oire?"

"Well--'taint fur me to say. But they ain't many can out dance me: not
in Natchitoches pa'ish, anyway. I can say that much."

If such a thing could have been, Fanny would have startled Gregoire
more than once during the drive home. Before its close she had
obtained a promise from him to take her up to Natchitoches for the
very next entertainment,--averring that she didn't care what David
said. If he wanted to bury himself that was his own look out. And if
Mrs. Laferm took people to be angels that they could live in a place
like that, and give up everything and not have any kind of enjoyment
out of life, why, she was mistaken and that's all there was to it. To
all of which freely expressed views Gregoire emphatically assented.

Hosmer had very soon disembarrassed himself of Torpedo, knowing that
the animal would unerringly find his way to the corn crib by supper
time. He continued his own way now untrammelled, and at an agreeable
speed which soon brought him to the spring at the road side. Here he
found Therese, half seated against a projection of rock, in her hand a
bunch of ferns which she had evidently dismounted to gather, and
holding Beauregard's bridle while he munched at the cool wet tufts of
grass that grew everywhere.

As Hosmer rode up at a rapid pace, he swung himself from his horse
almost before the animal came to a full stop. He removed his hat,
mopped his forehead, stamped about a little to relax his limbs and
turned to answer the enquiry with which Therese met him.

"Left her at Morico's. I'll have to send the buggy back for her."

"I can't forgive myself for such a blunder," said Therese regretfully,
"indeed I had no idea of that miserable beast's character. I never was
on him you know--only the little darkies, and they never complained:
they'd as well ride cows as not."

"Oh, it's mainly from her being unaccustomed to riding, I believe."

This was the first time that Hosmer and Therese had met alone since
his return from St. Louis. They looked at each other with full
consciousness of what lay in the other's mind. Therese felt that
however adroitly another woman might have managed the situation, for
herself, it would have been a piece of affectation to completely
ignore it at this moment.

"Mr. Hosmer, perhaps I ought to have said something before this, to
you--about what you've done."

"Oh, yes, congratulated me--complimented me," he replied with a
pretense at a laugh.

"Well, the l