her, and as he
watched the lithe young figure, the pensive face lost and rapt in the
lullaby, Theodore came to the greatest decision of his life. He
couldn't live without Jinnie Grandoken! No matter if she was the niece
of a cobbler, no matter who her antecedents were--she was born into
the world for him, and all that was delicate and womanly in her called
out to the manhood in him; and all that was strong, masterful, and
aggressive in him clamored to protect and shield her, and in that
fleeting moment the brilliant young bachelor suddenly lost his hold on
bachelordom, as a boy loses his hold on a kite. There are times in
every human life when such a decision as Theodore then made seemed the
beginning of everything. It was as if the past had wrapped him around
like the grey shell of a cocoon.

A loose lock of hair fell coquettishly from the girl's dark head low
upon the fiddle, and Theodore loved and wanted to kiss it, and when
the instrument dropped from under the dimpled chin, he held out his
hand.

"Come here, Jinnie," he said softly. "Come sit beside me."

She came directly, as she always did when he asked anything of her. He
drew her down close to his side, and for a long time they remained
quiet. Jinnie was facing the acme of joy. The day had only begun, and
she was with the object of her dreams. Just as when she had lived in
the hills the fiddle had held the center of her soul, so now Theodore
King occupied that sacred place. The morning light rose in her eyes,
the blue fire transforming her face.

[Illustration: "PLAY FOR ME," THEODORE SAID. "STAND BY THAT BIG TREE SO I
CAN LOOK AT YOU."]

Theodore turned, saw, and realized at that moment. He discovered in
her what he had long desired. She loved him! All the old longing, all
the strength and passion within him broke loose at the nearness of
her. Suddenly he stretched out his arms and drew her still nearer.
Jinnie felt every muscle of his strongly fibered body grow tense at
her touch. She tried to draw away from his encircling arms, but the
rise and fall of her bosom, girlishly curved--the small-girl shyness
that caused her to endeavor to unloose his strong hands, only goaded
him to press her closer.

"Don't leave me, my dearest, my sweet," he breathed, kissing her lids
and hair. "I love you! I love you!"

She gasped once, twice, and her head fell upon his breast, and for a
moment she lay wrapped in her youthful modesty as in a mantle.

"Kiss me, Jinn