymphs and fairies. If you go to a grotto or
cave alone and listen for them, you will feel or hear them always, in
some way."

"If I believed that," replied Mona, seriously, "I would never go to the
cave alone again. I should feel it to be haunted."

"But you admit you can play better there, and feel more of the spirit of
your music," asserted Winn; "tell me why that is."

"Because I am alone, and feel myself to be so," she answered firmly. "I
do not believe it is due to any unseen creature."

"But you played with wondrous feeling the day I came there with you," he
replied, "you weren't alone then."

"I am glad you think so," she answered, turning away, "I tried to, but
was so afraid of you, I trembled."

Winn smiled at her candor. "You don't know how to flirt, do you, Mona?"
he asked pointedly, "you utter the truth always."

"Does flirting consist of deception?" she asked, looking earnestly at
him.

"Yes," he answered, "and of the most adroit kind. It's the weapon that
all world-wise women use to enslave men, and the more skilled they are
at it, the more assured is their success."

"Do men ever deceive?" she queried, her fathomless eyes still on him.

"Yes, little girl," he answered, looking away and out over the ocean and
resolving to be sincere, "men are the same as women in that respect;
some do it in self-defence, and others out of selfishness. Then once in
a while, one will never do it, except out of kindness. Such men are
usually imposed upon."

When they reached the brink of the chasm he took her hand. "I am so
afraid you will slip in going down," he said, "and if you were hurt, I
should never forgive myself." He retained it down the steep path and up
the devious way to the cave. When it was reached she seated herself and
said, smiling at him, "