There was another gentleman, equally bent on enjoying the pergola.

We engaged in a pretty running match, and because I was fleeter of foot he grew ugly and tried to put me out of commission." He was still laughing, but Shirley felt that he was again trying to make light of a serious situation, and a further tie of secrecy with Armitage was not to her liking.

As he walked boldly to the veranda steps, she stepped back from him.
"No! No! This is impossible--it will not do at all, Mr.Armitage.It is not kind of you to come here in this strange fashion." "In this way forsooth! How could I send in my card when I was being chased all over the estate! I didn't mean to apologize for coming"-- and he laughed again, with a sincere mirth that shook her resolution to deal harshly with him.

"But," he went on, "it was the flowerpot! He was mad because I beat him in the foot-race and wanted to shoot me from the wall, and I tossed him a potted geranium--geraniums are splendid for the purpose--and it caught him square in the head.

I have the knack of it! Once before I handed him a boiling-pot!" "It must have hurt him," said Shirley; and he laughed at her tone that was meant to be severe.
"I certainly hope so; I most devoutly hope he felt it! He was most tenderly solicitous for my health; and if he had really shot me there in the garden it would have had an ugly look.