ction we must be careful not to thwart it."

Marian flushed. "You are right, Mr. Huntington," she said with frank
understanding; "I shall be careful, you may be sure."

"Where are the boys now?" Huntington asked. "I would prefer to postpone
the discussion with them until I am rested. I'm not used to problems,
you know, and lately they seem to have concentrated themselves on me.
Help me to escape them for another hour!"

"Take Mr. Huntington down to the water-garden," Marian suggested
smiling; "no one will think of looking for you there."

"Would you like to go?" Merry asked him.

"Nothing would rest me more."

"Won't you come, Momsie?"

"No, dear; you must do the honors in my stead."

They wandered through the formal garden in silence, down the shaded
_bosquet_, and across a bit of lawn to the fresh-water garden which was
built only a little back from the shore itself. A miniature torii, from
whose crossbeam hung a replica in straw of the mystic _shimenawa_,
marked the entrance, sounding the motivation for the Oriental note
within. They passed through this and walked between the rows of Japanese
maples which formed an avenue ending in a vista of the sea. In the
moment they had transported themselves, for within the limitations
marked by the avenue of trees there was nothing to suggest anything save
the East: there were the little shrines surrounded by Oriental
flower-pots; there was a tiny lake, crossed by an arched stone bridge,
through which could be seen the luxuriant bloom of the lotus and other
rare aquatic plants, brilliant in their coloring and foliage, growing in
and out of the water and over the rocks with well-planned irregularity;
there was the lilliputian grove of dwarfed trees impudently challenging
comparison with their taller neighbors.

"I'm glad you brought me here," Huntington said as they seated
themselves upon a curiously-carved stone. "Other parts of the estate are
far more impressive, but you have no spot which appeals to me more by
virtue of its beauty."

"I love it too," the girl acknowledged. "Almost every one looks at it
once or twice and admires it, but no one seems to care to linger here as
I do. I am sure to be alone, so I come almost every day to read Lafcadio
Hearn and to dream of Nippon."

"I understand," Huntington said quietly; "and I'll warrant you find
yourself spending much of your time gazing at the surface of that little
lake."

"Yes," she exclaimed surprised; "but h