orehead, her fingers came in contact with his
face--a white upturned face which appealed to her pity so deeply that
she stopped to smooth his wide brow, as if he were a suffering child.

Allingham awoke suddenly as if an electric current flowed suddenly
through his veins. His eyes opened, and gazing upward, he looked
straight into the clear face above him, which was, also, changed and
white in the moonlight. For a moment he did not recognize her. It was as
if their kindred spirits had met in clear space, away from all earthly
conditions. But in a moment, returning consciousness drew the veil
between them and he sat up, still clinging to her hand.

"You!" he cried, "and here? What has happened? Why are you here?"

"We are having our joint debate," she replied whimsically, her voice
betraying nothing of the tumult within. "But we are having it in an
unlocked for place and fashion. And you have the worst of it. Be
careful, please. Don't try to get up. The men have gone back for help.
Our affairs seem to be decidedly mixed; but never mind; we shall soon be
out of the woods--literally, I trust."

"How can you keep so calm?" said Allingham. "Most women would have gone
to pieces. Why aren't you in tears?"

"Perhaps to demonstrate my fitness for the mayoralty of Roma," she
replied with a touch of sarcasm. "There, the men are coming, with two
others."

It was the work of but a few moments to get one automobile righted
again, when it was found to be not seriously impaired; but the other
one was wrecked beyond possibility of help that night.

"You'll both have to go back to Roma in this one," said Gertrude's
chauffeur to Allingham.

"If you'll permit me?" queried Allingham to the young woman standing
erect in the shade of the whispering pines. "But if you would prefer, I
will stay at the farmhouse."

"No, no," answered Gertrude. "You must get back to the city and your
physician at once. That is, if you can endure the ride."

"O, I'm all right. I was stunned a little, that's all, and my forehead
seems to have been scratched quite a bit," said Allingham. "But come, if
we are to ride together, we must get in."

He helped her to her seat and got in himself, while the two men tucked
them in warmly and then climbed into the front seat. It was but a few
moments before they were on the road again, spinning towards the city
more than twenty miles away.

"Now, tell me," Allingham began, after making sure they were on the
retu