am I to take you as one of them smart-Alecks, or a coily-headed
nut?"

He saw a way out. "I'm generally considered a curly-headed nut."

"Then it's me for the exit-in-case-of-fire, so ta-ta." She laughed
back at him over her shoulder. "Wish you luck with your next."

But fate was already on him in another form. A lady of fifty or
thereabouts was coming up the path, refined, sedate, mistress of
herself, the one type of all others most difficult to accost. All the
same he must do it. He must keep on doing it till some one yielded to
his suit. The rebuffs to which he had been subjected did no more than
inflame his will.

Approaching the new sibyl with the same ceremoniousness, he repeated
the same words in the same precise tone. The lady stood off, eyed him
majestically through a lorgnette, and spoke with a force which came
from quietude.

"I know who you are. You're Rashleigh Allerton. You ought to be
ashamed with a shame that would strike you to the ground. I'm a friend
of Miss Marion Walbrook's. I'm on my way to see her and shall _not_
mention this encounter. We work on the same committee of the League
for the Suppression of Men's Clubs. The lamentable state in which I
see you convinces me once more of the need of our work, if our men are
to become as we hope to see them. I bid you a good afternoon."

With the dignity of a queen she passed on and out of sight, leaving
him with the sting of a whiplash on his face.

But the name of Miss Walbrook, connected with that of the League which
was her pet enthusiasm for the public weal, only served as an
incitement. He would go through with it now at any cost. By nightfall
he would be at police-headquarters for insulting women, or he would
have found a bride.

Walking on again, the path was clear before him as far as he could
see. Having thus a few minutes to reflect, he came to the conclusion
that his attacks had been too precipitate. He should feel the ground
before him, leading the sibyl a little at a time, so as to have her
mentally prepared. There were methods of "getting acquainted" to which
he should apply himself first of all.

But getting acquainted with the old Italian peasant woman, bowed
beneath a bundle, who was the next he would have to confront, being
out of the question, he resolved to side-step destiny by slipping out
of the main path and following a branch one. Doing so, he came into
less frequented regions, while his steps took him up a low hill
bur