munication; whereupon he had repeated it, lending emphasis to
what was merely a whisper by a sly pressure of the elbow. This, too,
the lady had neither approved nor resented.

Upon this Ajax assured our friend that he need not despair, and he
said that the vexed question of the fair's appetite had been set at
rest: a happy certainty was the sauce that had whetted her hunger.
Jasperson listened with sparkling eyes.

"Say," said he; "if you'll help me out, I'll write a letter to Miss
Birdie this very night."

I frowned and expostulated in vain. Within two minutes, pens, ink and
paper were produced, and both Jasperson and my brother were hard at
work. Between them the following composition was produced. Jasperson
furnished the manner, Ajax the matter.

"To Miss Birdie Dutton.

"Dear Friend,--Since leaving you this afternoon, _more abrupt than a
gentleman could wish_, I have taken up my pen to set forth that
which is in my heart, but which cannot leave my trembling lips. Dear
friend, there is too much _at steak_ for me to be calm in your
presence. When I sat by your side, and gazed with you at the noble
faces of your parents, reading there, dear friend, the names of those
great qualities which have been inherited by you, _with queenly
beauty thrown in_, then it was that a sudden sinking inside robbed
your lover of his powers of speech. And how could I see the loveliness
of your cousins when my eyes were dwelling with rapture upon the
stately form of her I trust to call my own? Be mine, dear friend, for
I love you and hope to marry you, to part neither here nor in the
sweet By-and-by.

"Yours respectfully,

"Jasper Jasperson.

"P.S.--_Important_. The ranch is four hundred and three acres,
_paid for_. And there's money somewhere to build a nice
residence, and to furnish it according to Hoyle. We'd keep a hired
girl.

"P.P.S.--_And a pianner_. J.J.(_A true lover_)."

This billet-doux was sealed and despatched, and in due time brought an
acceptance. The engagement was formally ratified at a banquet given by
the Swiggarts, and the health of the high contracting parties was
enthusiastically drunk in pink lemonade. The marriage was arranged to
take place during the summer vacation, and Pacific Grove was selected
as the best spot in California for the honeymoon.

Thus smoothly for a season ran the course of true love. But three
weeks later, when the landscape was wearing its imperial livery of
lupin and eschscholtiz