When she saw me there was a sudden flush upon her face, but it disappeared quickly.

Whether this meant that she was agreeably surprised to see me again, or whether it showed that she resented my turning up again so soon after she thought she was finally rid of me, I did not know.

It does not do to predicate too much upon the flushes of women.
[Illustration: "THERE WAS A SUDDEN FLUSH"] I hastened to inform her why I had come, and now, having recovered from her momentary surprise, she asked me to walk in and sit down, an invitation which I willingly accepted, for I did not in the least object to detaining her from her garden.
Now she wanted to know how I had managed to get on with the bear, and what the people at the Cheltenham said about it, and when I went on to tell her the whole story, which I did at considerable length, she was intensely interested.

She shuddered at the runaway, she laughed heartily at the uprising of the McKenna sister, and she listened earnestly to everything I had to say about the Larramies.
"You seem to have a wonderful way," she exclaimed, "of falling in with--" I think she was going to say "girls," but she changed it to "people." "Yes," said I."I should not have imagined that I could make so many good friends in such a short time." Then I went on to give her Mr.Larramie's message, and to say more things about the bear.

I was glad to think of any subject which might prolong the conversation.