The girl straightened herself and half rose from her chair.

"You are boring Miss Carson with my delinquencies," said the
Prince, sternly. His face was flushed, and he did not look
either at the girl or at the priest.

"But the prodigal's father?" said Miss Carson, smiling at the
older man. "Did he stand over him and upbraid him? You
remember, he went to meet him when he was yet a great way off.
That was it, was it not, Father?"

"Of course he did," cried Kalonay, laughing like a boy, and
slipping lightly to the terrace. "He met him half way and
gave him the best he had." He stepped to Miss Carson's side
and the two young people moved away smiling, and the priest,
seeing that they were about to escape him, cried eagerly, "But
that prodigal had repented. This one----"

"Let's run," cried the Prince. "He will get the best of us if
we stay. He always gets the best of me. He has been abusing
me that way for two weeks now, and he is always sorry
afterward. Let us leave him alone to his sorrow and remorse."

Kalonay walked across the terrace with Miss Carson, bending
above her with what would have seemed to an outsider almost a
proprietary right. She did not appear to notice it, but
looked at him frankly and listened to what he had to say with
interest. He was speaking rapidly, and as he spoke he glanced
shyly at her as though seeking her approbation, and not
boldly, as he was accustomed to do when he talked with either