four miles from
Midbranch, he rode over to see her nearly every day. There was nothing
surprising in this, because the Green Sulphur, once a much frequented
resort, had seen great changes, and now, although the end of the regular
season had not arrived, it had Mr Lawrence Croft for its only guest.
There was a spacious hotel there; there was a village of cottages of
varying sizes; there were buildings for servants and managers; there was
a ten-pin alley and a quiet ground; there were arbors and swings; and a
square hole in a stone slab, through which a little pool of greenish
water could be seen, with a tin cup, somewhat rusty, lying by it. But
all was quiet and deserted, except one cottage, in which the man lived
who had charge of the place, and where Mr Croft boarded. It was very
pleasant for him to ride over to Midbranch and take a walk with Miss
Roberta; and this was what they had been doing to-day.

Horseback rides had been suggested, but Mr Brandon objected to these. He
knew Mr Croft to be a young man of good family and very comfortable
fortune, and he liked him very much when he had him there to dinner, but
he did not wish his niece to go galloping around the country with him.
To quiet walks in the woods, and through the meadows, he could, of
course, have no objection. A good many of Mr Brandon's principles, like
certain of his books, were kept upon a top shelf, but Miss Roberta
always liked to humor the few which the old gentleman was wont to
have within easy reach.

This afternoon they had rambled through the woods, where the hard,
smooth road wound picturesquely through the places in which it had been
easiest to make a road, and where the great trunks of the trees were
partly covered by clinging vines, which Miss Roberta knew to be either
Virginia creeper or poison oak, although she did not remember which of
these had clusters of five leaves, and which of three.

The horse on which Mr Croft had ridden over from the Springs was tied to
a fence near by, and he now seemed to indicate by his restless movements
that it was quite time for the gentleman to go home; but with this
opinion Mr Croft decidedly differed. He had had a long walk with the
lady and plenty of opportunities to say anything that he might choose,
but still there was something very important which had not been said,
and which Mr Croft very much wished to say before he left Miss Roberta
that afternoon. His only reason for hesitation was the fact t