this. The men who loved
her,--and they had been many,--were impetuous and insistent, demanding
much and offering everything,--vain-glorious warriors who counted
confidently on easy conquest. She had come in contact with but one class
of men: the spoiled, cocksure sons of the rich who love in haste and
have it over with while there is yet time to love again. She caught
herself guiltily wondering how many men of her acquaintance would have
allowed this engaging opportunity to pass without making the most of it!
And why should this man be different from the others? She experienced a
sharp feeling of irritation, and out of that sprang the wilful desire to
hurt him because he was different. So she lifted her chin, and looking
straight into his eyes, said: "I understand perfectly. You prefer that I
should not put you in the class with Manuel Crust."

"I'm not quite certain that Manuel's way of handling women isn't the
best after all," he said musingly. "Ride over 'em rough-shod, trample
them under foot, kick them to one side and then ask them whether they
love you or not. If they say they don't, all you have to do is to behave
like a gentleman and leave them alone."

She laughed. "But suppose they were to say they did love you,--what
then?"

"That, I understand, is what they generally do say,--and it causes a
great deal of trouble for the unfortunate gentleman."

"Are you never in earnest, Mr. Percival?"

"I was very much in earnest a moment ago. You knew how much in earnest I
was or you wouldn't have said that nasty thing about Manuel Crust."

"I am sorry I said it," she cried. "It was uncalled for,--and I was
deliberately trying to be mean."

"I knew it," he said quietly. "I don't think any the worse of you for
it. A woman plays fair until you get her into a corner,--and then she
plays fairer than ever to make up for what she did when cornered. Am I
not right?"

She did not reply. She was staring past him, down the line of huts. The
door of Olga Obosky's cabin had opened and closed, projecting for an
instant an oblong block of light into the darkness. The figure of a
woman, emerging into the full light of the moon, had caught Ruth's
attention. Percival turned quickly. Together they watched the figure
move swiftly across the Green toward them. Suddenly it stopped, and
then, after a moment, whirled and made off down the line of cabins, soon
to be swallowed up by the gloom.

"Were you expecting some one?" inquired R