wonder why I want to send it by you. Well, the girls are inquisitive in
our post office, and I'm sending the packet to a man. Besides, I
wouldn't like it damaged, and things sometimes get broken in the mail."

Foster said this often happened and hinted that the man was fortunate,
but Carmen laughed.

"Oh," she said, "he's as old as my father; we have friends in the Old
Country. But there really is a little secret about the matter, and I
don't want anybody but you to see the packet."

"Very well; but I believe the Customs searchers, who examine your
baggage, are sometimes officious. They might think I was trying to
smuggle and make me open the thing."

"No; they wouldn't suspect you. You have such a careless and innocent
look. For all that, your friends know you can be trusted."

"Thank you! I suppose I'm lucky, because one meets people whose looks are
against them. Anyhow, I'll take the packet, and if necessary, protect it
with my life."

"It won't be necessary," Carmen answered, smiling. Although she talked
about other matters for some minutes before she told him to take her back
to the hall, he imagined this was tactful politeness and she did not want
to dismiss him too soon after obtaining her object.

He danced one or two dances with other partners and enjoyed them keenly.
His work was finished for the winter, and after the strenuous toil of the
last ten years, it was a new and exhilarating experience to feel at