d then she was suddenly plunged into the memory of
another occasion when she had received summary and austere punishment for
omitting scales from her practising. But then no one ever liked doing
what they must, and she had never had any real taste for music; or if she
had had, it had vanished long since under the uninspiring goad of
compulsion.

All her morning depression came back while these bitter meditations
racked her brain. Oh, if only--if only--her father had chosen a lady for
his wife! It was disloyal, she knew, to indulge such a thought, but her
mood was black and her soul was in revolt. She was sure--quite sure--that
marriage presented the only possibility of deliverance, and deliverance
was beginning to seem imperative. Her whole individuality, which this
past week of giddy liberty had done so much to develop, cried aloud for
it.

She went to the window. Billy had grown tired of waiting and gone off
without her. She fancied she could see his sturdy figure on the further
slope. Her eyes took in the whole lovely scene, and suddenly,
effervescently, her spirits began to rise. The inherent gaiety of her
bubbled to the surface. What a waste of time to stay here grizzling while
that paradise lay awaiting her! The sweetness of her nature began to
assert itself once more, and an almost fevered determination to live in
the present, to be happy while she could, entered into her. With
impetuous energy she pushed the evil thoughts away. She would be happy.
She would! She would! And happiness was not difficult to Dinah. It
bubbled in her, a natural spring, that ever flowed again even after the
worst storms had forced it from its course.

She even laughed to herself as she prepared to join Billy. Life was
good,--oh yes, life was good! And home and the trials thereof were many
miles away. Who could be unhappy for long in such a world as this, where
the air sparkled like champagne, and the magic of it ran riot in the
blood?

The black mood passed away from her spirit like a cloud. She threw on cap
and coat and ran to join the merry-makers.

CHAPTER XI

OLYMPUS

All through that afternoon Dinah and Billy played like cubs in the snow.
They were very inexperienced in the art of luging, but they took their
spills with much heartiness and a total disregard of dignity that made
for complete enjoyment.

When the sun went down they forsook the sport, and joined in a
snowballing match with a dozen or more of their