given her a franc for her trouble.

"A lady waiting in a carriage!" chuckled Mother Bonneton. "What kind of a
lady?"

"Oh, very swell," replied the doorkeeper mysteriously "Grande toilette,
bare shoulders, and no hat. I should think she'd take cold."

"Poor thing!" jeered the other. And then to Kittredge: "I suppose this is
_another one_ you haven't seen for six months."

Kittredge stood as if in a daze staring at the note. He read it, then read
it again, then he crumpled it in his hand, muttering: "O God!" And his face
was white.

"Good-by!" he said to Alice in extreme agitation. "I don't know what you
think of this, I can't stop to explain, I--I must go at once!" And taking
up his hat and cane he started away.

"But you'll come back?" cried the girl.

"No, no! This is the end!"

She went to him swiftly and laid a hand on his arm. "Lloyd, you _must_ come
back. You must come back to-night. It's the last thing I'll ever ask you.
You need never see me again but--_you must come back to-night_."

She stood transformed as she spoke, not pleading but commanding and
beautiful beyond words.