be trouble! And"--here he made a mock solemn bow--"My
compliments to Miss Soriso!"

The red-haired youth remained for a moment stock-still with mouth and
eyes open,--then, snatching up the empty milk-pail he scampered down
the hill-slope at a lightning quick run.

Seaton looked after him with an air of contemptuous amusement.

"Ugly little devil!" he soliloquised--"And yet Nature made him,--as she
makes many hideous things--in a hurry, I presume, without any time for
details or artistic finish. Well!"--here he stretched his arms out with
a long sigh--"And the silly girl is 'too busy' to come! As if I could
not see through THAT little game! She'd give her eyes to come!--fine
eyes they are, too! She just thinks she'll pay me out for being rough
with her the other day--she's got an idea that she'll vex me, and make
me want to see her. She's right,--I AM vexed!--and I DO want to see
her!"

It was mid-morning, and the sun blazed down upon the hill-side with the
scorching breath of a volcano. He turned into his hut,--it was a dark,
cool little dwelling, comfortable enough for a single inhabitant. There
was a camp-bed in one corner--and there were a couple of wicker chairs
made for easy transposition into full-length couches if so required, A
good sized deal table occupied the centre of the living-room,--and on
the table was a clear crystal bowl full of what appeared at a first
glance to be plain water, but which on closer observation showed a
totally different quality. Unlike water it was never still,--some
interior bubbling perpetually moved it to sway and sparkle, throwing
out tiny flashes as though the smallest diamond cuttings were striving
to escape from it--while it exhaled around itself an atmosphere of
extreme coldness and freshness like that of ice. Seaton threw himself
indolently into one of wicker chairs by the window--a window which was
broad and wide, commanding a full view of distant mountains, and far
away to the left a glimpse of sea.

"I am vexed, and I want to see her"--he repeated, speaking aloud to
himself--"Now--WHY? Why am I vexed?--and why do I want to see her?
Reason gives no answer! If she were here she would bore me to death. I
could do nothing. She would ask me questions--and if I answered them
she would not understand,--she is too stupid. She has no comprehension
of any thing beyond simple primitive animalism. Now if it were
Morgana--"

He stopped in his talk, and started as if he had been s