for company instead."

"And I, too," replied her daughter.

Monsieur Thuran became a frequent visitor at the home of Hazel
Strong's uncle in Cape Town. His attentions were very marked, but
they were so punctiliously arranged to meet the girl's every wish
that she came to depend upon him more and more. Did she or her
mother or a cousin require an escort--was there a little friendly
service to be rendered, the genial and ubiquitous Monsieur Thuran
was always available. Her uncle and his family grew to like him for
his unfailing courtesy and willingness to be of service. Monsieur
Thuran was becoming indispensable. At length, feeling the moment
propitious, he proposed. Miss Strong was startled. She did not
know what to say.

"I had never thought that you cared for me in any such way," she
told him. "I have looked upon you always as a very dear friend.
I shall not give you my answer now. Forget that you have asked me
to be your wife. Let us go on as we have been--then I can consider
you from an entirely different angle for a time. It may be that
I shall discover that my feeling for you is more than friendship.
I certainly have not thought for a moment that I loved you."

This arrangement was perfectly satisfactory to Monsieur Thuran. He
deeply regretted that he had been hasty, but he had loved her for
so long a time, and so devotedly, that he thought that every one
must know it.

"From the first time I saw you, Hazel," he said, "I have loved