fluencing the action, his
hand closed warmly over the smaller one on his sleeve.

"Little girl," he said, forgetting the shortness of their acquaintance
in the deep feeling of the moment, "tell me what the trouble is."

"I suppose you think me an awful creature for saying that," she blurted
out, without looking up. "It wasn't ladylike or nice, but--but I
simply could n't help it, Lieutenant Brant."

"You mean your sudden determination to carry me home with you?" he
asked, relieved to think this might prove the entire difficulty.
"Don't let that worry you. Why, I am simply rejoiced at being
permitted to go. Do you know, I wanted to request the privilege all
the time we were dancing together. But you acted so differently from
when we were beneath the vines that I actually lost my nerve."

She looked up, and he caught a fleeting glimpse into her unveiled eyes.

"I did not wish you to ask me."

"What?" He stopped suddenly. "Why then did you make such an
announcement to Mrs. Herndon?"

"Oh, that was different," she explained, uneasily. "I had to do that;
I had to trust you to help me out, but--but I really wanted to go home
alone."

He swept his unbelieving eyes around over the deserted night scene, not
knowing what answer to return to so strange an avowal. "Was that what
caused you to appear so distant to me in the hall, so vastly different
from what you had been before?"

She nodded, but with her gaze still upon the ground.

"Miss Naida," he said, "it would be cowardly for me to attempt to dodge
this issue between us. Is it because you do not like me?"

She looked up quickly, the moonlight revealing her flushed face.

"Oh, no, no! you must never think that. I told you I was a girl of
moods; under those vines I had one mood, in the hall another. Cannot
you understand?"

"Very little," he admitted, "for I am more inclined to believe you are
the possessor of a strong will than that you are swayed by moods.
Listen. If I thought that a mere senseless mood had caused your
peculiar treatment of me to-night, I should feel justified in yielding
to a mood also. But I will not lower you to that extent in my
estimation; I prefer to believe that you are the true-hearted, frankly
spoken girl of the vine shadow. It is this abiding conviction as to
your true nature which holds me loyal to a test. Miss Naida, is it now
your desire that I leave you?"

He stepped aside, relinquishing her arm, his hat in hand,