e killed him," said Peter angrily.

"Perhaps I might! OUGHT I have killed him, Peter?" she said anxiously,
yet with the same winning, timid smile. If she had not been his sister,
he would have thought her quite handsome.

"As it is," he said impetuously, "you have made a frightful scandal
here."

"HE won't say anything about it--will he?" she inquired shyly, still
twisting the something around her finger.

Peter did not reply; perhaps the young lawyer really loved her and would
keep her secret! But he was vexed, and there was something maniacal in
her twisting fingers. "What have you got there?" he said sharply.

She shook the object in the air before her with a laugh. "Only a lock of
his hair," she said gayly; "but I didn't CUT it off!"

"Throw it away, and come here!" he said angrily.

But she only tucked the little blond curl into her waist belt and shook
her head. He urged his horse forward, but she turned and fled, laughing
as he pursued her. Being the better rider she could easily evade him
whenever he got too near, and in this way they eventually reached the
town and their house long before their companions. But she was far
enough ahead of her brother to be able to dismount and hide her trophy
with childish glee before he arrived.

She was right in believing that her unfortunate cavalier would make no
revelation of her conduct, and his catastrophe passed as an accident.
But Peter could not disguise the fact that much of his unpopularity
was shared by his sister. The matrons of Atherly believed that she was
"fast," and remembered more distinctly than ever the evil habits of her
mother. That she would, in the due course of time, "take to drink," they
never doubted. Her dancing was considered outrageous in its unfettered
freedom, and her extraordinary powers of endurance were looked upon as
"masculine" by the weaker girls whose partners she took from them. She
reciprocally looked down upon them, and made no secret of her contempt
for their small refinements and fancies. She affected only the society
of men, and even treated them with a familiarity that was both fearless
and scornful. Peter saw that it was useless to face the opposition;
Miss Atherly did not seem to encourage the renewal of the young lawyer's
attentions, although it was evident that he was still attracted by her,
nor did she seem to invite advances from others. He must go away--and
he would have to take her with him. It seemed ridiculous that