and General Garwood
went. The carriages that preceded them, and the people who walked with
them or followed, gave a sort of processional pomp and movement to the
gallant Goolsby's wedding--so much so that if he could have witnessed
it, his manly bosom would have swelled with genuine pride.

"The music you gave us was indeed a treat," said the general.

"It was perhaps more than you bargained for," Helen replied. "I suppose
everybody thought I was trying to make a display, but I quite forgot
myself. I was watching its effect on one of the poor creatures near the
door--do you call them Tackies?"

"Yes, Tackies. Well, we are all obliged to the poor creature--man or
woman. No doubt the fortunate person was Bud Stucky. I saw him standing
near his mother. Bud is famous for his love of music. When the organ is
to be played, Bud is always at the church; and sometimes he goes to
Waverly, and makes Hallie play the piano for him while he sits on the
floor of the veranda near the window. Bud is quite a character."

"I am so sorry for him," said Helen gently.

"I doubt if he is to be greatly pitied," said the general. "Indeed, as
the music was for him, and not for us, I think he is to be greatly
envied."

"I see now," said Helen laughing, "that I should have restrained
myself."

"The suggestion is almost selfish," said the general gallantly.

"Well, your nights here are finer than music," Helen remarked, fleeing
to an impersonal theme. "To walk in the moonlight, without wraps and
with no sense of discomfort, in the middle of December, is a wonderful
experience to me. Last night I heard a mocking-bird singing; and my aunt
has been asking Mrs. Haley if watermelons are ripe."

"The mocking-birds at Waverly," said the general, "have become something
of a nuisance under Hallie's management. There is a great flock of them
on the place, and in the summer they sing all night. It is not a very
pleasant experience to have one whistling at your window the whole night
through."

"Mrs. Haley," remarked Helen, "says that there are more mocking-birds
now than there were before the war, and that they sing louder and more
frequently."

"I shouldn't wonder," the general assented. "Mrs. Haley is quite an
authority on such matters. Everybody quotes her opinions."

"I took the liberty the other day," Helen went on, "of asking her about
the Ku Klux."

"And, pray, what did she say?" the general asked with some degree of
curiosity.

"Wh