arm with him, and _how_ the folks would stare at his bright
buttons and shoulder straps! She wondered if he would wear a 'trainer
hat,' with feathers in it.

To Captain Dobbs, Ann Harriet Hobbs was 'a devilish fine-looking woman;'
there was something tangible in a woman like that, sir; _she_ was not
one of your flimsy, languid girls, with waist like the stem of a goblet.
Somebody had said,'the nearer the bone the sweeter the meat,' but he did
not believe in that; he wanted a _wife_, and if he could get one twice
the size of any one else's, so much the better, by Jove!

Gregory, with the tact of Young America, saw instantly what the result
of an evening's interview would be; so, telling Dobbs that he would find
his cousin from Peonytown very in-_fat_-uating, he left them to their
own enjoyment.

'It is very singular,' remarked the Captain, promptly, 'how much alike
our names are: Hobbs and Dobbs!'

'Yes; but I think that yours is much the prettiest; I always hated the
name of Hobbs,' remarked Ann Harriet.

'Hate Hobbs? Well, I detest Dobbs; but you have the advantage of me, for
you can change yours without much trouble,' replied the Captain.

He did not know that Ann Harriet had been longer, and at more trouble,
in trying to get her name changed, than if she had applied to seven
legislatures. She blushed deeply, and raised her fan to hide the rosy
hue--but it was a small, round fan, and only partially concealed her
face, leaving a crimson disk of two inches around it. Captain Dobbs was
delighted; a blush to him was a certain proof of maiden coyness, and
bespoke a heart so full of love that every emotion sent it mantling to
the face.

Gregory here returned, to say that they were getting up a dance, and
Captain Dobbs and his cousin must certainly join in it.

'But I never danced in my life!' said Ann Harriet, innocently.

'Oh, never mind _that_; it is a very simple dance--the Virginia Reel;
every one can dance that; only do as others do,' replied Gregory.

Ann Harriet, accepting Captain Dobbs's proffered arm, proceeded to the
room where the arrangements for the dance were progressing.

'I understand that Miss Hobbs is the star of this business,' remarked
Mr. Pickett to Gregory, as he crammed himself behind a bookcase, to
allow the lady and her escort to go by.

'Star? ' repeated Gregory. 'Yes; the full moon of the concern.'

'You mean of the firm,' quoth Pickett.

'Yes,' replied Gregory, 'the full moon of