deference to her father's wishes, she had
consented to 'think about it' for a week. In truth, Henry had been at
home ten days and had not called upon her, and all the hope she had
cherished in that direction, and all the weary waiting, seemed in vain.
When the colonel's week was nearly out she heard that Henry was to
leave in two days. In a sort of desperation she determined to accept
Colonel Pearson without waiting for the time appointed for her answer.
But that gentleman spoiled it all by his own overconfidence.

"For when he called, after Jennie had determined on this course, he
found her so full of kindness that he hardly knew how to behave with
moderation. And so he fell to flattering her, and flattering himself at
the same time that he knew all the ins and outs of a girl's heart, he
complimented her on the many offers she had received.

"'And I tell you what,' he proceeded, 'there are plenty of others that
would lay their heads at your feet if they were only your equals.
There's that young parson--Gilbert, I think they call him--that is
visiting his mother in the unpainted and threadbare-looking little
house that stands behind this one. I've actually seen that fellow, in
his rusty, musty coat, stop and look after you on the street; and every
night, when I go home, he is sitting at the window that looks over this
way. The poor fool is in love with you. Only think of it! And I chuckle
to myself when I see him, and say, "Don't you wish you could reach so
high?" I declare, it's funny.'

"In that one speech Colonel Pearson dashed his chances to pieces. He
could not account for the sudden return of winter in Jennie Morton's
manner. And all his sunshine was powerless to dispel it, or to bring
back the least approach of spring.

"Poor Jennie! You can imagine, doctor, how she paced the floor all that
night. She began to understand something of the courage of Henry
Gilbert's heart, and something of the manliness of his motives. All
night long she watched the light burning in the room in the widow's
house; and all night long she debated the matter until her head ached.
She could reach but one conclusion: Henry was to leave the day after
to-morrow. If any communication should ever be opened between them she
must begin it. It was as if she had seen him drifting away from her
forever, and must throw him a rope. I think even such a woman's-right
man as yourself would hardly justify her, however, in taking any step
of the ki