uncle's. Tell him you are sorry you let your feelings
get the best of you; then, when you have entirely quieted down, you
and I will put our heads together and see what can be done to improve
matters. And that, let me tell you, my dear boy, is going to be rather
a difficult thing, for you see you are rather particular as to what you
should and should not do to earn your living." Peter's wrinkles had now
crept up his cheeks and were playing hide and seek with the twinkles in
his eyes. "Of course any kind of healthy work--such, for instance, as
hauling a chain through a swamp, carrying a level, prospecting for oil,
or copper, or gold--all very respectable occupations for some men--are
quite impossible in your case. But we will think it out and find
something easier--something that won't soil your hands, and--"

"Please don't, Mr. Grayson," interrupted Jack. The boy had begun to see
through the raillery now. "I will do anything you want me to do."

Peter burst into a laugh and grabbed him by both shoulders: "Of course,
my dear boy, you will do anything except what you believe to be wrong.
That's right--right as can be; nobody wants you to do any different,
and--"

The opening of a door leading into the hall caused Peter to stop in his
harangue and turn his head. Mrs. McGuffey was ushering in a young woman
whose radiant face was like a burst of sunshine. Peter strained his eyes
and then sprang forward:

"Why, Ruth!"

There was no doubt about it! That young woman, her cheeks like two June
peonies, her eyes dancing, the daintiest and prettiest hat in the world
on her head, was already half across the room and close to Peter's rug
before Jack could even realize that he and she were breathing the same
air.

"Oh! I just could not wait a minute longer!" she cried in a joyous tone.
"I had such a good time yesterday, dear aunt Felicia, and--Why!--it is
you, Mr. Breen, and have you come to tell aunty the same thing? Wasn't
it lovely?"

Then Jack said that it was lovely, and that he hadn't come for any such
purpose--then that he had--and then Peter patted her hand and told her
she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen in all his life, and that
he was going to throw overboard all his other sweethearts at once and
cleave to her alone; and Miss Felicia vowed that she was the life of the
party; and Jack devoured her with his eyes, his heart thumping away at
high pressure; and so the moments fled until the blithesome young gir