sn't like a little
impertinence once in a while? I flavor all Tom's dare-devil kisses with
kinship when I feed them to my conscience, and I truly try to make him
be serious about the important things in life like going to church with
his mother and working all day, even if he is rich. I wish he wasn't so
near kin to me! Now, there, I feel in Ruth Chester's way again! One of
the things that keeps the devil so busy is taking helpless widows to the
heights of knowledge and showing them kingdoms of men that girls never
dream even exist. If all women could have been born with widow-eyes,
things would run much more smoothly along the marriage and
giving-in-marriage line. And the poor men are most of them as ignorant
as girls about what to do.

I suppose I really would be doing a righteous thing to marry Mr. Graves,
and I would adore all those children to start with, but I know Billy
wouldn't get on with them at all. I can't even consider it on his
account, but I'll let the nice old chap come on for a few times more to
see me, for he really is interesting and we have suffered things in
common. Mrs. Graves lacked the kind of temperament poor Mr. Carter did.
I'd like to make it all up to him, but if Billy wouldn't be happy, that
settles it, and I don't know how good his boys are. I couldn't have
Billy corrupted.

And so, as there is nobody else exactly suitable in town, it all simmers
down to one or the other of these or Alfred. In my heart I knew that I
couldn't hesitate a minute--and in the flash of a second I
_decided_. Of course I love Alfred and I'll take him gladly and be
the wife he has waited for all these six lonely years. I'll make
everything up to him if I have to diet to keep thin for him the rest of
my life. I likely will have that very thing to do and I get weak at the
idea. Before I burn this book I'll have to copy it all out and be
chained to it for life. At the thought my heart dropped like a sinker to
my toes; but I hauled it up to its normal place with picturing to myself
how Alfred would look when he saw me in that old blue muslin done over
into a Rene wonder. However, old heart would show a strange propensity
for sinking down into my slippers without any reason at all. Tears were
even coming into my eyes when Tom suddenly came over the fence and
picked me and the heart up together and put us into an adventure of the
first water.

"Molly," he said in the most nonchalant manner imaginable, "we've got a
dan