men who had staid behind to
have another word with Pete, and then those who had not brought dinner,
among whom of course were Guy and his sisters, made arrangements with
the landlord for that meal, urging him to bring out everything his
larder contained, in view of the fact that a party of ravenous wolves
were to be fed.

"This weather don't appear to set very hard on you at that rate," he
replied, his fat sides shaking with merriment as he went off to obey
orders.

Then Guy and a few others began to search for a cool place, in which to
eat dinner. First they tried the house, but it was so dark they could
not see, and when the shutters were opened the flies swarmed in; next
they tried the porch, but the glare was too great. Some were beginning
to be cross and unamiable, when Pete's head again appeared.

"If de ladies and gen'lemen wants a nice cool place, there's one over
yonder in de arbor."

"O, yes, come and take tea in the arbor," sang the girls, as they
bounded down the steps and followed Pete, whose delight appeared to
equal theirs, for although the sun could not penetrate the closely
interwoven vines, which covered it, neither could the air, had there
been a breath stirring. But it was "romantic" all thought, and Pete
agreed with them; though I question whether if he had gone to the stake
for it, he could have told what the word meant. There was one thing he
_did_ know, however, and that was, that if they remained out of doors,
he could enjoy their society, and it was not every day such a rare treat
was his. So while the party sought the woods until the time for dinner,
Pete went to bring out "de table and cheers," thinking of the good time
he was to have, "listenin' to de grand talk of dem town folks."

At the appointed hour the "wolves" sought their prey.

"I guess dat here will do to begin with," remarked Pete, drolly, as he
deposited on the table two large dishes of chicken, and a plate of
tongue.

"Yes, that will do for the first bite," was the reply, of one of the
young men. Pete showed his ivories and darted off again. But on the
return trip he had an assistant, and between the two the board was amply
spread.

"I'll just be rusticatin' round here, Susan, so you needn't stay," he
said, as Susan announced her readiness to "fetch them anything else that
was needed."

The girl looked at Pete, then at the party. Her look of inquiry was met
with: "O, no, there is no need of you waiting, if we require