of the hall, I was almost glad I'd come up
and give the young ladies such a treat. I couldn't help admirin' Mr.
Robert's nerve, though; for he must have known what he was lettin'
himself in for when he follows Inez up there. But when they get it that
bad there's no tellin' how reckless they'll be.

If it had been all the same to Mr. Robert, my next move would have been
to get away from the spot as quick as my feet would let me; but so long
as he'd assigned me a waiting part that's what it had to be. With
Marie's help I finds the garden out at the back of the house and makes
myself comf'table on a rustic seat. It's a flossy garden scene, all
right, with winding paths, and flowerbeds, and cute little summer
houses, and all sorts of bushes in bloom. Now and then I could hear
music driftin' out, and when a piece was through the hand clappin' would
commence, like a shower on a tin roof.

Say, it had sittin' behind the brass rail in the office beat to a froth,
and I was enjoyin' it, lazy and comf'table, with my feet up on the bench
and my head back; when all at once there's a big spasm of applause, the
doors openin' on the back veranda are swung open, everybody starts
chatterin' together, there's a swish and a rustle and a clatter of high
heels; and the next thing I knew the whole blamed garden was full of
'em.

Girls! Say, all the fifty-seven varieties was represented,--tall ones,
short ones, thin ones, plump ones, and plain fatties. There was
aristocratic brunettes, and dimpled blondes, and every shade between.
They ranged from fourteen up, and they sported all kinds of hair
dressin', from double pleated braids to the latest thing in turban
swirls. And there was little Willie, hemmed in by a twelve-foot wall on
three sides and solid squads of girls on the fourth!

First they began sailin' by in groups of twos and threes and fours, all
givin' me the goo-goo stare and snickerin'. Honest, you'd thought I was
some kind of a humorous curiosity, specially exhibited for the occasion.
Ain't they the limit, though? And the whispered remarks they passed!
"Why, Madge! Aren't you just killing! Whose brother did you say you
thought----Yes, and so curly, too!"

I try to forget that red thatch of mine most of the time; but this was
no place to practice bein' absent minded. It didn't seem to make any
diff'rence whether I put my hat on or left it off, they were wise to the
ruddy hair. All I could do was to squeeze myself into one corn