cks. About it, as though
recently transplanted here, were red and blue flowers. Just at hand
close to the clear pool was a delightful shade cast by a freshly
constructed shelter. And the shelter itself made him open his eyes.
Willow poles, with the leaves still green on them, had been set in the
soft earth. Across them other poles had been placed cunningly woven in
and out. Still other branches, criss-crossed above, and piled high
with foliage, offered a thick mat of verdure to shield one from the hot
rays of the sun. Within the elfin chamber was a rustic seat;
everywhere, their roots enwrapped in wet earth, were flowers.

'It's wonderful!' he told her, and now his enthusiasm had been
awakened. 'And, of course it's your own idea and your own work.'

'Oh my, no! It was John's idea and John made it!'

'John?'

'John Carr. He has been a perfect dear. Isn't he wonderful?'

Yes, Carr was wonderful. But already Howard's enthusiasm had fled.

'The leaves will wilt pretty soon,' he found fault in spite of himself.
He was a little ashamed even while he was speaking. 'The flowers will
die, and then----'

Helen was already seated within, smiling, looking placid and
unconcerned.

'By then,' she announced lightly, 'I'll be gone; so it won't matter.'

'Gone?' he demanded sharply. 'Where?'

'East. Mr. Carr has gone on ahead. We are to meet him in New York.'

He sat down upon a rock just outside her door and made no attempt to
hide what was in his heart. He had thought to have lost her when he
came to the spot whence the cabin had vanished; he had found her here;
he was going to lose her again. . . . Helen's heart quickened at his
look, and she lowered her head, pretending to be occupied exclusively
with a thistle that had caught on her skirt, afraid that he would know.

'Why are you going like this?' he asked suddenly.

She appeared to hesitate.

'I ought not to say anything against one of your friends,' she said
with a great show of ingenuousness. 'But, Mrs. Murray----'

Explosively he cut her short. 'You know that she is not a friend of
mine and that she has never been and never will be a friend of mine.
Why do you say that?'

She shrugged her shoulders and went on smiling at him. That smile
began to madden him; it appeared to speak of such an unruffled spirit
when his own was in tumult.

'I beg your pardon, I'm sure. I was merely going to say that Mrs.
Murray shows too great an interest in