come heah again, nevah! nevah! nevah!"

The tears rolled down her cheeks as she banged the door behind her
and ran down the avenue, her little heart so full of grief and
disappointment that she felt she could not possibly bear it.

For more than an hour the Colonel walked up and down the room, unable to
shut out the anger and disappointment of that little face.

He knew she was too much like himself ever to retract her words. She
would never come back. He never knew until that hour how much he
loved her, or how much she had come to mean in his life. She was
gone hopelessly beyond recall, unless--He unlocked the door of the
drawing-room and went in. A faint breath of dried rose-leaves greeted
him. He walked over to the empty fireplace and looked up at the sweet
face of the portrait a long time. Then he leaned his arm on the mantel
and bowed his head on it. "Oh, Amanthis," he groaned, "tell me what to
do."

Lloyd's own words came back to him. "She'd go right straight an' put her
arms around my mothah an' kiss away all the sorry feelin's."

It was a long time he stood there. The battle between his love and pride
was a hard one. At last he raised his head and saw that the short winter
day was almost over. Without waiting to order his horse he started off
in the falling snow toward the cottage.