w
and then glancin' at her image in a mirror an' slyly feelin' her
ribs to see if she had gained flesh that day. She liked me because
I was unlike any other man she had met. I poked fun at her folly
an' all the grandeur of the place. I amused her as much as she
amused me, perhaps. Anyhow, we got to be good friends, an' the
next Sunday we all drove out in a motor-car to see Lizzie. Mrs.
Bill wanted to meet her. Lizzie had become famous. She was
walkin' up an' down the lawn with the infant in a perambulator, an'
the small boy toddling along behind her. We left Mrs. Bill with
Lizzie an' the kids, an' set out for a tramp over the big farm.
When we returned we found the ladies talkin' earnestly in the house.

[Illustration: We set out for a tramp over the big farm.]

"Before we left I called Lizzie aside for a minute.

"'How do you get along with these babies?' I asked.

"'They're the life of our home. My father and mother think they
couldn't live without them.'

"'An' they're good practice for you,' I suggested. 'It's time you
were plannin' for yourself, Lizzie.'

"'I've no prospects,' said she.

"'How is that?'

"'Why, there's only one boy that I care for, an' he has had enough
of me.'

"'You don't mean Dan?'

"'Yes,' she whispered with trembling lips, an' turned away.

"'What's the matter?'

"She pulled herself together an' answered in half a moment: 'Oh, I
don't know! He doesn't come often. He goes around with other
girls.'

"'Well,' I said, 'it's the same ol' story. He's only tryin' to
keep up with Lizzie. You've done some goin' around yourself.'

"'I know, but I couldn't help it.'

"'He knows, an' he couldn't help it,' I says. 'The boys have
flocked around you, an' the girls have flocked around Dan. They
were afraid he'd get lonesome. If I were you I'd put a mortgage on
him an' foreclose it as soon as possible.'

"'It's too late,' says she. 'I hear he's mortgaged.'

"'You'd better search the records,' I says, 'an' if it ain't so,
stop bein' careless. You've put yer father on his feet. Now look
out for yerself.'

"'I think he's angry on account of the ham war,' says she.

"'Why do you think that?'

"She told me the facts, an' I laughed 'til the tears came to my
eyes.

"'Nonsense,' I says, 'Dan will like that. You wait 'til I tell
him, an' he'll be up here with his throttle wide open.'

"'Do you suppose he'd spend Christmas with us?' she asked, with a
very sober look.