es.

"Enny one kin see we-all w'ar made fur each other, oh darlin' of mah
heart! Soul of mah soul!" Jeb coughed violently as he remembered he was
two paragraphs ahead in his speech. Now he couldn't remember what went
just before that "soul of my soul!" but he knew the tragic part to
perfection, so he skipped all that went before and ended with:

"Ef you-all refuse me, Ah shall end this wretched existence in life
widdout love! Oh, beauchus maiden" (strangling as he realized he should
have said "widder" and now utterly confounded, he said): "Oh, Sary! be
mah widder widdout mah love--NO, Sary, be mah wife widdout my widder.
Oh, Sary, Ah don't know what Ah----"

In his frenzy, Jeb yanked on the hammock so manfully that the mended
strands suddenly sundered and Sary was unexpectedly thrown into her
suitor's arms.

Such an unforeseen accident, however, found Sary ready with presence of
mind to meet the emergency. She flung her powerful arms about Jeb's
slender form and smacked him heartily on the lips. The dramatic lover
then trembled and gasped for breath. How to get away safely was all he
could think of. But Sary, as tenacious in her hold as "ivy on the sturdy
oak," managed to calm her lover's fears.

"Oh, Jeb! _What_ a wooer you-all do make! Ah never dreamed a man could
talk so wonderful!" Sary sighed and placed her head down upon Jeb's
shoulder.

Now had Jeb accepted this sweet praise and been satisfied therewith, his
wooing need not have ended so abruptly, but manlike, he wanted to hear
added words of flattery about himself, so he sat down on the
three-legged stool, and drew the over-willing Sary upon his knee.

"Ah forgot to say half what is in mah soul, Sary," he began, as his
lines came back to him. "Oh, Ah must tell you-all what joy you fill me
wid, when you consent to listen to mah cause----"

In leaning back to emphasize his speech with an out-flung arm, Jeb lost
his balance, and the stool being treacherous on its three legs, promptly
turned over and sent both lovers from ecstasy down to earth. As Sary and
Jeb managed to get upon their feet, they thought they heard sounds of
smothered laughter and scampering feet over the brick walk, but when
they got from behind the lilac bushes to reconnoiter, everything between
the kitchen and the Shrubbery Walk was silent as the tomb.

CHAPTER X

A TRIP TO BUFFALO PARK

Word was received through Jeb, who met Jake at Oak Creek, that Mrs.
Carew would spend th