nds.

Up in the old field Garnet had talked himself dizzy. Northern travelers
are by every impulse inquirers, and Southern hosts expounders; they fit
like tongue and groove. On the ridge he had said:

"Now, Mr. Fair, here it is. I don't believe there's a finer view in the
world."

"Hm!" said the slender visitor.

The two guests had been shown the usual Sleeping Giant, Saddle Mountain,
Sugar Loaf, etc., that go with such views. John had set Garnet right
when he got Lover's Leap and Bridal Veil tangled in the bristling pines
of Table Rock and the Devil's Garden, and all were charmed with the
majestic beauty of the scene. On the way back, while Garnet explained to
Mr. Gamble, the heavier guest, why negroes had to be treated not as
individuals but as a class, John had been telling Mr. Fair why it was
wise to treat chickens not as a class but as individuals, and had
mentioned the names and personal idiosyncrasies of the favorites of his
own flock; Mr. Fair, in turn, had confessed to having a son about John's
age, and wished they knew each other. Before John could reply, the party
gayly halted again beside his father and Mr. Ravenel. As they did so Mr.
Fair saw Ravenel give a little nod to Garnet that said, "It's all
arranged."

On another evening, shortly after this, father and son coming to supper
belated, John brought his mother a bit of cross-road news. The "Rads"
had given a barbecue down in Blackland, just two days before the visit
of Jeff-Jack and those others to Widewood--and what did she reckon!
Cornelius Leggett had there made a speech, declaring that he was at the
bottom of a patriotic project to open a free white school in Suez, and
"bu'st Rosemont wide open."

"Judge March," said the wife, affectionately, "I wonder why Mr. Ravenel
avoided mentioning that to you. He needn't have feared your sense of
humor. Ah! if you only had a woman's instincts!"

John said good-night and withdrew. He wished his mother loved his father
a little less. They would all have a so much better time.

"No," Mrs. March was presently saying, "Mr. Ravenel's motives are not
those that concern me most. Rosemont, to me, must always signify Rose
Montgomery. It is to her presence--her spell--you would expose my child;
she, who has hated me all her life. Ah! no, it's too late now to draw
back, he shall go. Yes, without my consent! Oh! my consent! Judge March,
you're jesting again!" She lifted upon him the smile of a heart really
all but