favorites, but she would have gone with Lisa to a lecture on the sex-life of the stringbean.

They met at the entrance to the park, met a little awkwardly, full of the realization that they scarcely knew each other. Lisa had not so much as touched her hand through the performance, nor was there any but accidental contact as they strolled through the gathering darkness. Only now, in the Sapphic atmosphere of the pavilion, were they drawn together.

"Do you have to go home now, Lisa," Ruth asked. "I don't want to leave you...

"I'm afraid I must. Aunt Margaret's a worry wart. She feels responsible for me while I'm up here, you know."

Suddenly Ruth experienced the sickening realization of Lisa's temporary stay here. She had almost forgotten that with the end of summer Lisa would have to go back, go nearly five hundred miles away. Tears sprang to her eyes and she fought them back.

"Honey," Lisa said. "Let's hail a cab. We'll take you home first, then I can

go on.

In the back seat they held hands and talked very little. At Ruth's house, while the driver walked around to open the door of the cab, Lisa kissed her cheek quickly and whispered, "Call you tomorrow."

It wasn't often that they could be alone. Bev felt responsible for Lisa's entertainment, and planned a series of parties and outings which included Ruth. Pleasurable as they might have been under other circumstances, now they were merely a hiatus between the hours when the two of them could steal away together for an afternoon or evening.

"It's alright, Lisa," Ruth assured her. "I'm perfectly happy, just doing this." But she wasn't. The joy she felt in Lisa's presence was overshadowed by the necessity of yet another unfulfilled parting. It was a month now since they'd met and this was the fifth time they had managed to get out alone. And each time it had been like this. . . like a high-school date. A few short hours, a movie, or a walk in the park; once a venture into a midcity cocktail lounge where they were promptly approached by a couple of men and left abruptly. And all the while, their need for each other growing and growing.

Lisa never visited at Ruth's home alone, fearing that her mother would mention it to Bev. It wouldn't do for Bev to know, to become suspicious.

So now, walking along and looking in the store windows, Ruth, in spite of her words, became more tense and silent as they approached the intersection where they must take separate busses to their separate destinations.

"Ruth, I feel so . . . so futile," Lisa said, moving close to her, so that their arms touched from shoulder to hand as they walked. "You aren't happy, and I just can't stand it."

They paused on the corner, waiting for the light to change. Ruth knew that once on the other side of the street, Lisa would leave her. She couldn't let that happen, not again, not tonight.

"Lisa . . . darling. I just thought of something. Come home with me. It's late. Mother and Dad will be in bed. You've got to come. I'll die if you leave me now." She slid her hand up Lisa's arm, gripped her elbow for a moment, then released her and stood, breathless, awaiting the other girl's reply.

Lisa looked for a long time into Ruth's eyes before she said, "Yes. Let's go."