The Washington herald., 1914-11-01
aoh yes. | would. ! promise

aluOg you Will not piCcIluS tO-tD
kiss you unless you ask me to.
That ought to be safe enough she
laughed. well, I'll think it over. And
now we really must get back. Alice
and Murray are at the door looking
this way"
They retur1ed slowly to the cloister,
discussing the beauty of the night and
the brilliance of the moon. Persis told
on herself; confessed that she had been
foolish enough to dance on the grass,
and her shoes and stockings were
dfenched.
Willie, who was partially awake, sup
piled the necessary excuse for absence
He demanded that she change at once
and not risk pneumonia.
If I'm sent to my room / won't
come back" said Persis, and yawned
,convincingly This set up contagion
of yawns.s Everybody was instantly
smitten. with sleepinesS.
There was some furry over the
nightcap drinks, and leisurely eXi: OF
all except Persis, who left immedi-
ately. When the rest went up to their
rooms Forbes went to his.
He waited with frantic impatience for
the light to go out in Ten Eyck's room.
II was nearly midnight when Forbes
felt il safe to venture out into the hall
and tiptoe down the stairs. He had
just arrived there when Persis stole
down and met him. They did not ven
ture even TO whisper. He took her arm
and groped with his free hand through
a black tunnel to a blaeker door, which
opened stealthily and admitted flood
of moonlight.
They did not wade out into the mid
sea of the lawn. He remembered Per-
sis dictum that behind the blinds there
are always eyes. Like sniceering tru-
ants they slirted the balustrade, the
shadowy privet hedge, the masses OF
juniper and bay and box, till they
reached the point where the winding
stairway dropped down between its
high brick walls.
The shadows were doubly dense here,
and Persis hung back, but Forbes
laughed at her for a poltroon, and she
refused to take the dare. He was
so afraid that she might fall that he
finally suggested:
"If you are afraid of stumbling here,
I-Pm not forgetting my promise; but
/ Just wanted to say that IL don't
mind holding on to you, If you want to
ask me to"
She declined with whispered thanks.
Down, down the walk drifted. At
length they heard a murInur-the mys-
teriousiy musical noise of a fountain.
They rounded a few more curves and
came upon a niched Cupid riding a
dolphin, from whose mouth an arc OF
water poured with sound of chuck
ling laughter.
They stood and watched it like chill
~dren for a long while. Then Forbes
urged Persis along to the lowest of the
circular levels.
There he led her to a bench and
dropped down beside her. They both
looked into the huge caldron of the
hills, filed with moonlight as with a
mist.
Persis and Forbes sat worshiping
like Parsees of the Smoon, In swesome
silence, till Forbes could no longer hush
the clamor in his heart.
Miss Cabot" he said, "I promised
not to annoy you. Would it annoy YOU
if told you that-that love you with
all my heart and soul and being?
@How could you love me?" she an
swered, softly, hoping to be contra
dicted. You've known me only few
days"
AThere are some people we live with
for years and never like nor under
stand; others we know and love the
moment our eyes meet
"And did you love me the moment
our eyes metz"
Long before that. / loved the back
of YOUR hat and one shoulder"
do you tell everybody you meet the
same thing? It's rather a stale ques-
ton to ask a man, but you do seem
rather impulsive on so short an
acquaintance.
"Short acquaintance? We've seen
each other more than most people see
of each other in six months. l know
YOU and | know myself, and know
that / shall never be happy unless l
can be trying to make you happy.
81 am very happy just now' she
murmured. :,
"But we can't sit here forever, and
we can't even be together for more than
a day or two. / want you for my own.
l don't want to see you only-only on
Mr.. Enslee's- property"
(Which reminds me" Persis said,
with a tone of dispelled romance, that
we are still on Mr.. Enslee's property,
and it doesn't seem fair to him"
''Then let's leave Mr.. Enslee's prop
erty."
'iHows In an airship?"
"See that wall down there? That is,
one of the boundary lines. If we were
over that ! could tell you some things
that Eve got to tell you.
Its an awfully long way;
'It's not far. Let's walk to keep
warm. You are cold, aren't your?
Frozen, that's all. Well, come along,
I'll 20 part way with you"
Constantly pausing 10 turn back, but
finding it NSasier to drift on down than
begin the upward climb, Persis went
on and on, arm in arm with Forbes. By
and by they reached the boundary wall,
He helped her to set one knee upon It
and mount awlCwardly. He clambered
up and sat down at her side. Their
backs were toward the Enslee demesne,
their feet in the unknown.
And there, without delay, Forbes told
her that she must be his wife, told her
that he loved her as woman had never
been loved before
His hands fought to caress her, his
lips tingled to be again. at her cheek,
but he kept his promise
Couldn't you possibly love me, Miss
CabOtl Couldn't you possibly! he
pleaded; and she whispered, with sad
sweetness:
Il could-all too easily. Mr.. Forbes,
hf,t I am afraid 70 love I thought