at
the girl knew, but it came from the boy.

"How dare you laugh at me. I hate you!" Judith's voice came hoarse and
unrecognizable.

A hand caught blindly at the reins; another hand closed over it. Then
there was silence again in the buggy, broken by panting sounds and
little sobs. At the end of it Judith, forced back into her corner and
held there, was really crying now, with hysterical sobs that hurt, and
hot tears that hurt, too.

"Let me go," she panted. "I hate you! You've got to let me go."

"What for?"

"I'm going home. I'm going to get out and walk home."

"Ten miles?"

"I'd walk a hundred miles to get away from you."

"You'd have to walk farther to do that." The dry little laugh cut
through the dark again, and Judith struck furiously at the arm that held
her.

"I hate you!" she sobbed.

"No."

"Oh, I do--I do----"

"I don't care." The boy's voice sounded light and dry, like his laugh.
"I don't care. Kiss me."

"I won't! I won't! I'll never speak to you again. I'll never forgive
you."

"Lying to me--fooling me; taking me up and dropping me like Everard does
to women.... You're no better than he is. You're one of his crowd, but
you're through with them.... Lying to me, when you do care. You do."

"I hate you!"

"Ah, no, you don't."

Little bursts of confused speech, all they had breath for and more,
disconnected, not always understood, not always articulate, but always
angry, came from them, with intervals of silent, panting struggle
between. The two young creatures in the buggy were struggling in earnest
now. The struggle was clumsy, like most really significant ones; sudden
and clumsy and blind. The two figures swayed aimlessly back and forth.
The boy and girl were both on their feet now. The boy had dropped the
reins. Both arms held the girl. Her pinioned arms fought to free
themselves.

"Judith, you don't hate me. Say it--say it."

[Illustration: "'_Judith, you don't hate me? Say it--say it_'"]

The two shadowy figures were like one now, but the girl's arms were
free, pushing the boy away, striking at him impotently.

"You needn't say it. I know. You had to come to-night. You couldn't stay
away. You don't hate me. You never will. You couldn't. I'm crazy about
you. You're the only thing that matters, if we should die the next
minute. Everything's all wrong, and it's not my fault or yours.
Everything's wrong, and this is wrong, too, but I don't care and you
don't. Do you? Do you?"