"Yes; in that hat and coat I couldn't tell the difference in the moonlight."
"Oh," said her father, with a laugh, pushing his hat back, "moonlight is necessary to complete the spell, I suppose?"
"Of course," answered his daughter. "If there were no moonlight, alas, for lovers!"
"Alas, indeed!" echoed her father. "They would become as extinct as the moa; but where are your eyes, Puss, when you take an old man like me for your gay young Lochinvar?"
"Well, really, papa," answered Madge, deprecatingly, "you do look so like him in that coat and hat that I could not tell the difference, till you spoke."
"Nonsense, child," said Frettlby, roughly, "you are fanciful;" and turning on his heel, he walked rapidly towards the house, leaving Madge staring after him in astonishment, as well she might, for her father had never spoken to her so roughly before. Wondering at the cause of his sudden anger, she stood spell-bound, until there came a step behind her, and a soft, low whistle. She turned with a scream, and saw Brian smiling at her.
"Oh, it's you," she said, with a pout, as he caught her in his arms and kissed her.
"Only me," said Brian, ungrammatically; "disappointing, isn't it?"
"Oh, fearfully," answered the girl, with a gay laugh, as arm-in-arm they walked towards the house. "But do you know I made such a curious mistake just now; I thought papa was you."
"How strange," said Brian, absently, for indeed he was admiring her charming face, which looked so pure and sweet in the moonlight.