"And that little grey-eyed romp--the very young and slim one," he continued enthusiastically. "Me for a hammock with her in the goosy-goosy moonlight. . . . And I hope I'm going to meet a lot more--every one of 'em. . . . _What_ on earth is _that_?" he exclaimed, changing countenance and leaning forward. "By Jinks, it's a _man_!" "Certainly. There are four men here. You knew that." "I forgot," he said, glowering at the unwelcome sight of his own sex. Ethra said: "Oh, yes, there are those first four men we caught--Mr. Willett, Mr. Carrick, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Green." She added carelessly: "I have been paying rather marked attention to Alphonso W. Green." "To whom?" he asked, with a disagreeable sensation drenching out the sparks of joy in his bosom. "To Alphonso W. Green. . . . And I've jollied De Lancy Smith with bon-bons a bit, too. They are having a lot of attention paid them--and they're rather spoiled. But, of course, any girl can marry any one of them if she really wants to." Langdon gazed miserably at her; she seemed to be pleasantly immersed in her own reflections and paid no further heed to him. Then he cast a scowling glance in the direction of the young man who was gathering wild flowers and arranging them in a little basket. "Ethra," he began--and stopped short under the sudden and unexpected unfriendliness of her glance. "Miss Leslie," he resumed, reddening, "I wouldn't have come here unless I thought--hoped--believed--that you would pay _me_ m-m-marked----" "_Mr. Langdon!_" "What?" "Men do not assume the initiative here. They make no advances; they wait until a girl pays them attentions so unmistakable that----" "Well, I _did_ come here because of you!" he blurted out angrily. "That is an exceedingly indelicate avowal!" she retorted. "If the Regents hear you talk that way you won't be permitted to receive any girl unchaperoned." He gazed at her, bewildered; she stood a moment frowning and looking in the direction of the cave whither the Board of Regents had retired. "They're calling me," she exclaimed as a figure appeared at the cave entrance and beckoned her. "I won't be long, Mr. Langdon. I am perfectly confident that you have passed the inspection!" And she walked swiftly across to the edge of the thicket where the three Regents stood outside their cave. As she came up one of them put her arm around her. "My poor child," she said, "that man will never do." "W-what!" faltered the girl, turning pale. "Why, no. How in the world could you make such a mistake?" Ethra looked piteously from one to another. "What is the matter with him?" she asked. "I can't see anything the matter with him. If his legs are a trifle--refined in contour--a bicycle will help----" "But, Ethra, this is not a hospital, dear. This is not a sanitarium. We don't want any imperfect living creature inside this preserve." "W-w-what is your decision?" asked the girl; and her underlip began to quiver, but she controlled it.