he lady of his choice, he
had sent her no word of his coming, and as a consequence he found her
apartment empty--empty for him, for Folly was not in. Marie opened the
door, and after a few gasping words of welcome told him that Folly had
just gone out, that she was driving in the park; but wouldn't he come in
and wait?

At first he said "Yes," but his impatience did not let him even cross
the threshold. It drove him out to the park with the assurance that it
was better to hunt for a needle in a haystack than to sit down and wait
for the needle to crawl out to him. For a while he stood at a point of
vantage and watched the long procession of private motor-cars and
carriages, but he watched in vain. Depressed, he started to walk, and
his mood carried him away from the throng.

He was walking head down when a lonely carriage standing by the curb
drew his eye. At first he thought desire had deceived his senses. The
equipage looked very like Folly's smart little victoria, but it was
empty, and the man on the box was a stranger. Lewis approached him
doubtfully. "Is this Miss Delaires's carriage?" he asked.

The man looked him over before he answered:

"Yes, sir."

"Where is Miss Delaires?" asked Lewis, his face brightening.

"Doin' 'er mile," replied the coachman.

Lewis waved his hand toward a path to the right questioningly. The man
nodded. Feeling suddenly young again, Lewis hurried along the path with
a long and eager stride. He had not gone far when he saw a dainty
figure, grotesquely accompanied by a ragamuffin, coming toward him. He
did not have to ask himself twice if the dainty figure was Folly's. If
he had been blind, the singing of the blood in his veins would have
spelled her name.

He stepped behind a screening bush and waited to spring out at her. His
eyes fastened curiously upon the ragamuffin. He could see that he was
speaking to Folly, and that she was paying no regard to him. Presently
Lewis could hear what he was saying:

"Aw, naow, lydy, give us a penny, won't cher?"

"I won't," replied Folly, sharply. "I said I wouldn't, and I won't. I'll
give you up to the first officer we come to, though, if you don't
clear."

"Ah, ga-am!" said the youth, whose head scarcely reached to Folly's
waist. "Course you won't give me no penny. _You_ ain't no lydy."

Folly stopped in her tracks. Her face went suddenly livid with rage.

"No lydy!" she cried in the most directly expressive of all idioms. "If
I was