of urgent interest requiring
their presence, rain or shine. Suddenly she became aware of a tall,
familiar figure moving through the crowd. It was Bruce Carrington. At
the same moment he saw her, and with a casual air that quite deceived
her, approached; and Betty, who had been feeling very lonely and very
homesick, was somehow instantly comforted at sight of him. She welcomed
him almost as a friend.

"You're leaving to-night?" he asked.

"Yes--isn't it miserable the way it rains? And why are they so slow--why
don't they hurry with that boat?"

"It's in the last lock now," explained Carrington.

"My clothes will all be ruined," said Betty. He regarded the dress she
wore with instant concern. "No--I mean the things in my trunks; this
doesn't matter," and Betty nodded toward the pile under the steaming
tarpaulin. Carrington's dark eyes opened with an expression of mild
wonder. And so those trunks were full of clothes--Oh, Lord!--he looked
down at the flushed, impatient face beside him with amusement.

"I'll see that they are taken care of," he said, for the boat was
alongside the platform now; and gathering up Betty's hand luggage, he
helped her aboard.

By the time they had reached Wheeling, Betty had quite parted with
whatever superficial prejudice she might have had concerning river-men.
This particular one was evidently a very nice river-man, an exception
to his kind. She permitted him to assume the burden of her plans, and
no longer scanned the pages of her Badger's and Porter's with a puckered
brow. It reposed at the bottom of her satchel. He made choice of the
steamer on which she should continue her journey, and thoughtfully chose
The Naiad--a slow boat, with no reputation for speed to sustain. It
meant two or three days longer on the river, but what of that? There
would be no temptation in the engine-room to attach a casual wrench or
so to the safety-valve as an offset to the builder's lack of confidence
in his own boilers. He saw to it that her state-room was well
aft--steamers had a trick of blowing up forward.

Ne had now reached a state of the utmost satisfaction with himself and
the situation. Betty was friendly and charming. He walked with her, and
he talked with her by the hour; and always he was being entangled deeper
and deeper in the web of her attraction. "When alone he would pace the
deck recalling every word she had spoken. There was that little air
of high breeding which was Betty's that fas