Jocelyn to take a drive with him she had declined very kindly, for
she feared that he might speak to her of her daughter in an embarrassing
way. Over Belle, Mildred had little control in such matters, but
as far as she and her mother were concerned she determined that he
should have no encouragement whatever; for, although he made no
further efforts either to shun or obtain her society, and had become
quite as reserved as herself, he unconsciously, yet very clearly,
revealed his state of mind to her womanly intuition.

"There is one thing queer about Roger Atwood," said Belle, joining
her sister under the hemlocks; "he now scarcely ever speaks of
himself. I suppose he thinks I'd be silly enough to go and tell
everything as you did."

"What do you talk about then?" asked Mildred, with a half smile.

"Oh, you are a little curious, are you? perhaps a little jealous,
too, that he was so very easily cured of his admiration for you.
If it were any secret, I wouldn't tell you. We talk about what we
see, and it seems to me he sees everything. If a bird flies across
the road he will point out its peculiarities, and he knows so much
about the trees and bushes and wild flowers and the little creatures
in the woods, how they live, and all that. He says a man's a
fool that doesn't see all that's going on around him. Sometimes
he makes me ache from laughing over his funny descriptions of the
queer characters that live about here. Bat what interests me most
is his accounts of the people at the hotel. Ob, I do wish mother
would let me go there with him some evening! He is there nearly
every night, and it's as good as a play to hear him take off the
affected, snobbish ones. He has caught the English drawl and the