esence beside her in the furious darkness, her own emotion surged up
with a wild and startling strength.

A tree top snapped off just before them with its toy thunder.

"Will this never stop!" gasped Bruce, huskily. "God, I wish I had you
safe home!"

The tremulous tensity in his voice set her heart to leaping with an
unrestraint yet wilder. But she did not answer.

Suddenly Nelly stumbled in a gully and Katherine pitched forward from
the saddle. She would have fallen, had not a pair of strong arms
closed about her in mid-air.

"Katherine--Katherine!" Bruce cried, distracted. Nelly righted herself
and Katherine regained her seat, but Bruce still kept his arm about
her. "Tell me--are you hurt?" he demanded.

She felt the arms around her trembling with intensity.

"No," she said with a strange choking.

"Oh, Katherine--Katherine!" he burst out. "If you only knew how I love
you!"

What she felt could not crystallize itself into words.

"Do you love me?" he asked huskily.

Just then there was a flash of lightning. It showed her his upturned
face, appealing, tender, passion-wrought. A wild, exultant thrill
swept through her. Without thinking, without speaking, her tingling
arm reached out, of its own volition as it were, and closed about his
neck, and she bent down and kissed him.

"Katherine!" he breathed hoarsely. "Katherine!" And he crushed her
convulsively to him.

She lay thrilled in his arms.... After a minute they moved on, his arm
about her waist, her arm about his neck. Rain, wind, thunder were
forgotten. Forgotten were their theories of life. For that hour the
man and woman in them were supremely happy.

CHAPTER XVII

THE CUP OF BLISS

The next morning Katherine lay abed in that delicious lassitude which
is the compound of complete exhaustion and of a happiness that tingles
through every furthermost nerve. And as she lay there she thought
dazedly of the miracle that had come to pass. She had not even guessed
that she was in love with Arnold Bruce. In fact, she had been
resisting her growing admiration for him, and the day before she could
hardly have told whether her liking was greater than her hostility.
Then, suddenly, out there in the storm, all complex counter-feelings
had been swept side, and she had been revealed to herself.

She was tremulously, tumultuously happy. She had had likings for men
before, but she had never guessed that love was such a mighty,
exultant thing as this.