==@ J 
THE CORAL RING. 215 
are things said of me as if I were in danger ? " 
were the first thoughts that passed through his 
mind. How strange that a man may appear 
doomed, given up, and lost, to the eye of every 
looker-on, before he begins to suspect himself! 
This was the first time that any defined apprehen- 
sion of loss of character had occurred to Elliot, 
and he was startled as if from a dream. 
" What the deuse is the matter with you, Elli- 
ot ? You look as solemn as a hearse ! " said a 
young man near by. 
" Has Miss Elmore cut you ? " said another. 
" Come, man, have a glass," said a third. 
" Let him alone he's bewitched," said a 
fourth ; " I saw the spell laid on him. None of 
us can say but our turn may come next." 
An hour later, that evening, Florence was talk- 
ing, with her usual spirit, to a group who were 
collected around her, when, suddenly looking up, 
she saw Elliot, standing in an abstracted manner, 
at one of the windows that looked out into the 
balcony. 
" He is offended, I dare say," she thought ; 
" but why should I care ? For once in my life I 
have tried to do a right thing, a good thing ; I 
have risked giving offence for less than this, many 
a time." Still Florence could not but feel trem.- 
ulous, when, a few moments after, Elliot ap- 
proached her, and offered his arm for a prome- 
nade. They walked up and down the room, she 
