But the swift ride and Frances' gay speeches gave him little chance; the cloud, forming long out of sight and coming up with ominous swiftness, made fast riding imperative; the red clay splashed them from head to foot; the wind, strong and damp and chill, whipped the loosened tendrils of Frances' hair about her face and billowed her short riding-skirt. Before they reached town the first drops were falling. "We had better ride straight to the stables," Frances suggested. "No, I'll send up for Lady at once. I'm going for my mail." "Then you'd better go that way; I'll take this road." Frances bent above the saddle; the rain was lashing her face. When Montague reached the University the rain had become a steady downpour. Frances had to leave him to entertain himself while she straightened the household affairs, which Roxie had tangled in her absence. The professor, coming in, was delighted to find him in the library. "I declare," he said, "I was just wishing you were here. There are some things I want to ask you about, and I have a leisure afternoon. We can go down town after dinner." "In this storm?" protested Frances, who had just come in through the dining-room door. "Pooh! What does that matter? Edward is too good a countryman for that." Truth was, the professor was intent on investing money in a new stock company forming in town for putting up an ice plant; and as he had been bitten once or twice, and as he had a good opinion of Montague's shrewd business judgment and enjoyed also the companionship with him, he had been hoping for some such chance. They were off soon as the meal was over. From office to bank, from investor to stock floater they went. Once in town the weather did not matter; but coming back on the long walk from the cars across the grounds, the storm struck them squarely, lashed and drenched them. At his door the professor drew a long breath. "Pretty severe," he declared. "Edward, you'd better stay in to-night. Telephone to the stables about your horse, and stay. We'll take care of you gladly enough." The wind and rain lashing along the corridor and across the quadrangle argued with him. "I scarcely know," said Montague slowly, as they thankfully closed the door behind them. Frances, coming down the stairway, heard. There was a line of anxiety on her forehead. "I have been thinking of Susan," she began, as she reached the last stair. "She's safe enough." "But it's so dreary, and the wind and rain are beating so furiously." "Just look at us! Edward, I'd offer you a suit, only--" The older man measured the younger's height with a laughing glance. "No matter," Montague assured him, "and as for Susan," to Frances, "you need not be uneasy. The cabin looked comfortable enough to-day, and it has weathered many storms." Frances' real fear was of the stream at the foot of the hill that must be a raging torrent now, of the narrow bridge, and the tale her father had told her that moonlit night as she drove across.