When he found her she was coming up the hill from Mrs. Langley's. She appeared on its summit at the moment when the sun was plunging down behind it like a ball of fire. It was rather a remarkable coincidence and it struck him as such, that when she got to the place where Mrs. Langley had first appeared on the night of her accident, she stopped, threw her head upward and clasped her hands around her body just as the poor scared woman had done. He understood the pantomime perfectly and it pleased him, although it recalled one of his most signal failures--that is from a professional point of view. From the artistic point it had been considered quite a success--"quite madonna like," Miss Drawling had said, and although he would not have given a "fip" for her opinion on any other subject, he thought she had said one very good thing. His regret for the accident had never been heart deep. He inclined to the brute belief that accidents as a rule added to the human interest in life--at least the kind of accidents that call forth the tenderest kind of sympathy. "You, have been posing," he said as he went forward to meet her. "Really you did it well. You see I was watching for you--to tell you something." "I have been down to see poor Mary. She hasn't got well of her fright yet. What a dreadful thing it was!" "Yes, but you blamed me for it at the time, roundly. I hope you are not going to blame me over again," said Bombs lightly. "There's no use. The blame will last." "You will forgive me before I go away." "How do you know, Mr. Bombs?" "O Pythagoras in Petticoats! You are here again! I am undone!" laughed Bombs. "Don't call me that or I shall run away before you tell me _your something_." "That would be a dense calamity." "Why dense, Mr. Bombs?" "Because I could never get through the tangle if you were not here to ask leading questions, Miss Adelaide." "I am here and I am listening. But if you don't begin to tell me at once I am going." "Here it is, then, without exasperating prelude. I am going away immediately after the Fourth to be gone from one to four years--four probably. Only think of that immense stretch of time! Are you glad or sad to hear the astounding revelation?" "Before I answer I want to ask where you are going and exactly why?" "To Germany, Austria and China. To schools of Pyrotechny everywhere--to study up the art and find out the secrets of the craft." "In order to beat King Pang at his trade and become an American Pyrotechnic King?" "Undoubtedly! my father is worth his million, he would not let me take a back seat in any profession." "I am sorry then, Mr. Bombs." "For whom or what, Miss Adelaide." "For you, and that you are going on such a quest." "Are you not the least bit sorry on your own account. Will you not be a trifle lonesome without me to blame, Miss Adelaide?" "Perhaps, Mr. Bombs, in a way." "In what way, Miss Adelaide?" "Just as your sister or mother would be, I fancy."