Doc. Gordon | Page 5

woe, the other
observant with intelligence. It was possibly this impression of a dual
personality which gave James his quick sense of horror. He walked on,
feeling his very muscles shrink. Just before James reached the man he
emerged easily, with not the slightest appearance of stealth, from the
wood, and walked on before him with a rapid, swinging stride. There
were then three persons upon the road: the girl in brown, the strange
man in the fur-lined coat, and James Elliot. James quickened his pace,
but the other man kept ahead of him, and reached the girl. He stopped

and James broke into a run. He saw the man place a hand upon the
girl's shoulder, and make a motion as if to turn her face toward his.
James came up with a shout, and the man disappeared abruptly, with a
quick backward glance at James, into the wood.
The girl looked at James, and her little face under her brown plumed
hat was very white. "Oh," she gasped, as if she had always known him,
"I am so glad you are here! He frightened me terribly."
She tried to smile at James, although her poor little mouth was
quivering. "Who was he?" she asked.
[Illustration: "You don't think he will come back?" Page 21.]
"I don't know."
A sudden suspicion flashed into her eyes. "He wasn't with you?"
"No. I saw him on the edge of the woods back there, and I didn't like
his looks. When he started to follow you I hurried to catch up."
"Oh, thank you," said the girl fervently. "Do forgive me for asking if
you were with him. I knew you were not the minute I saw you. I did not
turn my face, although he tried to make me. I don't know why, but I do
know he was something terrible and wicked." The girl said this last
with a shudder. She caught hold of James's arm innocently, as a
frightened child might have done. "You don't think he will come
back?"
"No, and if he does I will take care of you."
"He may be--armed."
Suddenly the girl reeled. "Don't let me faint away. I won't faint away,"
she said in an angry voice. James saw that she was actually biting her
lips to overcome the faintness.
"If you will sit down on that rock for a moment," said James, "I have
something in my medicine-case which will revive you. I am a doctor."

"I shall faint away if I sit down and give up to it, if I swallow your
whole case," said the girl weakly. "I know myself. Let me hold your
arm and walk, and don't make me talk, then I can get over it." She was
biting her lips almost to bleeding.
James walked on as he was bidden, with the slender little brown-clad
figure clinging to him. He realized that he had fallen in with a girl who
had a will which was possibly superior to anything in his medicine-case
when it came to overcoming fright.
They walked on until they came in sight of a farm-house, when the girl
spoke again, and James saw that the color was returning to her face. "I
am all right now," said she, and withdrew her hand from his arm. She
gave her head an angry, whimsical shake. "I am ashamed of myself,"
said she, "but I was horribly frightened, and sometimes I do faint. I can
generally get the better of myself, but sometimes I can't. It always
makes me so angry. I do hope you don't think I am such an awful
coward, because I am not."
"I think most girls whom I have known would have made much more
fuss than you did," said James. "You never screamed."
"I never did scream in my life," said the girl. "I don't think I could. I
don't know how. I think if I did scream, I should certainly faint."
James stopped and opened his medicine-case. "I think you had better
take just a swallow of brandy," said he.
The girl thrust back the bottle which he offered her with high disdain.
"Brandy," said she, "just because I have been frightened a little! I
should be ashamed of myself if I did such a thing. I am ashamed now
for almost fainting away, but I should never forgive myself if I took
brandy because of it. If I haven't nerve enough to keep straight without
brandy, I should be a pretty poor specimen of a girl." She looked at him
indignantly, and James saw what he had not seen before (he had been
so engrossed with the strangeness of the situation), that she was a
beautiful girl with a singular type of beauty. She was very small, but
she gave