into the saddle. Having thus invoked divine assistance, this Dutch
Falstaff went at the task with such a will that in a trice he found
himself not on the horse, but over it, lying upon his back,
indeed, among the grasses. "O God!" that deluded burgher exclaimed,
reproachfully, as the Kaffirs came up and speared him, "Thou hast helped
a great deal too much!"

At this moment Morris felt very much like this stout but simple dweller
in the wilderness. He would have preferred to coquet with the enemy
for a while from the safety of his saddle. But Providence willed it
otherwise.

"Won't you come out, Mary?" he said, with the courage which inspires
men in desperate situations. He felt that it would be impossible to say
those words with the electric lights looking at him like so many eyes.
The thought of it, even, made him warm all over.

"I don't know; it depends. Is there anything comfortable to sit on?"

"The deck chair," he suggested.

"That sounds nice. I have slumbered for hours in deck chairs. Look,
there's a fur rug on that sofa, and here's my white cape; now you get
your coat, and I'll come."

"Thank you, no; I don't want any coat; I am hot enough already."

Mary turned and looked him up and down with her wondering blue eyes.

"Do you really think it safe," she said, "to expose yourself to all