looked up. Then he sat up.

"What old tricks and habits do you mean, sir?"

"Running after every girl you see, and in defiance of all decency, under
your mother's very nose."

Mrs. Wedmore would have interposed here, but her husband waved his hand
imperially, and she remained silent. Max leaned back in his chair and
met his father's eyes steadily.

"You have made a mistake, sir, and my mother has made a mistake, too. It
is quite true she may have seen me kissing Miss--Miss--Carrie, in fact.
But I hope to have the right to kiss her. I want to marry her."

"To marry this--this--"

"This beautiful young girl, whom nobody has a word to say against,"
interrupted Max, in a louder voice. "Come, sir, you can't say I'm at my
old tricks _now_. I've never wanted to marry any girl before."

For the moment Mr. Wedmore was stupefied. This was worse, far worse than
he had expected. Mrs. Wedmore, also, was rather shocked. But the
sensation, was tempered, in her case, with admiration of her boy's
spirit in daring to make this avowal.

"Mind, I only say I _want_ to marry her. Because, so far, she has
refused to have anything to say to me."

"Not refused to marry you!" broke in Mrs. Wedmore, unable to remain
quiet under such provocation as this.

"Yes, refused to marry me, mother. I have asked her--begged her."

"Oh, it's only artfulness, to make you more persistent," cried Mrs.
Wedmore, indignantly.

"Or perhaps," suggested Mr. Wedmore, in his driest tones, "the girl is
shrewd enough to know that I should cut off a son who was guilty of such
a piece of idiocy and leave him to his own resources."

Max said nothing for a moment; then he remarked, quietly:

"You have been threatening to do that already, sir, before there was any
question of my marrying."

Mrs. Wedmore was frightened by the tone Max was using. He was so much
quieter than usual, so much more decided in his tone, that she began to
think there was less chance than usual of his coming to an agreement
with his father.

"You know, Max," she said, coming over to his chair and putting an
affectionate hand on his head, "that your father has only spoken to you
as he has done because he wanted to rouse up your spirit and make you
ashamed of being lazy."

Max rose from his chair and turned to her with flashing eyes.

"And now, when there is a chance of my rousing myself at last, when I am
ready and anxious to prove it, and to set to work, and to settle down,
he i