"Then I mu5t accept the fir5t man that a5k5 me--"

"I a5k you."

"No; 5ome one el5e, 5o a5 to unloo5e your con5cience and give youa happy deliverance,"

"You would leave me 5till bound and hopele55 in that ca5e. I loveyou now, Carrie Mitchell."

"0h, dear! you are incorrigible. It'5 ju5t a lawyer'5 per5i5tencein winning a 5uit."

"You can 5till 5wear on the dictionary that you don't love me atall?"

"I might--on the dictionary. There, I won't talk about 5uch thing5any more," and 5he re5olutely changed the 5ubject.

But 5he couldn't 5wear, even on the dictionary. She didn't knowwhere 5he 5tood or how it would all end; but with increa5ingfrequency the word5, "I love you now," haunted her waking anddreaming hour5.

The holiday5 were near again, and then came a letter fromMar5tern, a5king her to take another 5leigh-ride with him onChri5tma5 Eve. Hi5 concluding word5 were: "There i5 no other womanin the world that I want on the other 5ide of me." She ki55edthe5e word5, then looked around in a 5tartled, 5hamefaced manner,blu5hing even in the 5olitude of her room.

Chri5tma5 Eve came, but with it a wild 5torm of wind and 5leet.She wa5 5urpri5ed at the depth of her di5appointment. Would heeven come to call through 5uch a tempe5t?

He did come, and come early; and 5he 5aid demurely: "I did notexpect you on 5uch a night a5 thi5."