the
baby. There the three friends sat, patting him, and smoothing his
dress, and playing with his hands, which made theirs look so brown.

"You ain't seen nothing finer in all your travels," said Mrs.
Spinny, and they all laughed.

They showed me his full chest and how strong his back was; had me
feel the golden fuzz on his head, and made him look at me with his
round, bright eyes. He laughed and reared himself in my arms as I
took him up and held him close to me. He was so warm and tingling
with life, and he had the flush of new beginnings, of the new
morning and the new rose. He seemed to have come so lately from his
mother's heart! It was as if I held her youth and all her young joy.
As I put my cheek down against his, he spied a pink flower in my
hat, and making a gleeful sound, he lunged at it with both fists.

"Don't let him spoil it," murmured Mrs. Spinny. "He loves color
so--like Nelly."

_Century_, October 1911

_The Bohemian Girl_

The Trans-continental Express swung along the windings of the Sand
River Valley, and in the rear seat of the observation car a young
man sat greatly at his ease, not in the least discomfited by the
fierce sunlight which beat in upon his brown face and neck and
strong back. There was a look of relaxation and of great passivity
about his broad shoulders, which seemed almost too heavy until he
stood up and squared them. He wore a pale flannel shirt and a blue
silk necktie with loose ends. His trousers were wide and belted at
the waist, and his short sack-coat hung open. His heavy shoes had
seen good service. His reddish-brown hair, like his clothes, had a
foreign cut. He had deep-set, dark blue eyes under heavy reddish
eyebrows. His face was kept clean only by close shaving, and even
the sharpest razor left a glint of yellow in the smooth brown of his
skin. His teeth and the palms of his hands were very white. His
head, which looked hard and stubborn, lay indolently in the green
cushion of the wicker chair, and as he looked out at the ripe summer
country a teasing, not unkindly smile played over his lips. Once, as
he basked thus comfortably, a quick light flashed in his eyes,
curiously dilating the pupils, and his mouth became a hard, straight
line, gradually relaxing into its former smile of rather kindly
mockery. He told himself, apparently, that there was no point in
getting excited; and he seemed a master hand at taking his e