wide porch, with the honeysuckle shutting out the
sun, and the long, yellow blossoms filling the air with fragrance. It
was pleasant to hear the contented chuckle of the hens and the sleepy
hum of the bees, and the sound of his own voice; but most of all it was
pleasant, albeit disconcerting, to glance sidewise occasionally and find
a pair of credulous brown eyes raised to his in frank admiration. What
if the swing of the hammock was making him dizzy and one foot had gone
to sleep? These were minor considerations unworthy of mention.

"And just to think," the girl was saying, "that you may be right across
the road! I won't mind staying at home so much if you'll let me come
over and see you make the newspaper."

"You might like to assist sometime," said Mr. Opp, magnanimously, at the
same time cautiously removing a fluttering pink ribbon from his knee. "I
could let you try your hand on a wedding or a 'bituary, or something
along that line."

"Oh, really?" she cried, her eyes brightening. "I'd just love to. I can
write compositions real nice, and you could help me a little."

"Yes," agreed Mr. Opp; "I could learn you to do the first draft, and I
could put on the extra touches."

So engrossed did they become in these plans that they did not hear the
click of the gate, or see the small, aggressive lady who came up the
walk. She moved with the confident air of one who is in the habit of
being obeyed. Her skirt gave the appearance of no more daring to hang
wrong than her bonnet-strings would have presumed to move from the exact
spot where she had tied them under her left ear. Her small, bright eyes,
slightly crossed, apparently saw two ways at once, for on her brief
journey from the gate to the porch, she decapitated two withered
geraniums on the right, and picked up a stray paper and some dead leaves
on the left.

"Guin-never!" she called sharply, not seeing the couple on the porch,
"who's been tracking mud in on my clean steps?"

The girl rose hastily and came forward. "Mother," she said, "here's Mr.
Opp."

Mrs. Gusty glanced up from one to the other, evidently undecided how to
meet the situation. But the hesitancy was not for long; Mr. Opp's
watch-fob, glittering in the sunlight, symbolized such prosperity that
she hastily extended a cordial hand of welcome.

"You don't mean to tell me Guin-never has been keeping you out here on
the porch instead of taking you in the parlor? And hasn't she given you
a thing to d