Her eyes filled with tears, and my heart was drowned in them.

“But Mrs. Pennoyer says Cousin Kirk is waiting for us there. Oh, please.”

“Let him wait,” I said.

“But, please. I implore you—as you——”

“As I love you,” I said. “As I love you, I shall keep it. Will you marry me?”

“I—I do not love you,” she answered, almost in a whisper. “Now, will you give it back?”

“No,” I said.

I saw her tears. “He will kill you;” and she left me, sobbing.

“Then, you can take it,” I called out, after her.

Man can be brutal at such times.