sit down? You _might_ have had a chair. And look
at poor, darling Kitty. You may be unkind to me, but you needn't make
_her_ sit on the floor. You never saved _her_ life, and you have no
right to be unkind to her."

"Unkind! Oh, mees!--my heart, my life, all arra youairs, an' I lay my
life at youair foot."

"I think it would be far more kind if you would put a chair at poor
Kitty's feet," retorted Minnie, with some show of temper.

"But, oh, carissima, tink--de wild wood--noting here--no, noting--not
a chair--only de straw."

"Then you had no business to bring me here. You might have known that
there were no chairs here. I can't sit down on nothing. But I suppose
you expect me to stand up. And if that isn't horrid, I don't know what
is. I'm sure I don't know what poor dear papa would say if he were to
see me now."

[Illustration: "WHAT IS THIS FOR?"]

"Do not grieve, carissima mia--do not, charming mees, decompose
yourself. To-morra you sall go to a bettaire place, an' I will carra
you to my castello. You sall haf every want, you sall enjoy every wis,
you sall be happy."

"But I don't see how I can be happy without a chair," reiterated
Minnie, in whose mind this one grievance now became pre-eminent. "You
talk as though you think I am made of stone or iron, and you think I
can stand here all day or all night, and you want me to sleep on that
horrid straw and those horrid furry things. I suppose this is the
castle that you speak of; and I'm sure I wonder why you _ever_ thought
of bringing me here. I suppose it doesn't make so much difference
about a _carpet_; but you will not even let me have a _chair_; and I
think you're _very_ unkind."

Girasole was in despair. He stood in thought for some time. He felt
that Minnie's rebuke was deserved. If she had reproached him with
waylaying her and carrying her off, he could have borne it, and could
have found a reply. But such a charge as this was unanswerable. It
certainly was very hard that she should not be able to sit down. But
then how was it possible for him to find a chair in the woods? It was
an insoluble problem. How in the world could he satisfy her?

Minnie's expression also was most touching. The fact that she had no
chair to sit on seemed to absolutely overwhelm her. The look that she
gave Girasole was so piteous, so reproachful, so heart-rending, that
his soul actually quaked, and a thrill of remorse passed all through
his frame. He felt a cold chill runni