bore no good will to either of the three principals: whilst the average
young woman who had, lest worse should befall, to put up with the
grumbling of her sweetheart, and the sense of being only second best
which it implied, did not either, be sure, regard Sarah with friendly
eye. Thus it came, in the course of a year or so, for rustic courtship
is a slow process, that the two men and woman found themselves thrown
much together. They were all satisfied, so it did not matter, and Sarah,
who was vain and something frivolous, took care to have her revenge on
both men and women in a quiet way. When a young woman in her 'walking
out' can only boast one not-quite-satisfied young man, it is no
particular pleasure to her to see her escort cast sheep's eyes at a
better-looking girl supported by two devoted swains.

At length there came a time which Sarah dreaded, and which she had tried
to keep distant--the time when she had to make her choice between the
two men. She liked them both, and, indeed, either of them might have
satisfied the ideas of even a more exacting girl But her mind was so
constituted that she thought more of what she might lose, than of what
she might gain; and whenever she thought she had made up her mind she
became instantly assailed with doubts as to the wisdom of her choice.
Always the man whom she had presumably lost became endowed afresh with a
newer and more bountiful crop of advantages than had ever arisen from
the possibility of his acceptance. She promised each man that on her
birthday she would give him his answer, and that day, the 11th of April,
had now arrived. The promises had been given singly and confidentially,
but each was given to a man who was not likely to forget. Early in the
morning she found both men hovering round her door. Neither had taken
the other into his confidence, and each was simply seeking an early
opportunity of getting his answer, and advancing his suit if necessary.
Damon, as a rule, does not take Pythias with him when making a proposal;