chum's compliment.

It was the day of the great corn feast on the Preston estate, and Madge
had been selected to appear in the costume of Minnehaha and to read to
the guests certain parts of Hiawatha that referred to the Indian legend
of the corn.

All the young people were to appear in the guise of Indians. Phyllis,
with her olive skin, black eyes and hair, made a striking Pocahontas.

Phil looked more like an Indian maiden than Madge, but Madge had more
dramatic skill. Lillian, with her hair as yellow as the corn, was the
paleface princess stolen by the Indians in her babyhood. Eleanor wore an
Indian costume, also, but she represented no especial character.

Much against his will David Brewster impersonated Hiawatha. He hated it.
He did not wish to come to the entertainment at all, much less in the
conspicuous position of the hero of the evening. But Mr. Preston had
taken a deep fancy to David. He seemed not to mind the boy's queer,
moody ways, and he had a great respect for his practical judgment. Mr.
Preston had asked David to remain in his service when the houseboat
party disbanded, but David, for reasons that he would not tell, had
refused. The boy did not think he could decline to impersonate Hiawatha
when Mr. Preston considered that he had paid him a compliment in asking
him. In spite of his embarrassment David Brewster was a good
representation of a young Indian brave, with his swarthy skin, his dark
eyes that flashed fire when his anger was aroused, and his vigorous,
muscular body, made lean and hard by his work in the open fields.

In the middle of the Preston estate, between the orchards and the
cornfields, a huge platform had been erected with a small stage at one
end. The place was decorated with sheaves of wheat, oats and barley,
with great stacks of green and yellowing corn standing in the four
corners. The platform was filled with chairs and hung with lanterns,
some of them made from hollowed-out gourds and pumpkins, to carry out
the harvest idea. After the reading of Hiawatha the platform was to be
cleared and the young people were to have a dance.

The invitations to the feast read for six o'clock. At seven a dozen open
wood fires were roasting the green ears of corn for more than a hundred
guests. The long tables under the trees in the yard were laden with
every kind of delicious food.

But Madge wished the feast was over and her poem read. Her knees were
knocking together when she rose to re