words, and lose half their
bitterness in the telling just because love--that mighty magician--had
come to help bear them.

A great man once said: "O opportunity, thy guilt is great!" and I have
often wondered why he did not add, "or thou art very precious." So much
depends upon an auspicious moment. A big door can swing upon a very small
hinge.

As Toinette looked down the road with unseeing eyes, the whistle of an
incoming train, brought her back to a realization of things around her.
The station was barely half a mile away, and ere ten minutes had passed a
man appeared in the distance. Evidently the owner of that athletic figure
knew where he was bound, and was going to _get_ there as quickly as his
firm, long strides could carry him. He was a large man, sun-burned to the
point of duskiness, bearded and moustached as though barbers were unknown
in the land from which he hailed. Dressed in servicable tweed
knickerbockers and Norfolk jacket, his Alpine hat placed upon his head to
_stay put_, his grip slung by a strap across his broad shoulders, he came
striding over the ground as though intent upon very important business.
Toinette watched his approach in a listless sort of way, but as he drew
nearer and nearer seemed to recognize something familiar.

"Who can he be, and where have I seen him, I wonder?" she said, half
aloud, as she peered at him from behind the lattice-work of the
summer-house.

On he came, quite unconscious of the big eyes regarding him so intently,
and presently stopped to look about him, as though trying to recall old
landmarks. He now stood almost opposite Toinette, when, chancing to glance
toward the house, he became aware of her presence.

"Why, little lady, you could have popped me over from ambush if you had
had a gun, for I walked straight upon you and never suspected that you
were there. Can you direct me to the Misses Carter's school? The
station-master said it was about ten minutes' walk, but it is so many
years since I have been here that I find I've forgotten the lay of the
land, and I don't want to waste much time, for I've a very precious
somebody there whom I'm very anxious to see. Last time I saw her she was
only about knee-high to a grasshopper, but I suspect I shall find a young
lady now, and have to be introduced to her."

At the sound of his voice Toinette arose to her feet, her color coming and
going, and her heart beating so loudly that she was sure he could hear it.
As