"

He made her a grave bow. "I have told you," he said, "because otherwise
you would have thought ill of me. Now, with your permission, since there
is no more to say upon the subject, I will return to my friends."

He would have left her with the words, but she put out an impulsive hand.
"But, Bertie--"

He took the hand, looking straight into her eyes, all his formality
vanished at a breath. "Ask me no more, little one," he said. "You have
asked too much already. But you do not understand. Some day I will
explain all. Run home to _Mademoiselle la gouvernante_ now, and forget
all this. To-morrow we will play again together on the shore, draw the
pictures that you love, and weave anew our rope of sand."

He smiled as he said it, but the tenderness of his speech went deep into
the girl's heart. She suffered him to take leave of her almost in
silence. Those words of his had set vibrating in her some chord of
womanhood that none had ever touched before. It was true that she did not
understand, but she was nearer to understanding at that moment than she
had ever been before.

CHAPTER VIII

THE ENGLISHMAN

Chris returned quite soberly to the little house on the _plage_. The
morning's events had given her a good deal to think about. That any man
should deem it worth his while to fight a duel for her sake was a novel
idea that required a good deal of consideration. It was all very
difficult to understand, and she wished that Bertrand had told her more.
What could his adversary of the scowling brows have found to say about
her, she wondered? She had never so much as seen the man before. How had
he managed even to think anything unpleasant of her? Recalling Bertrand's
fiery eyes, she reflected that it must have been something very
objectionable indeed, and wondered how anyone could be so horrid.

These meditations lasted till she reached the garden gate, and here they
were put to instant and unceremonious flight, for little Noel hailed her
eagerly from the house with a cry of, "Hurry up, Chris! Hurry up! You're
wanted!"

Chris hastened in, to be met by her young brother, who was evidently in a
state of great excitement.

"Hurry up, I say!" he repeated. "My word, what a guy you look! We've just
had a wire from Jack. He will be in Paris this evening, and we are to
meet him there. We have got to catch the Paris express at Rennes, and the
train leaves here in two hours."

This was news indeed. Chris found hersel