the tiny white doglet drowsing upon
her arm. But William was wet--he was still more than merely damp, though
they had evidently walked some distance since the rain had ceased to
fall. His new hat was a mucilaginous ruin; his dank coat sagged; his
shapeless trousers flopped heavily, and his shoes gave forth marshy
sounds as he walked.

No brilliant analyst was needed to diagnose this case. Surely any
observer must have said: "Here is a dry young lady, and at her side
walks a wet young gentleman who carries an umbrella in one hand and a
walking-stick in the other. Obviously the young lady and gentleman
were out for a stroll for which the stick was sufficient, and they were
caught by the rain. Before any fell, however, he found her a place of
shelter--such as a corner drug-store and then himself gallantly went
forth into the storm for an umbrella. He went to the young lady's house,
or to the house where she may be visiting, for, if he had gone to his
own he would have left his stick. It may be, too, that at his own, his
mother would have detained him, since he is still at the age when it
is just possible sometimes for mothers to get their sons into the house
when it rains. He returned with the umbrella to the corner drug-store
at probably about the time when the rain ceased to fall, because his
extreme moistness makes necessary the deduction that he was out in all
the rain that rained. But he does not seem to care."

The fact was that William did not even know that he was wet. With his
head sidewise and his entranced eyes continuously upon the pretty face
so near, his state was almost somnambulistic. Not conscious of his
soggy garments or of the deluged streets, he floated upon a rosy cloud,
incense about him, far-away music enchanting his ears.

If Jane had not recognized the modeling of his features she might not
have known them to be William's, for they had altered their grouping
to produce an expression with which she was totally unfamiliar. To be
explicit, she was unfamiliar with this expression in that place--that is
to say, upon William, though she had seen something like it upon other
people, once or twice, in church.

William's thoughts might have seemed to her as queer as his expression,
could she have known them. They were not very definite, however, taking
the form of sweet, vague pictures of the future. These pictures were of
married life; that is, married life as William conceived it for himself
and Miss