or him? Uneducated--inexperienced--not in accord with the
habits of the world--accustomed to very different habits and
society--with no family to give weight to her name and honour to his
choice,--all that Philip pondered; and, on the other side, the
loveliness, the freshness, the intellect, the character, and the
refinement, which were undoubted. He pondered and pondered. A girl who
was nobody, and whom society would look upon as an intruder; a girl who
had had no advantages of education--how she could express herself so
well and so intelligently Philip could not conceive, but the fact was
there; Lois had had no education beyond the most simple training of a
school in the country;--would it do? He turned it all over and over,
and shook his head. It would be too daring an experiment; it would not
be wise; it would not do; he must give it up, all thought of such a
thing; and well that he had come to handle the question so early, as
else he might--he--might have got so entangled that he could not save
himself. Poor Tom! But Philip had no mother to interpose to save _him;_
and his sister was not at hand. He went thinking about all this the
whole way back to his hotel; thinking, and shaking his head at it. No,
this kind of thing was for a boy to do, not for a man who knew the
world. And yet, the image of Lois worried him.

I believe, he said to himself, I had better not see the little witch
again.

Meanwhile he was not going to have much opportunity. Mrs. Wishart came
home a little while after Philip had gone. Lois was stitching by the
last fading light.

"Do stop, my dear! you will put your eyes out. Stop, and let us have
tea. Has anybody been here?"

"Mr. Dillwyn came. He went away hardly a quarter of an hour ago."

"Mr. Dillwyn! Sorry I missed him. But he will come again. I met Tom
Caruthers; he is mourning about this going with his mother to Florida."

"What are they going for?" asked Lois.

"To escape the March winds, he says."

"Who? Mr. Caruthers? He does not look delicate."

Mrs. Wishart laughed. "Not very! And his mother don't either, does she?
But, my dear, people are weak in different spots; it isn't always in
their lungs."

"Are there no March winds in Florida?"

"Not where they are going. It is all sunshine and oranges--and orange
blossoms. But Tom is not delighted with the prospect. What do you think
of that young man?"

"He is a very handsome man."

"Is he not? But I did not mean that. Of cou