When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids
fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he
opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on
the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, and her pretty little
Alsatian maid beside her, laying a log across the andirons.

"Upon my word!" he murmured, confused; then rising quickly, "Is that
you, Miss Erroll? What time is it?"

"Four o'clock in the morning, Captain Selwyn," she said, straightening
up to her full height. "This room is icy; are you frozen?"

Chilled through, he stood looking about in a dazed way, incredulous of
the hour and of his own slumber.

"I was conversing with Kit-Ki a moment ago," he protested, in such a
tone of deep reproach that Eileen laughed while her maid relieved her of
furs and scarf.

"Susanne, just unhook those two that I can't manage; light the fire in
my bedroom; _et merci bien, ma petite!_"

The little maid vanished; Kit-Ki, who had been unceremoniously spilled
from Selwyn's knees, sat yawning, then rose and walked noiselessly to
the hearth.

"I don't know how I happened to do it," he muttered, still abashed by
his plight.

"We rekindled the fire for your benefit," she said; "you had better use