Page:George Weston--The apple-tree girl.djvu/104

 ried, and rent that house of Doctor Baldwin's, furnished"

"Oh!" gasped Charlotte. "No, no, Neil! Stop! You mustn't!"

"Why not?" he gently demanded, trying to find her hand.

In the panic which fell upon her, Charlotte's thoughts rallied around her favorite formula: "I've got to be smart!" Instinctively feeling that flight was the only way to safety, she jumped out of the car and pulled her golf clubs after her. "Oh, Neil, I can't!" she said. "You don't understand! I—I'll take a short cut through the fields and you'll be home all the sooner. Good-bye."

She was over the wall before he realized what she was doing and had disappeared among the birches. Then, too late, he followed after and found himself lost in the brush.

"Oh, Charlotte!" he cried.

But no voice answered. He heard a