But, he had been foolish; he was ready to admit it. He was even grateful for her interference, when he came to think carefully, although he would confess that at first it seemed unpardonable. He had been a law to himself for so many years, that he knew he did not attach the same importance to convention that others did, but he must learn to do so now, for the girl's sake. Of course everything should be as she wished. He would not for the world go contrary to the lady's real desires, but it would be necessary for him to see her and rearrange their program. After he had learned just what she wanted him to do, he would spend the remainder of the night in long distance communications, because of course there were explanations that must be made. Having interested herself in his charge, would she be so kind as to tell her that he was waiting for her, and must confer with her at once in order to send his dispatches? He would detain her but a very short time, and then she could return to the room that had been so kindly placed at her disposal. Throughout this elaborate explanation Mrs. Dunlap had sat silent; her eyes fixed upon the speaker, and her thoughts busy with this new specimen of human nature. Not for a single moment did he deceive her into thinking that he was, in the main, a true man who, because of his love for a pretty girl and the sudden temptation of opportunity, had been led headlong into a foolish and dangerous experiment. Not for an instant did she waver in her determination to keep those two apart, if possible, until the girl's mother could make a third in their deliberations. Yet she made no attempt to interrupt the flow of words, and grew interested in the skill with which he was explaining the unexplainable. When he paused, with an evident air of having mastered a difficult situation, she said: "You are very kind to give me details, although they do not of course alter the present situation. It is a relief to know that you consider your course wrong, but I cannot agree with your way of trying to right it. I have given my word to the lady that she shall not be disturbed to-night and that she shall take the home-bound train in the morning. After she is safe at home with her mother and has had time to rally from the shock that this has evidently been to her, you may be able to make such plans as neither of you will be ashamed to look back upon; but she is in no condition to be consulted to-night; and it may help you to realize, what I feel quite sure of, that she has had her lesson, and that any future plans you may care to make must take her mother into full consideration. You will pardon the suggestion that you must have had many more years than she, in which to learn wisdom; she is but eighteen I believe, while you—" She paused significantly, but the man whom she judged to be not less than thirty-five at least, was speechless with amazement and dismay. He had staked much and expected to win.