"I even offered to marry her if she'd stay. Couldn't do more than that,
could I?"

Hawkes listened intently.

Jerry returned Alaric's smile as he asked: "YOU offered to marry her?"

Alaric nodded:

"Poor little wretch. Still I'd have gone through with it."

"And what did she say?" queried Jerry.

"First of all she laughed in my face--right in my face--the little
beggar!"

Hawkes frowned gloomily as though at some painful remembrance.

"And after she had concluded her cachinnatory outburst, she coolly told
me she would rather have 'MICHAEL.' She is certainly a remarkable
little person and outside of the inconvenience of having her here, we
should all be delighted to go on taking care of her. And if dancing is
the rock we are going to split on, let us get one up every week for
her. Eh, Jerry? You'd come, wouldn't you?"

Down the stairs came Peg and Ethel. Peg was holding one of Ethel's
hands tightly. There seemed to be a thorough understanding between
them. Peg was dressed in the same little black suit she wore when she
first entered the Chichester family and the same little hat.

They all looked at her in amazement, amusement, interrogation and
disgust respectively.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ethel stopped Peg and
entreated:

"Don't go!"

"I must. There's nothin' in the wurrld 'ud kape me here now. Nothin'!"

"I'll drive with you to the station. May I?" asked Ethel.

"All right, dear." Peg crossed over to Mrs. Chichester:

"Good-bye, aunt. I'm sorry I've been such a throuble to ye."

The poor lady looked at Peg through misty eyes and said reproachfully:

"WHY that dress? Why not one of the dresses I gave you?"

"This is the way I left me father, an' this is the way I'm goin' back
to him!" replied Peg sturdily. "Goodbye, Cousin Alaric," and she
laughed good-naturedly at the odd little man. In spite of everything he
did, he had a spice of originality about him that compelled Peg to
overlook what might have seemed to others unpardonable priggishness.

"Good-bye--little devil!" cried Alaric, cheerfully taking the offered
hand. "Good luck to ye. And take care of yerself," added Alaric,
generously.

As Peg turned away from him, she came face to face with Jerry--or as
she kept calling him in her brain by his new name--to her--Sir Gerald
Adair. She dropped her eyes and timidly held out her hand:

"Good-bye!" was all she said.

"You're not going, Peg," said Jerry, quietly and pos