ed her on her charming appearance; but for one who
had been eating his heart out during eight consecutive hours solely on
her account, it was hardly to be expected. The sight of her, though a
relief to his mind, gave rise to thoughts the nature of which he found
it difficult to conceal.

"What!" he cried, furious and aghast, scarcely believing his eyes as the
truth slowly began to dawn upon him. "They told me you were ill--that
you couldn't appear to-day!"

"Ill? How very strange!" she answered in feigned surprise, with a far
away, vacant look in her eyes, as though she had just met him for the
first time, rendering him quite speechless. "Really, Mr. Yankton," she
continued in the coldest, most distant manner she could command, "I
never felt better in my life!" And without allowing him time to catch
his breath, she passed by him and slammed the door in his face, from the
other side of which he fancied he heard her silvery, rippling laughter,
the nature of which sounded suspiciously like a titter.

Woman never delivered a more crushing blow. In that instant Mr. Yankton
saw more stars than the firmament contains. It was like being thrown
suddenly into a river on a cold morning. Miss Van Ashton's methods might
be regarded as somewhat harsh by certain persons, but realizing that
heroic measures were the only cure for the dangerous distemper that
threatened her peace of mind, she had acted without hesitancy. Besides,
was she not in a measure justified in wishing to even up their scores?

Oh, the fickleness of woman! How cleverly she had deceived him, and what
an ass he had been! She had been playing with him all the while, and as
he paced the floor, revolving what course to pursue, he wondered how he
could have been so simple. True, she was different from any woman he had
ever met, but dazed though he was by her sudden change of front, he was
not disheartened. On the contrary, she had become more attractive than
ever. His blood fairly boiled at the thought of his defeat, but he would
profit by the experience--change his tactics completely. The more she
avoided him, the more persistent he would become. If she did not see
him, she would be kept a prisoner in the house. He would give her no
peace, day or night. He would dog her footsteps, confront her at every
turn, pursue her with the most reckless and relentless ardor and utter
disregard of what the world might think; treat her as he would an
unbroken horse--give her no re