"Oh, any one can see that he is head and shoulders above Phil, mentally, morally, and, almost that, physically," she mused, as she recalled Cliff's splendid physique, his thoughtful face and earnest eyes. "I hope I shall meet him again some day," and the sigh that supplemented this reflection told how deeply she regretted the lost opportunity of the morning.
Clifford Faxon himself was fully as much exercised in view of the unexpected meeting and its unsatisfactory results. He had not observed Mollie particularly at first, except that he had realized that some one had made a misstep, and almost involuntarily he had tried to avert an accident; but the instant she spoke, her tones had betrayed her to him--he had never forgotten them. Many and many a time in his dreams, both waking and sleeping, he had seemed to hear her silvery voice vibrating with its thrill of fervent gratitude in those words so indelibly stamped upon his heart: "You have saved my life--you have saved all our lives, and it is such a wonderful--such a grand thing to have done! I am very grateful to you, for my life is very bright. I love to live. Oh, I cannot say half there is in my heart; but I shall never forget you--I shall love you for your heroism of this day always."
Then, as he had studied the lovely face, he had traced the well-remembered features, even though she had changed and bloomed from the slip of a girl in short dresses and with that shining braid of hair hanging between her shoulders, into this beautiful and stylish young woman, with her perfect form, her queenly carriage and elegant apparel.
He saw that she had recognized him, for he had been quick to note the light that had leaped into her eyes and the conscious flush that had suffused her face, and, though he was disappointed, he was half-inclined to believe what was really the truth, that a sudden shyness, produced by the unexpected encounter, had alone caused her to refrain from referring to their former meeting, and yet, believing her to be still the petted child of fortune and far above him, socially, his sensitiveness suggested that she might not now care to renew their acquaintance--if such it could be called--in spite of her assurance that she should "never forget him."