"Do you mean for me to sleep while you sit here alone and watch?"
"Certainly."
"I'll put my hand in the fire first, if in no other way I can keep awake."
"Didn't you call me 'captain'? You will have to obey your orders."
"I'll mutiny in this case, rest assured. Besides, I'm not sleepy any more."
"Why, what's the matter?"
"Do you think I could sleep while you were awake and willing to talk to me?"
"I slept a long time while you were awake." She pulled out her watch, and exclaimed: "Mr. Hemstead! in ten minutes more we enter on a new year."
"How much may happen within a year, and even a few days of a year," he said, musingly. "It seems an age since I tossed my books aside, and yet, it was within this month. The whole world has changed to me since that day."
"I hope for the better," said Lottie, gently.