For a few moments they walked silently side by side. Then Pansy's curiosity, getting the better of her pout, demanded information. She had applied a child's swift logic to the scene. The colonel was angry, and had punished the woman for something. She drew closer to his side, and looking up with her big eyes, said confidentially. “What had she been a-doing?” The colonel was amazed, embarrassed, and speechless. He was totally unprepared for the question, and as unable to answer it. His abrupt departure from the shop had been to evade the very truth now demanded of him. Only a supreme effort of mendacity was left him. He wiped his brow with his handkerchief, coughed, and began deliberately:-- “The--er--lady in question is in the habit of using a scent called--er--patchouli, a--er--perfume exceedingly distressing to me. I detected it instantly on her entrance. I wished to avoid it--without further contact. It is--er--singular but accepted fact that some people are--er--peculiarly affected by odors. I had--er--old cherished friend who always--er--fainted at the odor of jasmine; and I was intimately acquainted with General Bludyer, who--er--dropped like a shot on the presentation of a simple violet. The--er--habit of using such perfumes excessively in public,” continued the colonel, looking down upon the innocent Pansy, and speaking in tones of deadly deliberation, “cannot be too greatly condemned, as well as the habit of--er--frequenting places of public resort in extravagant costumes, with--er--individuals who--er--intrude upon domestic privacy. I trust you will eschew such perfumes, places, costumes, and--er--companions FOREVER and--ON ALL OCCASIONS!” The colonel had raised his voice to his forensic emphasis, and Pansy, somewhat alarmed, assented. Whether she entirely accepted the colonel's explanation was another matter. The incident, although not again alluded to, seemed to shadow the rest of their brief afternoon holiday, and the colonel's manner was unmistakably graver. But it seemed to the child more affectionate and thoughtful. He had previously at parting submitted to be kissed by Pansy with stately tolerance and an immediate resumption of his loftiest manner. On this present leave-taking he laid his straight closely shaven lips on the crown of her dark head, and as her small arms clipped his neck, drew her closely to his side. The child uttered a slight cry; the colonel hurriedly put his hand to his breast. Her round cheek had come in contact with his derringer--a small weapon of beauty and precision--which invariably nestled also at his side, in his waistcoat pocket. The child laughed; so did the colonel, but his cheek flushed mightily.