of them are savage, and they cost a
good deal. I can't imagine what she means to do with them; I don't
think she knows herself. One of them, however, has been growling all
day, and as it's apparently unwell it mustn't be neglected."

"If it growls any more, I'll feel tempted to turn yonder hose upon it,
or try some other drastic remedy."

"Please don't!" cried Millicent in alarm. "But you mustn't think Mrs.
Keith is inconsiderate. I have much to thank her for; but she gets
very enthusiastic over her hobbies."

"Do you know whether she ever goes down to a little place in
Shropshire?"

"Yes; I have been with her. Once she took me to your old home." The
color crept into Millicent's face. "You don't seem to remember me,
Lieutenant Blake."

Blake had learned self-control and he did not start, though he came
near doing so as he recalled a scene in which he had taken part some
years earlier.

"It would have been inexcusable if I had forgotten you," he responded
with a smile. "Still, I couldn't quite place you until a few moments
ago, when you faced the light. But you were wrong in one thing: I'm no
longer Lieutenant Blake."

She appreciated the frankness which had prompted this warning, and she
saw that she had made a tactless blunder, but she looked at him
steadily.

"I forgot," she said; "forgive me. I heard of--what happened in
India--but I knew that there must have been some mistake." She
hesitated for a moment. "I think so now."

Blake made a sudden movement, and then leaned back against the railing.

"I'm afraid that an acquaintance which lasted three or four minutes
could hardly enable you to judge: first impressions are often wrong,
you know. Anyway, I don't complain of the opinion of gentlemen who
knew more about me."

Millicent saw that the subject must be dropped.

"At our first meeting," she said, "I had no opportunity for thanking
you; and you gave me none tonight. It's curious that, while I've met
you only twice, on both occasions you turned up just when you were
needed. Is it a habit of yours?"

Blake laughed.

"That's a flattering thing to hint. The man who's always on hand when
he's wanted is an estimable person."

He studied her with an interest which she noticed but could not resent.
The girl had changed and gained something since their first meeting,
and he thought it was a knowledge of the world. She was, he felt,
neither tainted nor hardened by what she had learned, b