30 . DIGGING A GRAVE
loitered on her way, for she did not much like ©
waiting for Peggy on the steps of the National
Gallery; and just as she turned to -go up
Spring Gardens, she heard a well known
voice, laughing and talking loudly. Did
the words sound thick as well as loud? She
hoped not; but the color, she knew, flushed
to her cheeks, and her heart beat rapidly.
She was not deceived in the voice. Terence
‘Boyd, two other young men, and a young
woman, came boisterously from Charing
Cross. The girl was sauntering Ne eeeh
Terence and one of his friends —a young
fellow she did not like—Abel Doyle by
name; and Mary was ‘not pleased to see that
_Terence’s hand was placed on the girl’s
shoulder, and that they were talking and
looking at each other so earnestly that he
‘did not see her until she came close to him.
She would have passed them but Terence

caught sight of and rushed towards her.