“I am very much in love,” she answered, “and I believe he is good enough for me.”
“Of course I have no right to tell you this now,” Paul said; “but I have loved you ever since I first saw you and I do yet; but if you love another I will never obtrude upon your affections. One thing I ask, and that is that you will always think of me as a good friend.”
“Paul Arling,” she cried, “I will not take you for a friend. It is you that I love and if we are not engaged then I am not going to be married.”
“Scoris,” he exclaims, “is this true?”
The log upon which they had been sitting for some time was surrounded by a thick foliage.
Well, and then, after a little of that sort of thing, Paul began to sort the flowers. Scoris had jumped up to pick up one that had fallen, for some one was coming. Just then an inquisitive collie dog poked his head through the bushes. Nothing but the dog appeared, however, and confidence was restored once more.
The Prince and Paul arrived home the next day, Scoris the one following.
The public announcement of the engagement was rather a surprise when it became known that it was Paul Arling instead of the stranger all had supposed him to be.
CHAPTER XXII.
It was gratifying to know that the society had been kept up all these years by the industry of the people, although it could not be claimed that any one system could have done it alone, and it had been recognized that the honors conferred upon the deserving had a great deal to do with the success. It brought together larger numbers of the better class than could have been done under any other system. Those who came into the ranks supplied with money enough to last them their life time were not able to receive even the title of “Honorable” unless his or her life was truthful and honest in their dealings with the public. Brave deeds were not ignored because those who accomplished them were only ordinary people. Each member who lived a self-denying life to better the whole people was honored publicly, and by so doing the world was made better for such acts. All could not gain the highest titles, but all could be “Honorables.” Only the honorables could make the laws that governed.