And once more her fingers touched him, and her breath was upon him, and the glory of her set him on fire. A new wave of feeling swept over him, and this time it swamped him completely. His heart was pounding, his brain was reeling; and blindly, like a drunken man--almost without knowing what he was doing--he put out his arms and caught her to him. And then, in an instant, horror seized him. What had he done? She would repel him--she would drive him from her! He had ruined everything! But another instant sufficed to show him that this was not the case. And the tide of his feeling swept back redoubled. From the hidden regions of his soul there came new emotions, suddenly awakened--things tremendous and terrifying--never guessed by him before. His manhood came suddenly to consciousness--he lost all his shyness and fear of her. She was his--to do what he pleased with! And he pressed her to him, he half crushed her in his embrace. She closed her eyes, and he kissed her upon the cheeks and upon the lips; then he heard her voice, faint and trembling--“Samuel, I love you!” And within him it was like a great fanfare of trumpets, for wonder and triumph and delirious joy. Suddenly there came a step in the hall outside. They sprang apart. The door of the room was open; and for an instant he saw wild terror in her eyes. Then she sank down upon her knees. “Oh, Samuel!” she exclaimed. “My ring!” “Your ring!” he echoed, dazed. “My ring!” she said again; then he heard the voice of Mrs. Harris in the doorway. “Your ring, Miss Gladys?” “I dropped it,” she said; and Samuel sank down upon his knees also. They sought under the table. “It fell here,” she said. “It's my solitaire.” “It must have rolled,” said Mrs. Harris, beginning to search. “Put your head down and look about, Samuel,” commanded Miss Gladys, and Samuel obeyed; but he did not find any ring. They continued the search for a minute. Mrs. Harris had come back to the table; and suddenly she exclaimed, “Here it is!” “What!” cried the other. “Why, I looked there!” “It was under the leg of the table,” explained the housekeeper. “Ah!” said the other, and put the precious ring back upon her finger. Samuel was overwhelmed with astonishment; but it was nothing to what he felt a moment later. His goddess turned to him. “No,” she said. “I'm sorry, Samuel, but it's impossible for me to do what you ask me.” He stared at her perplexed. “I have found a place for Sophie,” she went on, “and that is positively all I can do.” “Miss Gladys!” he exclaimed. “Really,” she said, “I think you ought not to ask me to do any more. I understand that there is a good deal of suffering among the mill people, and I do what I can to relieve it. But as for taking all the employees into my father's household--that is simply absurd.”