The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding

on his face showed plainly what he thought of the Valley as a summer resort. His brother and Lucy were off somewhere about the grounds, and

ed an hour to her music. The time always slipped past that limit if no one came to stop her, for an absorbing devotion to her work made her oblivious to everything else when her beloved violin was once tucked under her chin. Scales and trills and chords,

ch Alex Shelby had repeated as he escorted them over to The Beeches, the time they spent the night there, the next night after their burglar scare

e in the tune which Gay was trying to manufacture for the words which Alex

ladies, Oh

a heap er

git you

ladies, oh,

Alex carrying the Lindsey spoons and forks and the enormous seven-branched silver candle-sticks, because Lucy felt responsible for their safety, since she had rented them with the house. And there was Ranald bringing up the rear with their suit-cases, and Kitty laughing at them all for bringing these household

olly time with the taffy and the duets. He would have been on a real friendly footing with them all by this time. But h

ut to her, and she knew by that token that he had finished breakfast and needed to be amused. Locking her v

ing in the hammock. "Lounjoun' roun' as usual, I see. Well, the mail train

. "I vow you're worse than a li

Valley found some excuse to be at the station when the mail train came in; for while they waited for the delivery window to open, there was time not only to attend to the day's marketing, but to meet al

and boys who were leaning against the fence or sitting on the top rail while they waited, hats were swept off as if a sudden breeze had scurried alon

ich was moving in and out at a snail's pace through the blockade of vehicles, stopping repeatedly as greetings were called out to it fro

it seemed to her that Lloyd must feel the force of the "thought-wave" she was trying to proj

night at the Cabin. This was the first time she had seen him since. Now Gay's request seemed utterly absurd. The colour surged up in her face as she remembered her high resolve about lighting a vestal fire on the altar of a promise

te. Just then a stylish little runabout stopped opposite the carriage, and a lady leaned out to accost Lloyd. Thankful for the opportunity, Lloyd turned her back squarely on the post-office and plunged in

, and I'll be glad to get it for you. Yes, we're all going in for a day's shopping.

one coming down the avenue, and turning, Gay's face brightened. It was Kitty Walton to whom Lloyd had waved. Strolling along under a white parasol, in a pale pink dress and with a great bunch of sweet peas in her hand, she looked so attractive, that Gay felt that Leland would f

riendliest of smiles, and acknowledging Mr. Harcourt's gr

y are the panacea for all the ills that flesh is heir to. Really they do help her wonderfully, and she needs the change, and

looked Lloyd's cool little bow to Leland. For Lloyd to act snippy and Kitty to be

ot that she realized then that it was help, but weeks afterward

. She was about to pass the group beside the Sherman carriage with only a

finished mounting that garden photograph.

response. "I'm wild to see it, and as we're going to

to hurry to reach the station she said. But even in her haste she noticed that Leland did not join in the regret which the others expressed, and grown unduly sensitive in regard to his opinion, she fancied that he

at the Bisbee cottage, to leave the sweet peas with a me

he asked, nodding towards Miss Marks

old medals all over the country, and among them were three at least, that she knew he would want so desperately, that he would fall all over himself trying to get them. But it would be

y too soon. He followed her through the gate wishing that he could invent some excuse whereby to prolong the pleasure of making her blush and seeing her dark eyes look up laughingly

in an undertone to Kitty as t

, "that you'll be allowed a peep into Miss Katherine's studio.

her introduction antedates mine not m

the artist soul herself, and Miss

te that I ha

insinuating anything. I'm simply stating a broad truth. You can't get in. She'll bring out dozens of pic

ng assertions suddenly seemed to make it the one desirable spot for him to enter. "I'll show you,

himself when he had the kodak fever, the kind that are interesting only to those who take them and those who are taken. This was so beautiful that no sooner was it in his hands than he was fired with a desire to possess it. It was the pic

a runs away from the good prince, everything in the garden is in league to help

as a nun-Sister Doloroso-and Lloyd as an Easter angel. It's perfectly fascinating to hear Miss Marks tell how she got that effect of flying. Ar

med of telling to another stranger; some of the remarkable makeshifts she had used in costumes and backgrou

he way, there is a couplet in that which would lend itself charmingly to illustration, and I saw the very garden that you should use

d to outline picture after picture for the series of Garden Fancies, even planning costumes and suggesting clever means by which various obstacles might

too puzzled over his rapidly growing enthusiasm. Presently, darting a triumphant look at Kitty, from the corner of his eye, he rose to follow Miss Marks. She was actually taking him i

y the combination of brush and camera, he was seized by a wish to do something in the same line himself. Accustomed to the impulsivenes

cene might be managed. It was just the right time of day to take a moonlight picture, while the sunshine was so direct t

tty, "for Mother is waiting for me this blessed minut

I'll attend to the balcony part if Miss Marks will look a

ections to Frazer, the coloured man, who came in answer to Miss Marks's call. "His foot

music room, and the upper sash of the middle window pushed down from the top. The thick vines that grew over it were pulled back to leave an oval opening. It was out of this leafy oval she leaned

ver one shoulder in graceful folds, twist a piece of velvet into a little cap and pin a white plume on one side. A row of potted plants laboriou

adjusting the guitar to a

s to get into the proper spirit of the thing. Then just as you finish, whi

look soulful. But Leland had taken part in too many private theatricals to be disconcerted now. With as impassioned a gaze as any Romeo ever fixed on his Julie

are stars

are crims

, good nig

unt the we

ctory man I've ever had pose for me. It's easy enough to get a score of pretty girls any time I need them, but it isn't once in a decade one finds such a

ay, knowing his vulnerable spot and how secretly pleas

with the plate, promising they should have a proof before time for the Martinsville train

nch. A siesta in the hammock shortened the afternoon. He was in a most agreeable

Esmerelda, and Leland was enthusiastic in his admiration of the balcony he had improvised, and the Spanish beauty within it. When it

irror, so you don't need this. It may inspire me to run over to the Sp

up quickly. She groaned as she saw the admir

set my heart on saving Kitty for Frank Percival. May blessings light on those old Martinsville Springs for ta