"We must protect ourselves, and the easiest way to do this will be to
disarm our foes."

"Really, Doctor Chicago, I didn't give you credit for so much
shrewdness. Tell me if you have any plans arranged."

"Well, only the skeleton of one as yet, but I'll tell you all about it
as far as I have gone."

They sit upon that bench for a full hour. Time is not taken into account
when love rules the occasion.

It is Lady Ruth who finally jumps up with a cry of consternation. She
has heard a clock upon a tower in new Algiers strike the hour.

"What will they think of us, John?" she says.

"Little I care, for I mean to announce our engagement to Aunt Gwen on
sight, and she is the only one who has any business to complain,"
returns the successful wooer, firmly.

"Oh! it is so sudden; perhaps we'd better wait a little while."

"With your permission, not an hour. You belong to me, now--see, let me
put this solitaire diamond on your finger. It was my mother's ring. By
that token I simply desire to warn all men 'hands off.' Tell me, am I
right, Ruth?"

"Yes; I can offer no objection. Do as you think best, doctor."