"I'm thinking, Mr. Hilton, that if ye mind your own affairs, ye'll best be mindin' hers."
"Is that impertinence, Barney?"
"Divil a bit, your honor, and you with a face on you that would scare a banshee into saying prayers!"
"Then, I am in no mood for guessing riddles."
He gave me a glance that made me feel inexpressibly young.
"I'm thinkin' I saw the young leddy go up yonder," he said, nodding toward the building where I had my office. "If she was goin' away forever, maybe she wanted to say good-bye!"
Could it be possible? I dashed across the street and up the stairs without waiting for the slow elevator. I opened the door,--and there lay a pathetic little heap on the Daghestan rug on my floor.
[There lay a pathetic little heap on the Daghestan rug on my floor. Page 290].
It was a moment before I realized that the tired child was merely asleep. I had dropped down beside her and lifted her head upon my arm, when she opened her eyes with a start. Then something wonderful and dazzling swam up from her unconscious eyes to meet my gaze,--and I knew in a bewildering flash that it was no child but a woman that I held in my arms. My heart went from me. I did not realize that I had kissed her.