"Was I so rude?" she asked, looking up with a sudden smile. "I did not
mean it so; but Ethel's mother will want her now."

"Ethel wants to be carried," begged the child.

"All right; Ruth will carry you," and she stooped to raise her; but as she
did so, Kemp's strong hand was laid upon her arm and held her back.

"Ethel will ride home on my shoulder," he said in the gay, winning voice he
knew how so well to use with children. The baby's blue eyes smiled in
response to his as he swing her lightly to his broad shoulder. There is
nothing prettier to a woman than to see the confidence that a little child
reposes in a strong man.

So through the mellow, golden sunlight they strolled slowly homeward.


Chapter XV

Mr. Levice, sauntering down the garden-path, saw the trio approaching. For
a moment he did not recognize the gentleman in his summer attire. When he
did, surprise, then pleasure, then a spirit of inquietude, took possession
of him. He had been unexpectedly startled on Ruth's birthnight by a vague
something in Kemp's eyes. The feeling, however, had vanished gradually in
the knowledge that the doctor always had a peculiarly intent gaze, and,
moreover, no one could have helped appreciating her loveliness that night.
This, of itself, will bring a softness into a man's manner; and without
doubt his fears had been groundless, --fears that he had not dared to put
into words. For old man as he was, he realized that Dr. Kemp's strong
personality was such as would prove dangerously seductive to any woman whom