"Oh, Walton, this is cruel!"
"Cruel! Can you say this, Ruth? You who trifle with me so recklessly?"
"I do not trifle; but I dare not—I dare not—"
The young man turned aside with a frown upon his face, darker and sterner than the girl had ever seen there before.
"You certainly never will trifle with me again," he said, in a deep, stern voice, which made the heart in the poor girl's bosom quiver as if an arrow had gone through it.
"Oh, do not leave me in anger," she pleaded.
He walked on, taking stern, resolute strides along the path. She saw that his face was stormy, his gestures determined, and sprang forward, panting for breath.
"Oh, Walton, Walton, forgive me!"
He looked down into her wild, eager face, gloomily.
"Ruth, you have never loved me. You will be prevailed upon to marry that hound."