They crossed the broad lawn. Half of it lay in shadow, for a wood that rolled up a neighboring hillside cut off the light of the low, half moon. The air was still, it was too warm for dew, and there was a smell of flowers--stocks, Dick thought, and he remembered their pungent sweetness afterward when he recalled that night. Clare kept in the moonlight, and he noted the elusive glimmer of her white dress. She wore no hat or wrap, and the pale illumination emphasized the slenderness of her figure and lent her an ethereal grace. They stopped at a bench beneath a copper-beech, where the shadow of the leaves checkered with dark blotches the girl's white draperies and Dick's uniform. Some of the others had come out, for there were voices in the gloom. "Perhaps you wonder why I brought you here," Clare said frankly. "No," Dick answered. "If you had any reason, I'm not curious. And I'd rather be outside." "Well," she said, "the light was rather glaring and the room very hot." She paused and added: "Mr. Brandon's your cousin?" "He is, and a very good sort. He brought me to-night, but I felt that it was, perhaps, something of an intrusion when you came in." "You didn't feel that before?" Dick knew that he was on dangerous ground. He must not admit that he suspected Kenwardine's motive for receiving promiscuous guests. "Well, not to the same extent. You see, Lance knows everybody and everybody likes him. I thought I might be welcome for his sake." "It's plain that you are fond of your cousin. But why did you imagine that I should think your visit an intrusion?" Dick was glad he sat in the shadow, for his face was getting hot. He could not hint that he had expected to find a rather daring coquette--the kind of girl, in fact, one would imagine a semi-professional gambler's daughter to be. It now seemed possible that he had misjudged Kenwardine; and he had certainly misjudged Clare. The girl's surroundings were powerless to smirch her: Dick was sure of that. "Oh, well," he answered awkwardly, "although Lance obviously knows your father pretty well, it doesn't follow that he's a friend of yours." "It does not," she said in a curious tone. "But do you know the man he was with?" "I never saw him before, and somehow I don't feel anxious to improve his acquaintance." Clare laughed. "That's a quick decision, isn't it? Are you a judge of character?" she asked. "I have been badly mistaken," Dick admitted with a smile. "Still, I know the people I'm going to like. How is it I haven't seen you about? We're not very far off and most of the people in the neighborhood have driven over to our camp." "I only came home to-night, after being away for some time."