that creature begin to curvet and roll her eyes!" says Mrs.
Gunning. "If the parade-ground were full of men I think she would prance
over the parapet. At my age she may have some sense and feeling. But I
would be glad to see her in the hands of a man who knew how to assert
himself."

"May I ask," says Captain Markley, "what you mean by a man's asserting
himself, Mrs. Gunning?"

She made such a pounce at him with the parasol that her waist began to
rip in the back.

"My dear boy, I am a full-blooded Briton, and Juliana is what you
may call an English half-breed. In the bottom of our hearts we have a
hankering for monarchy. The lion, who permits nobody else to poach on
his preserves, is our symbol. While the vexatious child and I are not at
all alike in other things, I know she admires as much as I do a man who
asserts himself."

Though it was said Juliana Gunning could not hear thunder, she generally
understood her aunt's voice, and could tell when she was being talked
about. She came straight to her own rescue, as you might say, and Dr.
McCurdy, poor man, was very polite, but not cheerful. If we had known
then what he had been yelling in the woods, we should have understood
better why Captain Markley seemed to pluck up and strut at the sight of
him.

I think Mrs. Gunning determined to finish the business that very hour.
She met Dr. McCurdy with all the sweetness she could put into her manner
just before she intended to pounce the hardest.

"I have been showing the captain my chickens," she says, "and now I want
to show you my cows."

Dr. McCurdy thanked her, and said he would be delighted to see the cows,
but he stuck to Juliana like a shadow. Maybe he expected the cows would
give him a further excuse for being with her. But Mrs. Gunning cut him
off there. She gave her keys to her niece, and says she:

"Go in the house, my dear, and set out the decanter and glasses, and
give Captain Markley a glass of wine to keep him until we come back. I
want to tell him something more about that Shanghai rooster."

Juliana understood, and took the keys, and rolled her eyes tantalizingly
at Dr. McCurdy. The poor fellow made a stand, and said the cows would do
some other time, and mightn't he beg for a glass of wine too, after his
walk?

"Certainly, doctor, certainly," says Mrs. Gunning, leading the way to
the front sally-port. "We expect you to take a glass with us. But while
Juliana sets out the decanter, let us look at