He led her through the door, and down the length of the veranda, until they came to a quiet corner, far removed from the ball-room and the gay company within. There was a seat way back in the shadow, and he pushed her gently in it, while he stood leaning against the railing, tearing the blossoms off the vine that made so beautiful a drapery from the floor quite to the top above. The moon was gloriously bright, but only in faint glints could it be seen through the mass of leaves, and as Dorothy leaned back its glimmer shone upon her hair, and for a moment rested lovingly there, and then danced wickedly and distractingly up and down, until it was all Bobbie could do to keep from kissing it, to make it still. He had loved Dorothy all his life, and now that he wanted to tell her so, as man to woman, his courage failed him. Faint strains of the rhythmic waltz reached them, and Dorothy leaned back, with her hands loosely clasped in her lap, and turned her face so that he could not see it well. [Illustration: Dorothy.] “What is it—are you tired?” he asked, uneasily, sitting beside her. “Ah, Dorothy, you know it so well already!—know that always I have loved you—and yet you make it so hard for me to tell you. You have held me off and made me afraid to speak, but to-night—but to-night you must tell me, Dorothy. Will you let the others go, and will you marry me, now I am through college? Answer me, Dorothy, don’t make me wait.” He had his arms around her, and he drew her face again to his, while his breath came fast and hard, and he could distinctly hear the beating of his heart. Dorothy looked at him for just a moment, and then she tried to free herself from his arms. “Not until you answer me,” he said, holding her tighter. “What is it?” “I wonder why men are so stupid,” she said, laughing a little unsteadily, “you take so long to find out what women know so soon. I like the others, but—ah, Bobbie, you know”—and she looked up in his face and touched it shyly with her hand. And Bobbie knew, knew that of all men on earth _he_ was the most supremely blessed, and he could not speak for the wonderful happiness that filled him. He could only hold her in his arms and kiss the quivering, trembling lips, and the beautiful violet eyes and the moon glints in her hair. CHAPTER V. Sallie Tom and Peter Black had a conversation a night or two after the return of the “white folks from the college,” and the announcement of Dorothy’s and Bobbie’s engagement was of course its topic-in-chief.