It was now twilight, and he had read but a few minutes when he
observed a lady, attired in deep black, and leading a boy,
apparently some five or six years old, coming up one of the
beautiful, winding paths. As the lady's veil was drawn closely
over her face, he felt somewhat at liberty to eye her more
closely. While thus engaged, the lady gave a slight scream, and
seemed suddenly to have fallen into a fainting condition. Jerome
sprang from his seat, and caught her in time to save her from
falling to the ground.
At this moment an elderly gentleman, also dressed in black, was
seen approaching with a hurried step, which seemed to indicate
that he was in some way connected with the lady. The old man came
up, and in rather a confused manner inquired what had happened,
and Jerome explained matters as well as he was able to do so.
After taking up the vinaigrette, which had fallen from her hand,
and holding the bottle a short time to her face, the lady began to
revive. During all this time, the veil had still partly covered the
face of the fair one, so that Jerome had scarcely seen it. When
she had so far recovered as to be able to look around her, she
raised herself slightly, and again screamed and swooned. The old
man now feeling satisfied that Jerome's dark complexion was the
immediate cause of the catastrophe, said in a somewhat petulant
tone,--
"I will be glad, sir, if you will leave us alone."
The little boy at this juncture set up a loud cry, and amid the
general confusion, Jerome left the ground and returned to his
hotel.
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