e domestic upheaval.

Their own packing had long since been completed; not a difficult matter
in a furnished house; easy always to Ruth and her father, whose nomadic
life was marked by constant changes. Indeed, the various boxes, cases,
crates, and barrels containing much of the linen, china, and glass, to
say nothing of the portieres, rugs and small tables, and the whole of
Ruth's bedroom furniture, had already been loaded aboard a box car
and sent on its way to Morfordsburg, there to await the arrival of the
joyous young girl, whose clear brain and competent hands would bring
order out of chaos, no matter how desolate the interior and the
environment.

For these dainty white hands with their pink nails and soft palms, so
wonderfully graceful over teapot or fan, could wield a broom or even
a dust-pan did necessity require. Ruth in a ball gown, all frills and
ruffles and lace, was a sight to charm the eye of any man, but Ruth in
calico and white apron, her beautiful hair piled on top of her still
more beautiful head; her skirts pinned up and her dear little feet
pattering about, was a sight not only for men but for gods as well. Jack
loved her in this costume, and so would you had you known her. I myself,
old and wrinkled as I am, have never forgotten how I rapped at the wrong
door one morning--the kitchen door--and found her in that same costume,
with her arms bare to the elbows and covered with flour, where she had
been making a "sally lunn" for daddy. Nor can I forget her ringing laugh
as she saw the look of astonishment on my face, or my delight when she
ordered me inside and made me open the oven door so that she could slide
in the finished product without burning her fingers.

The packing up of their own household impedimenta complete, there came a
few days of leisure--the first breathing spell that either MacFarlane or
Jack, or Ruth, too, for that matter, had had for weeks. MacFarlane, in
view of the coming winter--a long and arduous one, took advantage of the
interim and went south, to his club, for a few days' shooting--a rare
luxury for him of late years. Jack made up his mind to devote every
one of his spare hours to getting better acquainted with Ruth, and that
young woman, not wishing to be considered either neglectful or selfish,
determined to sacrifice every hour of the day and as much of the night
as was proper and possible to getting better acquainted with Jack; and
the two had a royal time in the doi