His companion
was a dainty girl in a new traveling-dress. They sat near an open window
and through it came showers of rice, a pair of old slippers, and merry
jests from male and female voices outside.

"Bride and groom," Cavanaugh whispered, nudging his companion. "She is a
cute little trick, ain't she? My, my! how that takes me back!"

The entire car was staring at the self-conscious pair, who were trying
to appear unconcerned. The train moved on. John was no longer thinking
of his work. His whole being was aflame with a new thought. Strange, but
the idea of marriage as pertaining to himself had never come to him
before. The sight of the pair side by side, the strong masculine neck
and shoulders, and the slender neck and pretty head of the girl with the
tender blue eyes, fair skin, and red lips appealed to him as nothing had
ever done before.

"That is the joy due every healthy pair in the world," Cavanaugh went
on, reminiscently. "Life isn't worth a hill of beans without it. These
young folks will settle down in some neat little cottage filled with
pure delight--that's what it will be, a cottage of delight for them.
He'll work in the field and she will be at home ready for him when he
gets back. Look how they lean against each other! I can't see from here,
but I will bet you he is holding her little soft hand."

For the next half an hour the couple was under John's observation. He
found himself unable to think of anything aside from his own
mind-pictures of their happiness.

Cavanaugh was full of the idea also. "It is ahead of you, too, my boy,"
he said. "You are old enough and are now making enough money to start
out on. Pick you some good, sweet, industrious girl. There are plenty of
the right sort, and they will love a man to death if he treats 'em
right. Look, she's got her head on his shoulder, but she's not going to
sleep. She's just playing 'possum. There, by gum! he kissed her! If he
didn't I am powerfully mistaken. Well, who has a better right?"

The pair left the train at a station in the woods where there were no
houses and two wagon-roads crossed and where a buggy and a horse stood
waiting. Through the window John saw the bridegroom leading the bride
toward it. Beyond lay mountain ranges against the clear sky, fields
filled with waving corn and yellowing wheat. The near-by forests looked
dank, dense, and cool.

"It is ahead of you, too, my boy!" The old man's words rang again in
his ears as the tr