to escape a heavy shower.

The girl was still seated at the table, and she did not even raise her
head as Margaret entered. With a fresh access of shyness Margaret avoided
looking at her, but walking to the window stared out at the rain. But as
a shower was a phenomenon with which she was familiar, and the near
presence of another girl was not, Margaret very soon shifted her position
so that she could without turning her head, and unobserved as she
thought, study the girl at her leisure.

She was wearing a skirt of some rough frieze, and the colour, a sort of
dull turquoise, suited her admirably. A white cotton shirt with a collar
and tie completed her attire, while a short coat of the same material as
her skirt was flung carelessly over the back of her chair. As Margaret
looked at her she became absorbed in speculation as to who the girl might
be, and where she was going. Was she on her way home, or was she going to
stay with friends? Then Margaret fell to admiring the vivid colour of her
hair, which was full of lights and shades. Just above her ears and her
temples it shone like vivid gold, but the coils behind were of a deep,
rich chestnut colour, with an inclination to merge into gold at their
tips. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were just a couple of tones deeper than
the darkest shade of her hair, and Margaret felt glad of that as their
owner doubtless was also. She liked her nose, too--it was short and
straight.

"Do you think you will know me again?"

The girl had not raised her head or even lifted her eyes from the pages
of the dictionary she was fluttering with her left hand, while the other,
poised over the book, was held in readiness to pounce down on the right
page directly it came uppermost.

Margaret gave a great start as the nonchalantly uttered question broke
the silence of the room, and she looked round to see if there was any one
else present, for the question seemed to be addressed to no one in
particular, certainly not to her. And yet as there was no one else in the
room, of course the question must have been meant for her.

"Oh, yes, I am sure I shall," she answered in a tone of such pleased
conviction that the girl looked up and gave her a quick, puzzled glance.
But no one could meet Margaret's candid eyes and suspect her of wishing
to be rude, and after a moment's scrutiny the girl's frowning brows
relaxed and she smiled--such a merry, amused smile, that the last vestige
of Margaret's shyness d