The Adventures of Bobby Orde

n a block of it; then unexpectedly his gait slackened to a walk, finally to a loiter. He became

own soul. Then too a queer feeling suddenly invaded his chest, exactly like that he remembered to have experienced during the downward rush of a swing. Bobby could not comprehend these things; they ju

en from a distance Bobby could see the contrast of her black eyes; but on her head she wore a brown chip hat; her gown was of plain blue gingham; her slim straight legs were encased in heavy st

lute, halted outside, shifting uneasily, wanting to join the group, but withheld by the unwonted bashfulness. Amid shouts and exclamations each clicked his mallet against his ball, and immediately ran forward with the greatest eagerness to

she cried. "Come on

his timidity vanished. He enter

ntroduction, "and this," she continued, turning to B

ris, "Grab a mall

mediate distaste for him. He looked altogether too superior, and sleepy and distinguished-yes, and stylish. Bobby was very young and inexperienced; but even he could feel that Gerald's round straw hat, and norfolk-

were nice, neat, clean, pretty

position for the "middle arch," he met Gerald coming the other way. Gerald shot for his ball; hit it; and then, with a disdainful air, knocked Bobby away out of bounds across the lawn. This was quite within the rules, but it m

emarked Morr

; but Bobby liked Morris's comment bet

game-partners," sugg

great surprise, foun

any more," said he. "Let

" interposed G

ashes down-cast over the dark pallor of his cheeks, very handsome, very graceful. Bobby had drawn near on Celia's other side. The comparison showed all his freckles and the unformed homeliness of his rat

t," she said at last, looki

ed through Bobby's soul. Geral

He knew lots of fine hiding-places about the grounds of the Ottawa, and he promised himsel

leaned his arm against a post, his hea

repeated over ten times as rapidly as possi

ent before the end of the count. And somehow, against his will, Bobby found himself cast in the h

d Morris, uncov

istress, "and we're not hid! Where shall

k in so pressing an emergency. He vacillated between pillar and post; and so was espi

cried, striking the post vigorously

eluctantl

ot us caught," acc

d Bobby, "anyway he s

from the other. Morris caught it; and, turning, raced with all his might back to the home goal. But Margaret had too good a head

!" she shrieked o

but returning abruptly every moment or so in order to forestall or discourage attempts to get in. He proved unsuccessf

king the suggestion. He would not have proffered it himself for worlds. Morris, however, w

!" he called at th

ing and unruffled. They refuse

until next ti

feeling unique in his experience. Morris, Kitty and Margaret got in free, simply because his attention was too lax. Ger

by," they urged,

all possibilities. From one corner he zigzagged back and forth, testing every nook and cranny that might contain a human being. Thus he examined every foot of the place; but with

nds!" he shouted. To this

p!" urged

insisted Bo

f this roof, projecting the least bit above, Bobby glimpsed a fold of blue. The pair were evidently lying at full length in the spac

verandah roof!" And then, after a d

and breathlessly the pair sped away. The little boy's first mo

a fence?" he

isn't t

n, I know a

g-boxes of different heights made the problem of ascent eas

he cried. "I

desperately. "Hurry up! H

ied poor Celia.

by dangled;

y. Come on, I'

her eyes, and let go. She landed directly

hispered Bob

rted in at the open doorway, and more by instinct than by sight, f

that great?"

iry-like echoes of these animals' tiny feet seemed to linger in the twilight. Through cracks long pencils of sunlight lay across the hay and the dim criss-cross of the rafters a

whispered Celia. "This

replied Bobby. "I bet h

e wanted to hear her voice; and he suddenly discovered in himself an embarrassment in addressing her which was causeless and foolish. He wanted to look at her; and he did so; but it was not frankly and openly, as he had always looked at people before. His shy side-glances delighted in the clear curve of her cheeks; the soft wheat-colour of her curls; the dense black of her half-closed eyes; the brown of her complexi

come to him; the bare notion that Celia could care for him had not as yet unfolded its dazzling wings; even the desire to tell her was not yet born. Probably at no other period of a human being's life is the passion of love so pure, so

Sir Malory; the River above the booms, with the brown logs; a plume of white steam against the dazzling blue sky; the mellow six-o'clock church bell to which he arose every morning; the snake-fence by the sandhill as it was in winter, with the wreaths of snow; and all through everything the feel of the woods he had seen at the picnic, their canopy of green so far above, their splashes of sunlight through the rifts, the friendly summer war