THE REAPPEARANCE OF AN OLD FRIEND After supper the Lieutenant and Naida danced twice together, the young girl's mood having apparently changed to one of buoyant, careless happiness, her dark eyes smiling, her lips uttering freely whatever thought came uppermost.

Outwardly she pictured the gay and merry spirit of the night, yet to Brant, already observing her with the jealousy of a lover, she appeared distrait and restless, her affectation of abandon a mere mask to her true feelings.

There was a peculiar watchfulness in her glances about the crowded room, while her flushed cheeks, and the distinctly false note in her laughter, began to trouble him not a little.

Perhaps these things might have passed unnoted but for their contrast with the late confidential chat.
He could not reconcile this sudden change with what he believed of her.
It was not carried out with the practised art of one accustomed to deceit.

There must be something real influencing her action.