d swiftly mounted from her throat to the
tip of her small shell-shaped ears.

He waited for her to speak, but she could not sufficiently conquer
her agitation, and with a firm hand he drew down the shielding
fingers, holding, them in his.

"There is nothing very dreadful in your being caught fast asleep,
like a white kitten on a velvet rug. If you are never guilty of
anything worse, you and your guardian will not quarrel."

Her face had drooped beyond the range of his vision, and when he put
one hand under her chin and raised it, he saw that the missing light
in the alabaster vase had been supplied, and her smooth cheeks were
flushed to brilliant carmine.

How marvellously lovely she was in that rush of colour that dyed her
dainty lips, and made the large soft eyes seem radiant as stars, when
they bravely struggled up to meet his, so piercing, so coolly
critical.

"Will you answer me one question, if I ask it?"

"Certainly, Mr. Palma; at least I will try.

"Are you afraid of me?"

The sweet mouth quivered, but the clear lustrous eyes did not sink.

"Yes, sir; I have always been afraid of you."

"Do you regard me as a monster of cruelty?"

"No, sir."

"Will your conscience allow you to say, 'My guardian, I am glad to
see you'?"

She was silent.

"That is right, little girl. Be perfectly truthful, and some day we
may be friends. Sit down."

He handed her a chair, and, rolling forward one of the deep cushioned
seats, made himself comfortable in its soft luxurious latitude.
Throwing his massive head back against the purple velvet lining, he
adjusted his steel-rimmed spectacles, joined his hands, and built a
pyramid with his fingers; while he scrutinized her as coldly, as
searchingly as Swammerdam or Leeuwenhoek might have inspected some
new and as yet unclassified animalculum, or as Filippi or Pasteur
studied the causes of "_Pebrine_."

"What do you think of New York?"

"It seems a vast human sea, in which I could easily lose myself, and
be neither missed nor found."

"Have you studied mythology at all? Or was your pastor-guardian
afraid of paganizing you? Did you ever hear of Argus?"

"Yes, sir, I understand you."

"He was merely a dim prophecy of our police system; and when
adventurous girls grow rebellious and essay to lose themselves a
hundred Arguses are watching them. You seem to like my library?"

"It is the most beautiful room I have ever seen."

"Wait until you examine the triumph of