"I don't know," in a low tone.

"Say you didn't mean it."

"I—suppose I didn't," even lower.

"Look at me, then," says Mr. Desmond.

Kit, in her high, sweet voice, is warbling that little, pretty thing about a "lover and his lass," in the next field. The words of her song, and its silly refrain of

"A hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,"

come to them across the corn and scented meadow. Monica, with her hand in his, smiles faintly.

"You hear what she sings,—'that life is but a flower:' is it wise, then, to set your heart upon——"

"You?"

"I meant, an impossibility."