odor brushed against me, like the gust of an icy wind. Let me think of something else..."

Then I would breathe in, filling my lungs, the sweet fragrance of my girl, and she asked me:

— "Is my fragrance not sweet?"

— "I breathe in from you the scent of youth, of happiness, of life."

And she repeated softly:

— "Youth, and happiness, and life!.."

And her eyes filled with tears.

Toward midnight Ornella said, "The time has come to go back." I begged her to stay another moment, but she said: No! The time has come; she is waiting for me on the road, just as she did the last time. I asked her, astonished, "And who is waiting for you on the road?" She answered:

— "You cannot know. Let us go, I beg you — let us go."

I consented reluctantly; we settled into my car, and Ornella began showing me the way. She drew closer to me little by little, as though seeking a refuge to shelter her from some impending danger. I tried to reassure her, and told her that no one could harm her so long as I was alive. Who, I wondered, was this powerful enemy before whom the girl trembled with fear?

I felt a certain uneasiness when I noticed that we had left the city. Then I heard a small, faint voice pleading:

— "You will protect me, won't you? You will keep me at your side?"

— "Fear nothing, my darling."

So I answered her, anxious, and I drew her to my breast and kissed her... and her lips were cold!

We reached a wide crossroads, beyond which the road took the shape of a dangerous bend, when Ornella gave a piercing scream. I looked at her face, over which a pallor had spread, then stopped

the car, for she had fainted. I could not understand the cause of her fear: the road was deserted and the night calm and still. But after a little she opened her eyelids and murmured:

— "It is all over now. Take me home..."

I was in the utmost bewilderment as I drove on, and we came to the edge of a great forest. I followed the road that crosses it, and when we were in its very heart Ornella pressed my arm and said:

— "Here is the place where I shall get down."

I let my gaze wander over that dreadful place and found it still, wrapped in a strange silence; I could see nothing but the ghostly shapes of the trees. I said to the girl:

— "Make me understand, my little one — how can I leave you alone at midnight in this forest?"

She answered me in a voice that had recovered its calm:

Tavern Candles

Beautiful to look at, they shed no greasy drippings. They are favored by those circles that take care to lend their banquets a sweet luster and a merry atmosphere, thanks to their radiant light — available in 13 different, attractive colors.

On sale at all specialty shops.

Tavern Candles

SOCONY-VACUUM OIL COMPANY, INC.