a stoic's
heart."

Charlotte unbendingly smoothed out a bit of tin-foil and wrapped the
piece of camphor-ice in it.

"The cockles of the heart, and the apple of the eye have always seemed
absurd figures of speech to me," she then remarked, putting the unguent
into her basket.

Judge Macon tried to take one of her hands, but she withdrew it and
firmly wound up her watch before wrapping it in her handkerchief and
laying it beside the camphor-ice.

"Come, old lady," wheedled her softer-natured mate, "what's the matter?
Do you really foresee disaster?"

"Joe," replied Charlotte, clasping her hands over the handle of the
little basket, and looking sternly at him, "can you, a man who has sat
on the Virginia bench for over twenty years, seriously ask me such a
question?"

"Why the _Virginia_ bench, particularly, honey?" asked he, and from
under his shaggy brows came a droll gleam.

But Charlotte was not to be wheedled.

"I merely mentioned your office," said she, "to recall to you that as a
Judge you've had more opportunity than most to realise the rarity of
happy marriages."

The Judge in his unofficial capacity whistled softly at this Addisonian
language, but Charlotte went on undisturbed.

"I ask you," she continued, "_as a Judge_--what chances do you consider
that those two"--she waved one hand towards the hammocks--"have of real
happiness?"

Her husband rocked for a moment before replying, fanning himself with
the round, yellow disk that glistened in the moonlight (Charlotte had
blown out the candle for fear of midges).

At last he said seriously:

"You married me, my dear, and I am sixteen years older than you, yet I
think we've been pretty happy."

"Oh, how like a _man_ that is!" cried Charlotte, jumping up in her
exasperation, so that the carefully packed little hamper was upset, and
the two white-clad figures had to grovel for its contents on all fours
in the moonlight. As Charlotte's curly head came near his during this
operation, the Judge promptly kissed it, and Charlotte, much
disconcerted, scrambled to her feet again, exclaiming: "Joe! how _can_
you be so silly at our time of life?"

But the Judge only laughed, and pulled her down on his linen clad knees,
demure frills, "night-basket" and all.

"See here, madam," he demanded, "what do you mean by saying I'm 'like a
man'?"

Charlotte laughed in spite of herself.

"I meant it was like a man to take the very reverse of Sophy's case as
an