ul, he could not have been more intoxicated by their
beauty.

And yet, strange to say, only commonplaces rose to his lips. All the
volcano beneath, and only little spats of smoke and dying bits of ashes
in evidence! Even the message of his Chief about her not getting a new
bonnet all summer seemed a godsend under the circumstances. Had there
been any basis for her self-denial he would not have told her, knowing
how much anxiety she had suffered an hour before. But there was no real
good reason why she should economize either in bonnets or in anything
else she wanted. McGowan, of course, would be held responsible; for
whatever damage had been done he would have to pay. He had been present
when the young architect's watchful and trained eye had discovered some
defects in the masonry of the wing walls of the McGowan culvert bridging
the stream, and had heard him tell the contractor, in so many words that
if the water got away and smashed anything below him he would charge the
loss to his account. McGowan had groveled in dissent, but it had made no
impression on Garry, whose duty it was to see that the work was properly
carried out and whose signature loosened the village purse strings.

None of these details would interest Ruth; nor was it necessary that
they should. The bonnet, however, was another matter. Bonnets were
worn over pretty heads and framed lovely hair and faces and eyes--one
especially! And then again any pleasantry of her father's would tend to
relieve her mind after the anxiety of the morning. Yes, the bonnet by
all means!

"Oh, I never gave you your father's message," he began, laying aside
his cup, quite as if he had just remembered it. "I ought to have done so
before you hung up the hat you wore a while ago."

Ruth looked up, smiling: "Why?" There was a roguish expression about her
mouth as she spoke. She was very happy this afternoon.

"He says you won't get a new bonnet all summer," continued Jack, toying
with the end of the ribbon that floated from her waist.

Ruth put down her cup and half rose from her chair All the color had
faded from her cheeks.

"Did he tell you that?" she cried, her eyes staring into his, her voice
trembling as if from some sudden fright.

Jack gazed at her in wonderment:

"Yes--of course he did and--Why, Miss Ruth!--Why, what's the matter!
Have I said anything that--"

"Then something serious has happened," she interrupted in a decided
tone. "That is always his mes