never said another word
about it after that. But after a while the calvary regiment went
somewheres else--on some more land he had bought, so it turned out.
Nobody knew what changed his mind. It was Katherine, the first girl
friend that Bonnie Bell had had in the city.

You see, Katherine used to come to our house regular now; her and Bonnie
Bell was right thick together. One time Katherine come in quite excited.

"My brother Tom's coming back next week," says she. "Ain't that fine?"

"Is that so?" says Bonnie Bell. "I'd like to see him."

"Tom's going to live with us," says Katherine, "and be in the office
downtown--unless he gets married, or something of that kind. I wisht he
would. Now I wisht he would get engaged. I'd like to see how he'd act.
You can't guess what I'd like!"

"No," says Bonnie Bell; "I can't."

"Well, he's awfully good-looking," says Katherine. "He hasn't got much
sense though. He dances and can play a mandolin, and has been around the
world a good bit. He's sweet-tempered, but he smokes too much. Sometimes
of mornings he's cross. But you can't guess what I'd like!"

"No; I can't," says Bonnie Bell.

Then Katherine kissed her and taken her hands.

"Why," says she, "I'd like it awfully if you and Tom could hit it off
together," says she. "I think it would be lovely--perfectly lovely!
Then we'd be sisters, wouldn't we?" Bonnie Bell she blushed a-plenty.

"Why, how you talk!" says she. "I've never seen your brother yet and
he's never seen me."

"I've told him you're lovely," says Katherine. "I'll bring him over
sometime."

"I don't know how I could allow it after what you said," says Bonnie
Bell; "but if he's as nice as you I'll jump right square down his
throat. Could you ask me to do anything more than that?"

They giggled, then, and held hands, and ate candy and drank tea, and
talked, both with their mouths full.

"Oh, look at the Wisners' new car!" says Katherine after a while, and
she run to the window.

Their car was just coming in to the sidewalk at their curb now. From
where I set I could see it. Their driver opened the door and Old Lady
Wisner got out; then a young man. They both went out of sight right away
around the fence--you couldn't see into their yard from where we set.

The girls by this time had got so sometimes they'd talk about the
Wisners. Bonnie Bell says now:

"Why don't you call on the Wisners any more?"

"Oh, because," says Katherine. "We're friendly, of