of the parquet.



II.


Two months passed, and then came the great
annual ball which the students give at the opening
of the second semester. Ralph was a man
of importance that evening; first, because he
belonged to a great family; secondly, because he
was the handsomest man of his year. He wore
a large golden star on his breast (for his fellow-
students had made him a Knight of the Golden
Boar), and a badge of colored ribbons in his
button-hole.

The ball was a brilliant affair, and everybody
was in excellent spirits, especially the ladies.
Ralph danced incessantly, twirled his soft
mustache, and uttered amiable platitudes. It was
toward midnight, just as the company was moving
out to supper, that he caught the glance of
a pair of dark-blue eyes, which suddenly drove
the blood to his cheeks and hastened the beating
of his heart. But when he looked once
more the dark-blue eyes were gone, and his
unruly heart went on hammering against his side.
He laid his hand on his breast and glanced