roline. No
wonder he stood and beamed, and walked away and twirled his stick and
cocked his hat, and then came back and beamed again.

Other youths of her acquaintance, or enterprising strangers going
through the barrier, had to content themselves with a "Good evening,
miss," or at most some more or less dashing remark about the weather;
but _he_ was the one to help her on with her coat when the brilliant
shades of blue and yellow on the sentry-box had faded into grey: it was
_his_ privilege to walk her off with a hand through her arm, feeling
sure that the three elderly spinsters and the one middle-aged gentleman
who chanced to be about just there wondered who that gay dog was, and
thought him no end of a fellow.

"Well, Carrie, how did you like it?" he said as they went along.

"Oh, it was all right," said Caroline in an off-handed fashion--but she
also had an elated consciousness of being important, and did not care a
bit though her feet were stone-cold from sitting still in the
sentry-box.

So talking eagerly, they went down the main road until the last avenue
was left behind and the loneliness of stars and sea-wind fronted them.
Only one light glimmered above the privet hedge from an upper room in
the Cottage.

At the gate they stopped to kiss and say good night as usual, but the
excitement of a new experience had stirred Caroline's emotions, and
Wilf's pride in her had also roused the possessive instinct in him, so
that the kiss they exchanged was a little different from the almost
passionless salute to which they had long grown accustomed. Wilf's
eyes shone and Caroline's cheeks were flushed when they drew back from
each other. She began to speak quickly, nervously. "Well, so long!
They'll think I'm never coming."

"Here! Hold on a minute." He caught her round the waist. "I say,
Carrie, it's rotten you having to go in, and me stopping outside. I
wish you'd never promised to."

"It wouldn't have made any difference if I had been staying at Uncle
Creddle's. They wouldn't want company at this time of night," she
answered, peering up at him uneasily through the starry twilight.

"Carrie!" He held her closer, his thin, boyish arms trembling a
little. "I wish to goodness we could have a home of our own. There's
some houses going to be built in that field there. I wish we could
apply for one of them."

"Well, we can't," said Caroline, touched by some wistful tone in the
lad's voice to a deeper t