shall answer that a little
later,--if you will excuse me for just a few minutes I will go and get
the answer,--that is, gentlemen, I hope I shall be able to bring it back
with me."

He turned and ran down the steps and strode away through the long shadows
of the garden. They heard the gate click after him as he passed into the
Claiborne grounds and then they glanced at each other with such a glance
as may pass between two members of a peace commission sitting on the same
side of the table, who will not admit to each other that the latest
proposition of the enemy has been in the nature of a surprise. They did
not, however, suffer themselves to watch Armitage, but diplomatically
refilled their glasses.

Through the green walls went Armitage. He had not been out of the Baron's
grounds before since he was carried thence from the bungalow; and it was
pleasant to be free once more, and able to stir without a nurse at his
heels; and he swung along with his head and shoulders erect, walking with
the confident stride of a man who has no doubt whatever of his immediate
aim.

At the pergola he paused to reconnoiter, finding on the bench certain
_vestigia_ that interested him deeply,--a pink parasol, a contrivance of
straw, lace and pink roses that seemed to be a hat, and a June magazine.
He jumped upon the bench where once he had sat, an exile, a refugee, a
person discussed in disagreeable terms by the newspapers, and studied the
landscape. Then he went on up the gradual slope of the meadow, until he
came to the pasture wall. It was under the trees beneath which Oscar had
waited for Zmai that he found her.

"They told me you wouldn't dare venture out for a week," she said,
advancing toward him and giving him her hand.

"That was what they told me," he said, laughing; "but I escaped from my
keepers."

"You will undoubtedly take cold,--without your hat!"

"Yes; I shall undoubtedly have pneumonia from exposure to the Virginia
sunshine. I take my chances."

"You may sit on the wall for three minutes; then you must go back. I can
not be responsible for the life of a wounded hero."

"Please!" He held up his hand. "That's what I came to talk to you about."

"About being a hero? You have taken an unfair advantage. I was going to
send for the latest designs in laurel wreaths to-morrow."

She sat down beside him on the wall. The sheep were a grayish blur
against the green. A little negro boy was shepherding them, and they
scam