seal.

"Oh, it must mean 'kindness of bearer,' for he begins the note that
way. 'By kindness of bearer I am venturing to send this little missive
to know if it will be convenient for you to give me the pleasure of your
company this evening. A messenger will call for your answer at three P.
M. Trusting that it will accord with my desires, I am yours in
friendship's bonds, P. Pinckney Upham.'"

Norman exploded with a loud "whoopee!" of laughter and Mary sniffed
again at the strong odor of rose geranium and handed the note to her
mother, who had come to the door to see the cause of Norman's mirth.

"The silly boy," exclaimed Mary. "I told him yesterday, when he said
that he hoped to call, that we'd all be glad to see him any evening he
wanted to drop in. The idea of such formality in a mining camp. And such
paper! And such flourishes of purple ink, to say nothing of the strong
perfume! Mamma, I don't want him coming to see me."

Mrs. Ware handed the note back with a smile at Mary's disgusted
expression. "Don't judge the poor boy too severely. He evidently tried
his best to do the proper thing, and probably thinks he has achieved
it."

"Yes, Uncle Jerry," added Norman. "Here's your chance. Here's your tide
in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune!
Just cultivate Pink's acquaintance and you'll get enough out of him
every week to fill your columns."

Mary ignored his teasing, turning again to her mother to say: "I don't
want to answer his note. What did he write for, anyway? Why didn't he
just come, as I told him he could?"

"That's the way Sara Downs' beau does," explained Norman. "He always
makes an engagement so that she'll be sure to have the best room lighted
up and Billy out of the way. He's too bashful to talk to the whole
family. They usually go out to the kitchen when he comes, because their
house is so small."

"Well, this family won't," declared Mary. "He's no 'beau,' anyway.
You'll all have to help entertain him."

She had not answered the note when Jack came home at noon, and she
passed it to him without comment. He smiled a little over her evident
disgust, and repeated in substance what Mrs. Ware had said, that she
must not judge him too severely for his lack of social polish.

"He's a diamond in the rough, Mary," he assured her gravely, but with a
twinkle in his eyes. "He may be one of the leading citizens of the
state twenty years from now, and even if he isn't, he's on