"Perfect. Betty, look here! I'm staying at Sandywood only until Tuesday, and to-day's Friday. H-i-n-t!" She rose and made him an adorable curtsy. "Bob White, Esquire, I respectfully invite you to come to my picnic to-morrow." "Will there be a picnic, really?" "Yes--for you and me." "Great! I'll come, and humbly thank you." "Then you must be at the foot of the lane by the brook at ten o'clock to-morrow morning. And it's another secret, remember. Do you think you can get away?" "I _will_ get away. Perhaps I can invent a business letter that will call me to Baltimore." She clapped her hands. "Oh, I'll attend to that. You know Jimmy Jones is really the Sandywood Station telegraph boy, and he'll do anything for me." "I don't doubt it. There's at least one other person in the same happy condition." "Haven't you a friend in Baltimore who might possibly send you a telegram--somebody so real you could just show it to the Cresaps, and they'd believe it? What fun!" He chuckled. "This is a real conspiracy. The only friend the Cresaps and I have in common is Danton." "Who?" "Charles Danton. D-a-n-t-o-n." "I'll remember." "All right. At ten o'clock to-morrow, at the foot of the lane. You'll meet me there, honest Injun, Betty?" "Honest Injun! Hope I may die!" She had followed him to the edge of the porch and stood looking down at him as he lingered a couple of steps below. "Good-night, Betty." Her hand slipped into his outstretched palm. "Good-night, Bob White." "I've had a lovely time." "So have I." He had not released her hand, and now she leaned toward him until the great braid of her hair fell across her breast. "Bob White, I'm rather sorry I was so--so violent yesterday, when you were carrying me and--and did what you did." She was so close to him that he felt her hair brush his forehead. The blood was pounding in his ears, and his throat was parched. He lifted his left hand slowly to her neck to draw her lips to his. Then, all at once, he steadied himself. "Oh, you little witch!" he said. "I swear I don't know whether you're an innocent or a demon. No, no, Betty! The next time I kiss you, you must ask me outright, not merely _look_ at me! Do you ask me?" She snatched her hand away. "Certainly not. Never!" "Good-night, then." "Good-night, Bob White." She stood motionless until he was lost in the darkness, then whistled softly: [Illustration: musical notes of bird song: Bob White.] She waited until the call was answered from the slope of the hill; then, laughing rather wistfully, she sought Aunty Landis. VI Fessenden joined the others at Sandywood while they were still lingering over coffee in the library. His belated appearance, casual and unconcerned as he endeavored to make it seem, was greeted with a storm of badinage. "Oh, my prophetic soul! You were becalmed sure enough." "Does the poor boy want a bite to eat?" "We were just organizing a relief expedition for you, old man."