The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor

rooms to the new guests, and moved back into the sewing-room together. Now in order not to awaken Lloyd she tiptoed out to the little vine-covered balcony, through the window that o

from the kitchen chimney. Soft twitterings and jubilant bird-calls followed the flash of wings from tree to tree. She peeped out between the thick mass of wistaria vines, across the grassy court, formed by the two rear wings

her, she stole back to the balcony again. The seamstress had left her sewing-chair out there the afternoon she finished Mary's dress, and it still stood there, with the lap-board beside it. Taking the board on her knees, and opening her journal upon it, Betty perched her ink-bottle on the balcony railing and began to write. She knew there would be no time later in the day for her to bring her record

venue and talked. It was delightfully cool under the locusts, and we knew it would be our last morning with Eugenia; that after the arrival of the rest of th

same to us. But it's bound to make a difference. A married woman can't be interested in the

n her that way. Eugenia was horrified to have her talk that way, and said that it was because she didn't know Stuart, and didn't know what it meant to care enough for a man to be glad to join her life to his, forever and ever. There was such a light in her eyes as she talked about him, tha

ongs to one of its most exclusive families, and is very conventional, and twenty-five years old, Joyce nicknamed him 'The Pilgrim Father,' and vowed she wouldn't have him for her attendant; that I had to take

e road, and we all stood in a row, peeping out between the bars till we saw that it was Rob himself. Then Joyce said that we would make him decide the matter-that we'd all put our hands through the bars as if we had something i

ING WITH YOUR HANDS S

t up in front of him, and bowed and scraped and did all sorts of ridiculous things to keep us from noticing what he was doing, till all of a sudden we heard the shutter click and he gave a whoop and said, 'There! That will be one

ch a speech, and he sat down on the grass and began

sweet angel

autiful ga

such a howl of a song, that we laughed till the tears came. Then he said he'd name the picture 'At

ind. He said certainly he could, and that he wouldn't have to dig it up from the dead past. He could give it to her hot from

on. She only laughed when we teased her to tell us, and said we'd see. We were sure it would be something very elegant and formal. Maybe a re

t we were to go on a coon hunt, and went rac

they could attend any time in the East. Besides she wanted everybody to keep in mind that we were still little schoolgirls, even if we were to be br

t to beg his pardon for doubting hi

itself is

o often has

as being involved, and that he would not assume the responsibility. That we'd have to draw straws, if we wanted to decide anything. So Eugenia held two

e felt as if we were already acquainted with him. He is very boyish-looking and young, but there is something so dignified and gentle in his manner that one feels he is cut out to be a staid old family physician, and that in time he will grow into the love and confidence of his patients like Maclaren

seem much older than Malcolm. Still his dignity is rather awe-full, and his grave manner and Boston accent make him seem sort of foreign, so different from the boys whom we have always known. We were afraid at fi

the party from The Beeches already stowed away in it, sitting flat on the hay in the bottom. Mrs. Walton was

we all piled into it except Lloyd and Rob, Joyce and Phil. They were on horseback and kept alongside of us as outriders. The moon hadn't

ng-place, and went dashing off into the woods. Unc' Jefferson fairly rolled off his old mule, and threw the rope bridle over the first fence-post,

e a great golden mill-wheel, and we could see our way about in the woods. Evidently the coon's home was in some hollow near our stopping-place, for instead of staying in th

t the game that they gave their quarry a bad time of it for awhile, turning and doubling on his tracks till we were almost as excited and bewildered as the

eed him, and for everybody to hurry up if they wanted to be in at the death. So away we went, helter-skelter, in a wild race down the creek bank, godmother, Papa Jack, Cousin Carl, and everybody. It was a

up a steep bank as if she had been a fly. When we got to the tree where the dogs were howling and baying we had to look a long time before we could see the coon. Then all we could

o shake and shake the limb before he could dislodge the coon, but at last it let go, and the dogs had it before it fairly touched the ground. We girls didn't wait to see what they did with it, but stuck our fingers in our ears and tore back to t

rim Father so thoroughly, that he couldn't be stiff and dignified again after his acrobatic fe

de coffee and unpacked the hampers we had brought with us. There was beaten biscuit and fried chicken and iced watermelon, and all sorts of good things. As we ate, the moon came up higher and higher, and silvered the white trunks of the sycamores till they looked like a row of ghosts standing with outs

ND ROWED OFF DOWN T

on we saw Eugenia and Stuart going down toward one of them, a little white canvas one, and they stepped in and rowed off down the shining waterway. It was only a narrow

eir singing, as it floated back to us, was so beautiful, that those of us on the bank stopped talking to listen. W

she said she would as soon as she had given her chatelaine watch to her father to k

etween Lloyd and her father as they stood a moment in the bushes behind her, but paused as she reflected that it would be like betraying a confidence t

ed the conversation. "Yes, it's all right for you to go, Lloyd, but

Jack. What makes you

sorts of notions into a girl's head. I just wanted to remind you that only village lads and shepherd boys

could tell from her voice just how she lift

mise, suh, the promise of a

the bushes together Betty saw him playfully pinch her cheek. Th

d fair as she had in the Elaine tableau. The boats could only go as far as the shallows, just a little way below the

the memory of it as long as I live. At first I couldn't think of anything to say, and the more I tried to think of something that would

y the boat ought to be called the Mayflower. I was so surprised, I asked him if that was a riddle, and he said no

t alone with Mary Ware for awhile before dinner. Godmother told her to entertain him, and she proceeded to do so by showing him the collection of all the kodak pictures Rob had taken of us during the house-party. After he left us yesterday morning he went straight to work to deve

at act, and Mary was so surprised that she gave the whole thing away-blurted out what we were doing, before she thought that he was the Pilgrim Father. Then in her confusion, to cover up her mistake, she began to explain a

playwright, the peer of any poet laureate who ever held a pen; that Lloyd is a combination of princess and angel and halo-crowned saint, and Joyce a m

t gave us something to laugh about right in the beginning, and that took away the stiff feeling, and we were soon talking like old friends. By the time the boat landed I was glad that he had fallen to my lot as attendant instead of Rob, for he is so much more entertaining. He

t music here th

om blown roses

pon still water

ranite in a

entlier on t

yelids upon

at verse to myself when I closed my eyes after a hard day's study. Nothing falls gentlier than tired eyelids upon tired eyes, and to have him understand the feelin

est, and yet I never would dream of speaking of such thi

t have liked it, for I heard him say to godmother, as he bade her good night, that if this wa