it would be good policy to call on her in the morning; he might find
her busy with household cares. Probably it would be best to wait for the
afternoon, when she would be at leisure. This, he decided would be
best. He would arrive in her presence at two o'clock, and four hours of
conversation would carry them to the point of being well acquainted, as
advised by Jarby's Encyclopedia. The next day he could enter the second
stage of the directions, and call with a book, present it; call after
dinner with a box of candy, present it; call after supper, and propose
a walk, visit the ice cream parlor, and on the way home offer his hand,
and be accepted. The chapter on "Courtship--How to Win the Affections"
advised against haste, and Eliph' did not wish to be hasty. To a man
of his spirit two days seemed rather long to devote to so simple a
matter--a real waste of time--but he was willing to take longer than
necessary, in order to follow the directions in spirit, as well as in
letter.

Eliph' settled himself into one of the chairs before the hotel
and opened his copy of Jarby's Encyclopedia at the chapter on
"Courtship--How to Win the Affections." He was deep in it when the
landlord strolled around from the livery stable and sank into a chair by
his side.

"So you made up your mind to stay here, Sammy?" he asked. "I guess the
town'll be glad enough to have you. All this town needs to be a big
place is inhabitants. What you ought to do now it to settle down for
good, an' get married. There's some purty fine women in this town that
ain't picked up yet, but they won't last long, they way they're goin'.
Somebody gets married every couple of months."

Eliph' looked up with a smile. Jim Wilkins did not know he had advised
the very thing he meant to do.

"I've thought some about it," said Eliph', "'most everybody's getting
married now-a-days."

"It's the popular thing 'round here," said Jim. "Look across the street,
yonder. See that feller just goin' up to the lawyer's office? He's one
that's in the marry class, just now. That's Colonel Guthrie. He lives
out on the first farm beyond Main Street, and he's goin' to marry Sally
Briggs, daughter of old Pap Briggs, that we was talkin' to last night,
here."

Eliph' Hewlitt stared at the Colonel, but he said nothing. He blamed
himself; he had wasted his opportunity. This was what came of being
slow! He should have completed his courtship at the picnic, or last
night at the sale. Jim