ng beside her, erect and silent. They traversed the entire
deserted block without speaking, each busied indeed with the
intricacies of the board walk. Then Winston sought to break the
somewhat embarrassing silence, his first words sounding strangely
awkward and constrained.

"It was exceedingly kind of you to grant such privilege when we have
scarcely even spoken to each other before."

She glanced aside at his grave face, a certain coquettish smile making
her appear suddenly girlish.

"Possibly if you realized the exact cause of my complete surrender you
might not feel so highly flattered," she confessed, shyly.

"Indeed! You mean why it was you consented so easily? Then possibly
you had better inform me at once, for I acknowledge feeling quite
conceited already at my good fortune."

She lifted her eyes questioningly, and for the first time he looked
directly down into their unveiled depths.

"Then I must certainly make confession. What if I should say, I merely
accepted the lesser of two evils--in short, preferred your company to
something I considered infinitely worse?"

"You refer to Mooney?"

She nodded, her dark eyes once again shadowed, her cheeks slightly
reddening beneath his steady gaze.

"Why, I can scarcely feel greatly flattered at being made the subject
of such a choice," Winston acknowledged with frankness. "The very
conception brings me uneasiness in fear lest my presence may be
unwelcome now that Mooney has been safely left behind. Yet it yields
me boldness also, and I venture to ask Miss Norvell what she would
probably have answered had Mooney been left out of the problem
entirely?"

His low voice held a ring of subdued earnestness, and the face of the
woman as quickly lost its smile. An instant she hesitated, her eyes
downcast, fully conscious he was anxiously searching her countenance
for the exact truth.

"And under those conditions," she responded finally, "Miss Norvell
would very probably have answered yes, only it would have been more
deliberately uttered, so that you should have realized the measure of
her condescension."

Winston laughed.

"You can have small conception of the intense relief brought me by that
last acknowledgment," he explained cheerfully. "Now I can proceed with
clear conscience, and shall undoubtedly discover in the church service
an expression of my own devout gratitude."

It was an exceedingly alert exchange of words which followed, each
cautiou