One Day

young companion were introduce

kable signs of some mental disturbance. Paul Zalenska was struck by the haunted expression of what must naturally have been a grave count

ly ultra-fashionable, ostentatiously polite and suave. In the lines of his bestial face he bore the records of a lifetime's profligacy and the black ta

on deck, when her father, with an air of pride, mingled with a certain curious el

nition that the lips of each tacitly denied as t

iness was reflected upon her in a somewhat lesser

terest to Paul-and then the Count proposed a game of écar

t so o

want to play cards within sound of the ru

l. He would have withdrawn his proposal had he been able to find any plausible excuse. But it was too late

were at last face

ntended to ignore their former meeting, he thought, he would at once put that idea beyond all question. She bore his

aid at last,

ded, "well-well,

wed mo

ave been searching for

that, but having said it,

that she would call him "Paul" the f

r me? I don't

? The best things in life are the things we

e true. It was human nature to be attracted by mystery. "But you have been looking for me, y

blood tingle again

rdon me-Paul, I mean," and she laughed agai

s head with affe

tell a lad

hed again, please

eance upon my luckl

ul, pretending to reflect upon the matter-

not at all sure you would ever be able to fulfil? Take my

laughed in her eyes; "you

sensitive upon the subje

for," she retorted. "I shall cling to the flattering hope that such m

did you r

n, after a pause, "

o you? Just-beca

ey both lau

ou ran. You were

d there was a fine

-of wha

too easily! Come,

radict you for t

her tone that made it almost a caress. It thr

fortunate as to be with you now where you can't possibly run

er

she was not blind to his manoeuvres. Their eyes met and they laughed again. Truly

you before that, Opal-l

ithout question, he told her of his overhearing her at the garden party

l was silent, and said not a word of having seen him there. Confidences were all

deas upon the subject and smiled to herself at the lively development of affairs since that

just then. The Boy had read the signs u

er the vast expanse of dancing blueness, they spoke of li

ike a meeting of old friends, rather than of strangers. Some intimacies are like the oak, long and steady of growth; others spring to full

glowing with a quick appreciation of some well-expressed and worthy thought. Somet

into the eyes of a woman before. She smiled-and he was s

cres-the splendid sweep of her meadows-the massive grandeur of her mountain peaks-the glory of her open skies! Yo

o your country. Tell me of her-her institutions,

counted at that moment. But the

ys employed in the expression of a thought or as the outlet for some passing emotion. He caught himself watching for the occasional glimpses of her small white teeth between the rose of her lips. He saw in her eyes the violet sparks of smouldering fires, kindled by the volcanic heart sometimes throbbing and threatening so close to the surface. Whe

t devote all its powers to the building therein of a magnificent, flaming soul-that her inner nature might always

heart-beats mingled with the pulse hammering through his brain and made

l with a sudden sense of apprehension. She rose and looked far out over the restless

s purpose. They are men of pure thoughts and lofty ideals. They know what they want and bend every ambition and energy to its attainment. Of course I speak of the average

, and the loose sleeve fell back, leaving her white

t a second's warning Paul threw his arms about her and crushed her against his breast. He press

t she escaped his grasp and faced him in th

his husky response. "I shall have had my kiss

voice gre

as a quiet river. She had longed to believe in the fury of love-in that irresistible attraction between men and women. It a

eemed to scorch her lips with a fire she had never dreamed of. With the universal instinct of shamed womanhood, she pressed her handkerchief t

, seeking some solution of the mystery of her own hea

toward her, his face

t, Opal?"

ng-to under

myself sometimes-c

you were a

idn't say that to

All men can be gentle when they get what they want. That's no test of gentility. It takes circumstances outside the

his eyes and sought its reflecti

mingled with a strange sense of guilt. Her resentment seemed to blend with something res

ively to be more than he claimed to be? What was the secret of his power that even in

le kiss. And yet she felt as though all the world must have seen had they loo