y of her
face, a shade of wistfulness, of disappointment. Thus one in the
hurrying throng at the other side of the deck read it.

"What a tail-wagging!" almost immediately spake a voice at her side.

She turned. Decidedly the expression was one of brightening.

"I thought you had gone--had forgotten to say good-bye," she said.

"I was waiting until the poodles had finally cleared. Now, however, I
have come to utter that not always hateful word."

"Not in this instance?"

"Yes, distinctly. I have just heard there is to be a special train made
up--we are in too late for the regular mail-train, you know. So I shall
leave for Kimberley in about two or three hours' time."

Lilith looked disappointed.

"I thought you would have stayed here at least a few days," she said.
And then the friends who had met her on board returned, and Laurence
found himself introduced to three pretty girls--fair-haired, blue-eyed,
well-dressed--eke to a man--tall, brown-faced, loosely hung, apparently
about thirty years of age--none of whose names he could quite succeed in
catching, save that the latter was apostrophized as "George." Then,
after a commonplace or two, good-byes were uttered and they
separated--Lilith and her party to catch the train for Mowbray, her late
fellow-passenger to arrange for his own much longer journey.

Having the compartment to themselves, one of the blue-eyed girls opened
fire thus:

"Lilith, who is he?"

"Who?"

"He."

"Bless the child," laughed Lilith, "there were about half a hundred
he's."

"No, there was only one. Who is he? What is he?"

"I don't know," replied Lilith, affecting ignorance no longer.

"You don't know? After three weeks on board ship together? Three whole
weeks of ship life, and you have the face to tell me you don't know
anything about him. After the way in which you said good-bye to each
other, too? Oh, I saw."

"Well, I don't know."

"Or care?"

"Chaff away, if it's any fun to you," answered Lilith quite serenely, as
the trio rippled into peals of laughter.

"I liked the man, liked to talk to him on board--you are welcome to the
admission--but all I know is that he is going to Johannesburg. We may
never see each other again."

"These English Johnnies who come out here, and whom one knows nothing
about, are now and again slippery fish," gruffly spoke the brown-faced
one. "Watch it, Lilith."

"I thought this one looked as if he might be interesting," said another
of