sweet things into each other's ears until a green bird came
fluttering through the air, and lighting upon a bough just above
their heads, screamed:

"Dorothy! Dorothy!"

It was a parrot, and there was something so uncanny in its sudden
appearance that Paul started:

"He seems to be your chaperone!" he observed.

"He is my mascot!" cried Dorothy. "If it were not for his company, I
fear I should go mad. I am so lonely, Paul, you can not understand
it."

"Have you no neighbors?" he inquired.

"None within miles; and we live such a strange isolated life that
people are afraid of us."

Paul thought of the stage driver, and his look of horror on hearing
where he was going.

"I can't understand why people should be afraid of you simply because
you live alone," he said. "For my part, I think your life here is
most interesting. But you have not told me how I can help you."

"Nor can I yet," she answered. "There is a way, of course, but I can
not consent to so great a sacrifice from you; at least, not at
present."