"Kitty!" She had said this or that, she had done so
and so. She was a little wonder, full of charm, and so intensely human
that the picture of her had haunted his imagination.

[Footnote 13: Hindu festival.]

"Is she like you?" he had asked wondering if Nature could possibly have
twice excelled herself.

"We are considered rather alike, but she has twice the courage and
initiative that I have, and her eyes are the deepest violet you have
seen."

"Haven't you a photo of her?" curiosity had impelled him to ask.

"Oh, yes. A beauty, taken by Raaf's in Regent Street." She had fetched
the photograph and Jack had fallen straightway in love with the
sparkling face so full of charm and sunshine. The small features were
not unlike Mrs. Meredith's, but where they lacked her beauty, they made
up a thousandfold in attraction. It was a face to hold the attention, to
follow to the ends of the earth. From Mrs. Meredith's description, Kitty
was brimful of life and high spirits, affectionate and generous, but
quite a "handful" to manage. "She always dared infinitely more than ever
I did, and was always the first to get into scrapes! But so loyal and
honourable!"

"I should imagine every fellow for miles around must be head and ears in
love with her!"

"That, of course, but she is not a bit silly about boys, being
practically a boy herself in disposition. Only lately she has begun to
do up her hair and is to be presented next season when she will be
considered 'out.'"

"And be married straight away!"

"I suppose so," said Joyce proudly. "She is such a darling!"

"I can believe it," said he.

Jack had been so completely captivated by Kitty's photograph that Joyce
had generously told him to keep it. She had other copies and thought it
as well that he should cultivate an ideal for the elevation of his soul.
"It is good for a man to look up to a really good girl with admiration
and trust; it should make him determined to become worthy of the
possession even of her picture."

"It is something for a fellow to live up to," Jack had blushingly
returned, full of delight in the gift. He mentally resolved to go in
search of the original the very first time he obtained furlough and to
be satisfied with no other. If the Fates would only keep her fancy-free
for himself!

He carried the picture home and Tommy was tormented with curiosity
concerning the face which was so like Mrs. Meredith's and yet not hers.

The memory of that afte