de to watch the skaters. Billy was seated on
the bank, impatiently changing his boots.

"I'm not going to wait for you any longer, Dinah," he said. "I'm fed up."

"Don't then!" she retorted. "I never asked you to."

"What a lie!" said Billy, with all a brother's gallantry.

She threw him a sister's look of scorn and deigned no rejoinder. But in a
moment the incident was forgotten. "Oh, look there!" she suddenly
exclaimed. "Isn't that just like Rose de Vigne? She's always sure to
appropriate the most handsome man within sight. I've been watching that
man from my window. He is a perfect Apollo, and skates divinely. And now
she's got him!"

Deep disgust was audible in her voice. Billy looked up with a sideways
grin. "You don't suppose he'd look at a sparrow like you, do you?" he
said. "He prefers a swan, you bet."

"Be quiet, Billy!" commanded Dinah, making an ineffectual dig at him with
her foot. "I don't want him to look at me. I hate men. But it is too bad
the way Rose always chooses the best. It's just the same with everything.
And I long--oh, I do long sometimes--to cut her out!"

"I should myself," said Scott unexpectedly. "But why don't you. I'm sure
you could."

She threw him a whimsical smile. "I!" she said. "Why that's about as
likely as--" she stopped short in some confusion.

He laughed a little. "You mean I might as soon hope to cut out Apollo?
But the cases are not parallel, I assure you. Besides, Apollo happens to
be my brother, which makes a difference."

"Oh, is he your brother? What a good thing you told me!" laughed Dinah.
"I might have said something rude about him in a minute."

"Like me!" said Billy, stumbling to his feet. "I made a most horrific
blunder, didn't I, Mr. Studley? I called him a bounder!"

Dinah looked at him witheringly. "You would!" she said. "Well, I hope you
apologized."

Billy stuck out his tongue at her. "I didn't then!" he returned, and
skated elegantly away on one leg.

"Billy," remarked Dinah dispassionately, "is not really such a horrid
little beast as he seems."

Scott smiled his courteous smile. "I had already gathered that," he said.

Her green eyes darted him a swift look, as if to ascertain if he were in
earnest. Then: "That was very nice of you," she said. "I wonder how you
knew."

He still smiled, but without much mirth. "A looker-on sees a good many
things, you know," he said.

Dinah's eyes flashed understanding. She said no more.

CHAPTER