But here he paused abruptly, fearful of offending by confessing too much; and now they had resumed their leisurely walking along the half-dried pavements; and Meenie was revolving certain little schemes and artifices in her brain—with a view to their future meeting. And the morning had grown so much brighter; and there was a pleasant warmth of sunlight in the air; and she was glad to know that at least for a time Ronald would not be leaving the country. She turned to him with a smile.
'I shall have to be going back home now,' she said, 'but you will not forget, Ronald, that you have made me two promises this morning.'
'It's little you know, Miss Douglas,' said he, 'what I would do for you, if I but knew what ye wished. I mean for you yourself. For my own self, I care but little what happens to me. I have made a mistake in my life somehow. I——'
'Then will you promise me more, Ronald?' said she quickly; for she would not have him talk in that strain.
'What?'
'Will you make me a promise that you will not enlist at all?'
'I will, if it is worth heeding one way or the other.'
'But make me the promise,' said she, and she regarded him with no unfriendly eyes.
'There's my hand on't.'
'And another—that you will work hard and try and get the forestry certificate?'