see you, Jeb. Won't you-all sit down on
this stool?"

The girls then saw that Sary had provided the three-legged milk-stool
for her visitor. But it was too close to Sary for Jeb's peace of mind.
He reached out very warily and caught hold of one leg of the stool, and
pulled it towards him. Then he sat gingerly on the edge of it.

But Sary was determined to carry off a captive that night, or waste all
of her ammunition in the attempt.

"Ah jes' loves to swing, but Ah cain't tech the ground easy when Ah'm
sittin' back. Would you-all mind swingin' me, Jeb?"

Jeb got up slowly from his stool and took hold of the upper end strands
of the hammock. He pulled it back and forth a few times, while Sary
smiled alluringly up at him. Then he cleared his throat and began to
speak.

"This world was made fur love. Oh, what woul' arth be widdout de flowers
of love to parfume our way?" Jeb coughed.

Now this was just the sort of romance Sary had always _dreamed_ of but
never heard before, and she sighed heavily as her visitor coughed. If
Jeb needed encouragement, she was not the one to disappoint him!

He gave the hammock a strong tug as he began another line. Sary had to
catch hold of the edges to prevent herself from being thrown backward.

"Man wuz not made to live alone. Th' Good Book says so. What so glorious
ez a sweet bride waitin' t' welcome a man after a hard day's labor? What
man is thar what woulden give his wealth of all Crows-see-us fer love?"

Jeb pronounced the unfamiliar word very carefully, but Sary had never
heard of Croesus, so it mattered not how Jeb said it. But Polly and
Eleanor were clasping each other tightly now, to keep from making a
sound that would ruin the entertainment.

Again Jeb cleared his throat with difficulty and pulled at the hammock
as if he was trying to drag a whale from the deep sea. Sary uttered no
complaint, however, even though her neck almost snapped at each sudden
jerk. She was wise enough to realize that the momentous time had come
for Jeb. He might never again summon courage, if he failed to-night!

Without further warning, then, Jeb began his memorized lines, and as he
progressed with the "love sonnet" he unconsciously swung the hammock
higher and higher.

"Ef Ah wuzn't shore we-all w'ar made fur each other Ah wooden be ha'r
beggin' fur yur heart an' hand."

A long and mighty pull on the hammock almost landed Sary out in the
grass, but she clung like a vise to the hempen rop