or Bob Bard anything but a thing of
beauty. And yet, as Ruth looked at him, and saw Kemp's strong white
hand placed gently on the low forehead, a great wave of tender pity took
possession of her. Sleep puts the strongest at the mercy of the
watcher; there is a loneliness about it, a silent, expressive plea for
protection, that appeals unconsciously. Ruth would have liked to raise
the rough, lonely head to her bosom.

"It would be too bad to wake him now," said the doctor, in a low voice,
coming back to her side; "he is sleeping restfully; and that is what
he needs. I am sorry our little plan is frustrated; but it would be
senseless to wait, as there is no telling when he will waken."

A shade of disappointment passed over the girl's face, which he noticed.

"But," he continued, "you might leave your roses where he cannot fail to
see them. His conjectures on their mysterious appearance will rouse him
sufficiently for one day."

He watched her move lightly across the room, and fill a cup with
water from an earthenware pitcher. She looked about for a second as if
hesitating where to place it, and then quickly drew up a high-backed
wooden chair close to the bedside, and placed thereon a cup with roses,
so that they looked straight into the face of the slumbering lad.

"We will go now," Kemp said, and opened the door for Ruth to pass
before him. She followed him slowly, but on the threshold drew back, a
thoughtful little pucker on her brow.

"I think I shall wait anyway," she explained. "I should like to talk
with Bob a little."

The doctor looked slightly annoyed.

"You had better drive home with me," he objected.

"Thank you," she replied, drawing farther back into the room; "but the
Jackson Street cars are very convenient."

"Nevertheless, I should prefer to have you come with me," he insisted.

"But I do not wish to," she repeated quietly; "besides, I have decided
to stay."

"That settles it, then," smiled Kemp; and shaking her hand, he went out
alone.

"When my lady will, she will; and when she won't, she won't," he mused,
gathering up his reins. But the terminal point to the thought was a
smile.

Ruth, thus left alone, seated herself on the one other chair near the
foot of the bed. Strange to say, though she gazed at Bob, her thoughts
had flown out of the room. She was dimly conscious that she was
pleasantly excited. Had she cared to look the cause boldly in the face,
she would have known that Miss Ru