ng to do or not
do I want to get blind, staving drunk; it always has that effect on me,
and you know I'm inclined to sobriety."

"The trouble is, I don't know whether I'm welcome or not," Long
declared, grimly. "I have never felt exactly that way before. Do you
reckon she'd look with favor on the invite to dinner at the hotel?"

"You bet she will!" Henley was more sure of his ground now. "Cooking and
fixing up the table is a woman's joy, and they'll go just to see what
hotel fare is like, and, as a rule, they will sample every article
that's passed."

"Well, I'll risk it on your judgment, Alf. You've stood by me so far
like a man and a brother, and I don't believe you'd set a trap for me to
tumble in."

"Not me," answered Henley. "But I was wondering what you think of her
looks; men differ in tastes, and--"

"Shucks!" Long sniffed. "You needn't ask me that. That'ud be a fool
question for a blind man to ask. Why, Alf, she is the stunningest trick
that ever wore shoe-leather. She's so dadblamed purty I can't look her
straight in the face. There is some'n in her eyes and the way she sets
and bends her neck an' cocks 'er head that makes me feel like one of the
chaps in olden times that knelt on a strip of carpet at a queen's
throne. But it ain't just her looks and trim shape and nobby little
feet--it's the woman herself, by gosh! She looks clean through a feller;
what she says goes from her as straight as a gun-shot. Well, I'll hurry
back and do the best I can. I'm having a big time, Alf--a big, roaring
time."

All the rest of the morning, as he strolled here and there through the
merry assemblage, Henley managed to keep the pair in sight. Long kept
the same position, his right foot on the hub of the wheel, his face
upturned to Dixie's. It was the passing of the local military company
and the surging of the spectators forward that gave Long a valuable
opportunity, for he got into the buggy and sat beside the girl. Henley
could see him lashing the air over the dashboard with his whip in a
most reckless manner.

"The blame fool!" Henley ejaculated. "He's wearing out that whip. I
wonder if he thinks I buy the best whalebone for him to court with.
She'd like 'im better if he'd set still, anyway, and not be cavorting
about like a jumping-jack."

Noon came, and Henley saw the pair alight from the buggy and walk across
to the hotel. Thereupon he betook himself to the house of his friends,
and had his own dinner. When it