en worse than
it was before. She did not look round until she heard Lord Stansford's
step on the stair, then she gave an exclamation of surprise on seeing
him. The young man was dressed in a wide-awake hat, and the costume
which we see in the illustrated papers as picturing our friends in
South Africa. All he needed was a belt of cartridges and a rifle to
make the picture complete.

"This is hardly the dress a man is supposed to wear in London when he
makes an afternoon call on a lady, Miss Linderham," said the young man,
with a laugh, "but I had either to come this way or not at all, for my
time is very limited. I thought it was too bad to leave the country
without giving you an opportunity to apologise for your conduct last
night, and for the additional insult of hiring me for two hours this
afternoon. And so, you see, I came."

"I am very glad you did," replied Miss Linderham. "I was much
disappointed when they telephoned me this afternoon that you had
resigned. I must say that you look exceedingly well in that outfit,
Lord Stansford."

"Yes," said the young man, casting a glance over himself; "I am
compelled to admit that it is rather becoming. I have had the pleasure
of attracting a good deal of attention as I came along the street."

"They took you for a cowboy, I suppose?"

"Well, something of that sort. The small boy, I regret to say, was so
unfeeling as to sing 'He's got 'em on,' and other ribald ditties of
that kind, which they seemed to think suited the occasion. But others
looked at me with great respect, which compensated for the
disadvantages. Will you pardon the rudeness of a pioneer, Miss
Linderham, when I say that you look even more charming in the studio
dress than you did in ball costume, and I never thought that could be
possible?"

"Oh," cried the girl, flushing, perhaps, because the crimson paint on
the palette she had picked up reflected on her cheek. "You must excuse
this working garb, as I did not expect visitors. You see, they
telephoned me that you were not coming."

The deluded young man actually thought this statement was correct,
which in part it was, and he believed also that the luxuriant hair
tossed up here and there with seeming carelessness was not the result
of an art far superior to any the girl herself had ever put upon
canvas.

"So you are off to South Africa?" she said.

"Yes, the Cape."

"Oh, is the Cape in South Africa?"

"Well, I think so," replied the young man