Page:It Never Did Run Smooth.djvu/11

Rh watched, at a distance, the play of Hilda Waterston's gray eyes, and caught the high-bred accents of her voice, he again repented of his churlishness, and was pondering the best means of attracting Bonnycastle's notice, when that gentleman hastily detached himself from the group, and hurried toward the step, against which Trecothick leaned. Intercepting him, and catching his arm, he muttered:

"Say, old fellow, I was an ass, just now. Present me."

" Oh! Well, can't till I come up. Mrs. Waterston has just remembered a book she wanted, and I've to rush up the street, and see if I can find a shop. I'll be back."

And he was off like a flash. A good deal annoyed, Trecothick threw himself upon a bench to wait for Bonnycastle's return, and sat there, looking doggedly down upon the busy quay, where now all was bustle and confusion, as the moment of departure approached.

At this moment, a carriage dashed through the gates; the door was thrown violently open; and a man sprang out. His white hair and beard suggested advanced life, which his angry and glittering eyes seemed to contradict. He ran to a pile of luggage, not yet on board, fiercely demanded checks, and cried out, impatiently, for some one to carry it on board. A little dog began to bark within the carriage, and presently appeared in the door, but was immediately caught back by two black-gloved hands.

Trecothick smiled lazily, and tried to peer into the carriage, to see the fat old dowager, that he had decided must appertain to such a lord. But, at that moment, a face suddenly appeared, framed in the dark opening of the door, and gazing straight at him; the face of a woman not yet five and twenty years of age.' It was pale, with that ivory, yet glowing whiteness, so different from the bluish pallor of ill health; with waves of dark hair flowing from a low, straight brow, full and rounded at the temples. The lines