As she thus sat and worked, her thoughts keeping time to her fingers, Sammie came and took a seat by her side.  She glanced quickly up, with a shade of annoyance on her face.  They were alone on the verandah, for her father and Dick were nowhere to be seen.

“You are very quiet this evening, Lois,” the young man began.  “I have been watching you for the last half hour, and you never looked our way once, nor took any interest in what we were saying.  You are not offended, are you?”

“Offended!  At what?” Lois asked as she let her needlework fall upon her lap.

“At me.  Have I done anything to annoy you?”

“I wasn’t thinking about you at all, Sammie,” and Lois looked him full in the eyes.  “My mind was upon more important things.”

“And you don’t consider me important?” the young man demanded, visibly embarrassed.

“Why should I?  What have you done that you should be considered important?”

“But my father is rich, and we belong to a good old family.  I am a gentleman, and that should count for much.”

“So you seem to think,” was the somewhat sarcastic reply.  “I do not for a moment deny that such things are valuable, but they count for very little in my estimation of a true man.  He must prove his worth in the battle of life, and show to the world that he is something apart from how much money his father may have or his family history.  Now what have you done that I should consider you important?”

“Nothing at present, Lois, for I am not through college yet.  But I am going to do great things some day, and then you will change your opinion of me.”

“I hope so,” and Lois gave a sigh as she picked up her work.

“You don’t believe what I say?” and Sammie reddened.

“Not until I see you settle down to something definite.  You do not know how to work, and how, then, can you expect to succeed?”

“But you would not want to see me working like Spuds, for instance, would you?”

“And why not?  He is not afraid to soil his hands at honest labor.  Why he is doing so I do not know, but there must be some good reason.”

“Oh, I know.  He wants money to help him to finish his college course.  He left very suddenly, so I understand.  Of course, he was not in our set, and so I know very little about him.  He studied hard, and kept much to himself, so he has always been somewhat of a mystery.  But say, Lois, never mind talking about him.  I want to ask you something, for I am going away to-morrow.”

“What is it, Sammie?” and again Lois laid down her work.  She had an idea what he wanted to say, though it did not affect her in the least.

“I—­I want to s-say,” the young man stammered, “that you are the o-only——­”

Sammie was suddenly arrested in his protestation of love by Dick’s voice at the door.

“Say, come inside,” he called.  “It’s beginning to rain, and it’s spoiled my ride this evening.  It’s going to be confounded dull to-night, so give us some music, Lois, to liven things up a bit.”