ight suppose, she returned. Radbourne
clapped his hands in delight.

"Look, David!"

David obeyed.

And then he was sure that he had never done justice to the face peering
up at him from under the veiled hat. He was bound to admit that it had,
after all, certain elements of prettiness; he was astonished that he
could have thought otherwise. But then he had never seen her when cheeks
glowed shell-pink and eyes danced with that undefined but delicious sense
of adventure.

As he looked he smiled. It was a very friendly smile and the shell-pink
deepened.

A touch on his arm interrupted--it seems there was something to interrupt.

"Have I taken a liberty? I called you David."

David turned the remnant of the friendly smile upon Jonathan Radbourne.

"Of course not. I hope you will do that again."

Jonathan beamed. "Thank you. And now, shall we start?"

An hour later they were bowling swiftly along, up hill and down dale,
over a smooth country road. Fields of young corn sped by, stretches of
yellowing grain that rippled and tossed under the sweep of the breeze,
fragrant wood-lots whose shadow was a caress. The host of the occasion
sat with the chauffeur, turning often to point out to his guests some
beauty of landscape they already had seen, commenting tritely, obvious as
always in his effort to be entertaining, happy in the belief that he was
succeeding. And he was succeeding; such is the uplifting power of the
spirit of true friendliness, even when dwelling in a dinky little man
with whiskers absurdly swept by the rushing wind.

The guests were silent for the most part when his comments did not call
for answer. In the girl--she seemed very girlish that afternoon--the
sense of holiday and adventure continued, her eyes shone softly and the
pretty color did not fade. This despite her seatmate's evident wish to
be left to his thoughts. She had no wish to break through his reserve.
But she wondered, a bit gravely, what he was thinking, and she did wish
she could make things brighter for him, the superior young man who for
all his nice courtesy and friendly smiles held himself so aloof and was
so evidently subject to the blues. She thought she knew what troubled
him. She could understand that. She was not always so contented as her
quiet cheery manner proclaimed; sometimes, in the middle of the night,
she awoke crying for the gift that had been taken from her.

His thoughts were less somber than from