"What if he should place me under arrest?"

"Then Mrs. Mayburn and I will become your jailers, and we shall keep
you here until you are one of the most accomplished whist-players in
the land."

"If you will promise to stand guard over me some of the time I will
submit to any conditions."

"You are already making one condition, and may think of a dozen more.
It will be better to parole you with the understanding that you are to
put in an appearance at the hour for whist;" and with similar light
talk they went down the walk under the apple-boughs, whence in
Graham's fancy the fair girl had had her origin. As they passed under
the shadow he saw the dusky outline of a rustic seat leaning against
the bole of the tree, and he wondered if he should ever induce his
present guide through the darkened paths to come there some moonlight
evening, and listen to the fancies which her unexpected appearance had
occasioned. The possibility of such an event in contrast with its far
greater improbability caused him to sigh, and then he smiled broadly
at himself in the darkness.

When they had passed a clump of evergreens, a lighted cottage
presented itself, and Miss St. John sprang lightly up the steps,
pushed open the hall door, and cried through the open entrance to a
cosey apartment, "No occasion for hostilities, papa. I have made a
capture that gives the promise of whist not only this evening but also
for several more to come."

As Graham and Mrs. Mayburn entered, a tall, white-haired man lifted