"
Up at the great pillared house the tall young son wandered
aimlessly about after his father's abrupt departure. In the
house there was little to interest him; the books were old and
stale, the local newspaper flat, and the women had retired
with headaches and sewing. He tried a nap, but it was too
warm. So he sauntered out into the fields, complaining dis-
consolately, "Good Lord! how long will this imprisonment
last!" He was not a bad fellow,--just a little spoiled and
self-indulgent, and as headstrong as his proud father. He
seemed a young man pleasant to look upon, as he sat on the
great black stump at the edge of the pines idly swinging his
legs and smoking. "Why, there isn't even a girl worth getting
up a respectable flirtation with," he growled. Just then his
eye caught a tall, willowy figure hurrying toward him on the
narrow path. He looked with interest at first, and then burst
into a laugh as he said, "Well, I declare, if it isn't Jennie, the
little brown kitchen-maid! Why, I never noticed before what
a trim little body she is. Hello, Jennie! Why, you haven't
kissed me since I came home," he said gaily.
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