stall. "Come on, then, Jewel,
come to my old stamping ground, the ravine."
"And if her hair frightens the birds it's your fault," smiled Julia,
smoothing with both hands the little flaxen head.
"The birds have seen me look a great deal worse than this, a great _deal_
worse," said Jewel cheerfully.
"Perhaps they'll think her hair is a nest and sit down in it," suggested
her father, as they moved away, the happy child between them, holding a
hand of each.
The little girl drew in her chin as she looked up at him.
"Oh, father, you're such a joker!"
CHAPTER VI
THE DIE IS CAST
"Oh, grandpa, we've had the most, _fun_!" cried Jewel that afternoon as she
ran down the veranda steps to meet the broker, getting out of the brougham.
Harry and Julia were standing near the wicker chairs watching the welcome.
They saw Mr. Evringham stoop to receive the child's embrace, and noted the
attention he paid to her chatter as, after lifting his hat to them, he
slowly advanced.
"Father and I played in the ravine the longest while. Wasn't it a nice
time, father?"
"It certainly was a nice, wet time. I am one pair of shoes short, and shall
have to travel to Chicago in patent leathers."
As Julia rose she regarded her father-in-law with new eyes. All sense of
responsibility had vanished, and her present passive role seemed
delightful.
"I know more about this beautiful place than when you went away," she said.
"I feel as if I were at some picturesque resort. It doesn't seem at all as
if work-a-day people might live here all the time."
"I'm glad you like it," returned the broker, and his quick, curt manner of
speech no longer startled her. "Have you been driving?"
"No, we preferred to have Jewel plan our campaign, and she seemed to think
that the driving part had better wait for you."
The broker turned and looked down at the smooth head with billowy ribbon
bows behind the ears. Noting his expression, or lack of it, Julia wondered,
momentarily, if she might have dreamed the episode of kissing into the
telephone.
"What is your plan, Jewel?" he asked.
She balanced herself springily on her toes. "I thought two of us in the
phaeton and two on horseback," she replied, with relish.
"H'm. You in the phaeton and I on Star, perhaps."
"Oh, grandpa, and your feet dragging in the road!" The child's laugh was a
gush of merriment.
The broker looked back at his daughter-in-law and handed her the large
white pa
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