He had scarcely twenty miles to ride thus, but that comforting
remembrance did not cause the pleasant smile to deepen about the mobile
mouth.

He was thinking of the lovely young girl who had written him a note to
say that she expected him at the trysting place, without fail, at seven
that evening, as she had something of the greatest importance to
communicate to him.

"Of course my dear little girl will not keep the appointment in such a
blizzard as this. She could not have foreseen how the weather would be
when she wrote the precious little note that is tucked away so carefully
in my breast pocket; but, like a true knight, I must obey my little
lady's commands, no matter what they may be, despite storm or
tempests--ay, even though I rode through seas of blood!"

Half a score of times the engine became firmly wedged in snowdrifts in
traversing as many miles. There were loud exclamations of discomfiture
on all sides, but the handsome young man never heard them. He was still
staring out of the window--staring without seeing--and the smile on his
face had given place to an expression of deep wistfulness.

"Sometimes I wonder how I have dared to aspire to her love--the
beautiful, petted daughter of a millionaire, and I only an assistant
cashier on a very humble salary--ay, a salary so small that my whole
year's earnings is less than the pin money she spends each month.

"If she were but poor like myself, how quickly I would make her mine.
How can I, how dare I, ask her to share my lot? Will her father be