rd with me at the settlemint."

The girl's eyes glowed upon him with the fixity and the lustre of those
of a child who is entertained and absorbed by an elder's jovial wiles.
A flash of laughter broke over her face, and the low, gurgling,
half-dreamy sound was pleasant to hear. She was evidently no more than
a child to these bereft old people, and by them cherished as naught else
on earth.

"An' didn't _I tell you-uns,_" he went on, affecting to warm to the
discussion, and in reality oblivious of the presence of the
guest'--"didn't I tell ye ez how ef ye war a nephew 'stiddier a niece ye
wouldn't hev sech cattle ez Em'ry Keenan a-dan-glin' round underfoot,
like a puppy ye can't gin away, an' that _won't_ git lost, an' ye ain't
got the heart ter kill?"

The girl's lip suddenly curled with scorn. "Yer nephew would be
obligated ter make a ch'ice fur marryin' 'mongst these hyar mounting
gals--Par-mely Lepstone, or Belindy M'ria Matthews, or one o' the
Windrow gals. Waal, sir, I'd ruther be yer niece--even ef Em'ry Keenan
_air_ like a puppy underfoot, that ye can't gin away, an' won't git
lost, an' ye ain't got the heart ter kill." She laughed again,
showing her white teeth. She evidently relished the description of the
persistent adherence of poor Emory Keenan. "But which one o' these hyar
gals would ye recommend ter yer nephew ter marry--ef ye hed a nephew?"

She looked at him with flashing eyes, conscious of having propounded a
poser.

He hesitated for a moment. Then--"I'm surrounded," he said, with a
laugh. "Ez I couldn't find a wife fur myself, I can't undertake
ter recommend one ter my nephew. Mighty fine boy he'd hev been, an'
saaft-spoken an' perlite ter aged men--not sassy an' makin' game o' old
uncles like a niece. Mighty fine boy!"

"Ye air welcome ter him," she said, with a simulation of scorn, as she
turned away to the table.

Whether it were the military cap she had worn, or the fancied
resemblance to the young soldiers, never to grow old, who had gone forth
from this humble abode to return no more, there was still to the guest's
mind the suggestion of the vivandiere about her as she set the table
and spread upon it the simple fare. To and from the fireplace she was
followed by two or three of the younger dogs, their callowness expressed
in their lack of manners and perfervid interest in the approaching meal.
This induced their brief journeys back and forth, albeit embarrassed
by their physical conform