"Oh, I'm all right," answered our hero, after which he gave Lizzie's hand a very hard squeeze, which caused that young lady to blush furiously, but in a moment the flush of excitement passed off Tom's face, and he looked as pale as death; if he had not caught hold of the back of a chair he would have dropped down. The walk had certainly been too much for him. "Oh! Herbert," exclaimed Lizzie, in alarm, "he's going to faint!" and she ran forward to Tom, who, I believe, would have cheerfully fainted at the juncture, if he could possibly have achieved it; you see, the circumstances were very favourable to the occasion. As it was, the "gay young dog," as Doctor Jolly would have said, was "in precious nice quarters," for there he was in a moment, by the aid of Pringle's arm, laid out on the comfortable sofa, with Lizzie bathing his forehead with _eau de Cologne_, and handing him smelling salts, and Pringle enquiring every moment, "Do you feel better now, eh, old fellow?" "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir!" said Lizzie, as she bent over him with her face suffused with a carnation tinge whenever she caught his eye, which the artful rogue contrived should happen very frequently--"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir! walking out so soon, and you deserve a good punishing." And Miss Lizzie looked very stern, indeed, with her violet eyes beaming with a rich warm light: she seemed as if she would punish Master Tom very severely. "Yes, it's very wrong," answered the recumbent hero; "but you see, I could not help it, you know!" and Miss Lizzie blushed again, as Tom looked very meaningly at her. "Better now, old fellow?" put in Pringle, at this juncture. "That's right: you don't look so pale now. By Jove! I thought you were going to faint." "Bless you! I'll be right in a twinkle," answered Tom. "You see, the walk was a trifle too much; but I feel decidedly better now," with a look at the young lady's eyes to invigorate himself anew: the violet eyes seemed to act as a sort of tonic. "You shall be condemned to lie on the sofa all the afternoon, sir!" said Lizzie, "as a punishment for your imprudence!" "All right," laughed Tom, "I'll stop for ever--that is if you'll let me; but what will your brother say?" he asked, with a roguish glance. "Oh! certainly--certainly," said Pringle, hurriedly; he was very much puzzled how to act. It looked very much like a flirtation between his sister and Tom, under his very nose as it were, and he had promised Lady Inskip to "put a stop to it." He did not know what to do. He liked Tom, and did not wish besides to appear uncourteous; but he was very nervous. "If I were only her mother," he murmured to himself, "it would be easy enough;" but as he unfortunately did not occupy the position of a maternal relative, he was on thorns all the time Tom stayed.