they?" he asked, looking over into my eyes with a laugh.

"I wanted to see you early this morning anyway," he hastily resumed.
"Sallie and the Dominie sat talking to you so late last night that I
didn't feel it was fair to come across after they left. But I wanted you
so I could hardly get to sleep, and I was just half awake from a dream
of you, when I came into the garden."

"My evenings don't belong to anybody, if you need them, Jamie, and you
don't have to be told that," I answered crossly when I thought what a
grand time I might have been having talking about real things with the
Crag, instead of wrestling with Polk's romantics or Sallie's and Mr.
Haley's gush.

"Go on and tell me all about it, while I crawl after you like a worm
myself," I snapped still further.

"Well, here goes! In the City Council meeting last night your Uncle
Peter told us about the plans that they have made up at Bolivar for
entertaining the C. & G. Commission, and the gloom of Polk and Lee, Ned
and the rest of them could have easily been cut in blocks and used for
cold storage purposes. They are just all down and out about it and no
fight left. Of course, they all lose by the bond issue, but I can't see
that it is bad enough to knock them all out like this. I got up in
mighty wrath and--and I have got myself into one job. My eloquence
landed me right into one large hole, and I am reaching out for a hand
from you."

"Here it is," and I reached over and left a smear of loam across the
back of his hand, while I brought away a brown circle around my wrist