Kilmeny of the Orchard 
     
    
   
   
    
     her face flushed with the excitement of 
     
     mingled hope and fear. 
     
    

    
     “ Oh, ye gods! ” muttered David help- 
     
     lessly. 
     
    

    
     He could not hide his amazement and 
     
     Eric smiled to see it. The latter had not 
     
     failed to perceive that his friend had until 
     
     now considered him as little better than 
     
     a lunatic. 
     
    

    
     “ Kilmeny, this is my friend, Dr. 
     
     Baker,” he said. 
     
    

    
     Kilmeny held out her hand with a smile. 
     
     Her beauty, as she stood there in the fresh 
     
     morning sunshine beside a clump of her 
     
     sister lilies, was something to take away 
     
     a man’s breath. David, who was by no 
     
     means lacking in confidence and generally 
     
     had a ready tongue where women were 
     
     concerned, found himself as mute and 
     
     awkward as a school boy, as he bowed 
     
     over her hand. 
     
    

    
     But Kilmeny was charmingly at ease. 
     
     There was not a trace of embarrassment 
     
     in her manner, though there was a pretty 
     
    

    
     220