e words:--

"You should have taken me long ago." Dic wondered how he might have
taken her; but failing to discover any mistake, he went on:--

"I am going to New York again this spring and,--and you will be past
eighteen when I return. You can then marry me without your mother's
consent, if you will. Will you go home with me when I return?"

The eyes and the face were bent toward the ground, but the lips
whispered distinctly, "Yes, Dic," and that young man bitterly regretted
the publicity of their situation.

Soon our strollers met other young persons, and Dic was presented. All
were dressed in holiday attire, and the young man from Blue felt that
his companion and her friends outshone him completely. Rita was proud of
him, and said as much in reply to Dic's remark when they resumed their
walk.

"You might come to see me during the week, when the stores are open,"
she said, "and you might buy one of the new-fashioned hats. If you can
afford it, you might order a long coat for Sunday. Polished shoes would
look well, too; but I am satisfied with you as you are. I only suggest
these purchases because you seem to feel uncomfortable."

After Rita's suggestion he did feel uncomfortable. He had earned no
money since his return from New York, and Rita's fine feathers had been
purchased by the proceeds of his twenty-six hundred dollars invested in
her father's business. Therefore, hat, coat, and shoes were not within
his reach unless he should go into debt, and that he had no thought of
doing.

With her husband's increasing prosperity, Mrs. Bays grew ever more
distant in her manner toward Dic. Rita, having once learned that
rebellion did not result in instant death to her or to her parent, had
taken courage, and governed her treatment of Williams by her mother's
conduct toward Dic. Therefore Justice, though stern, was never
insulting.

After Rita's suggestion bearing upon the coat, Dic, though ardently
desiring to see her, dreaded to go to Indianapolis, and at that time his
visits became monthly, much to Rita's grief. She complained in her
letters, and her gentle reproaches were pathetic and painful to Dic.

Tom frequently visited the old home, and, incidentally, Sukey Yates,
upon whom his city manner and fashionable attire made a tremendous
impression. Returning home from his visits to Sukey, Tom frequently
spoke significantly of Dic's visits to that young lady's ciphering log,
and Rita winced at her brother's words,