since, loving and drawing and sending them the jobs by mail. Right away they set the wedding for the eleventh of April, which seems like it never will come, me being in a big hurry

eing tall and creamy-skinned, so he wants all her dresses to be either white or light green, the color of right young lettuc

behind his back one day. But I don't think Marcella better be calling Bertha a milksop just because

d cute ways and dimples. She has a good many lovers of different kinds, but don't seem to like one above another. She is a great hand to act romantic, such as falling in love with a man in a streetcar, or expecting her future husband to be a certain size and comb his hair a certain way and things like that.

sitting on the front step one day when Julius pulled a letter out of his pocket and told Marc

oking up from the sprig of bridal wre

civil engineer. I used to think a civil engineer was a polite man who ran the trains, but I know now he is

is asked a heap quicker

lius answered, still looking o

r eyes sparkling. "I never heard anything Scot

be any woman's ideal. He is very real. An old bachelor, thirty-seven years, stern and

though anybody that knew her well could tell she wa

to live with him, for you are the kind

nsider him a very uncivil engineer." Which was just her way of talking. This happened fully two months ago, but they have

But it wasn't that way with Mr. Macdonald. Nobody on earth could have been disappointed in him for he is one of the tallest gentlemen I ever saw with trousers so smoothly creased that the

g Miss Cis about him I kept my eye on her from the minute he walked through the door. I was greatly disappointed though, for she never seemed to notice him. I guess she took a

im! Did you ever see such Gibsony feet and legs in your life?" Which mort

ones that favor Marcella so much. We have a yard full of them and so mother told them this morning that they better come over and gather t

s, and Julius, being an artist, noticed the peach blossoms, but Mr. Macdonald, being just a man, noticed Miss Cis. She would walk along without noticing him and take a seat in the farthest corner

Rufe come along with them so he could have said poetry out of Keats, as it was just the kind of day to make you feel Keatsy; and pretty soon he and Marcella got on to their favorite subject, "The Ruby Yacht," which

erstand poet

"congenial." I knew this was a story, for she talks about "The Ruby Yacht" as much as

he deuced Ruby Yacht was about

they began to laugh and tell my remark to Julius and Marcella, which was mortifying. This broke up the poetry talk and the

her year-before-last-before-that's wine setting on it and her finest ruffled cap, very proud. She was curious to see the young man "Miss Cis was se

le Miss Cis was telling her to "s-s

'im.' But, honey, he is tolerable po-faced, which ain't no good sign in marryin'. If thar's anybody better experienced in that business than me and King Solomon I'd l

often hear of things being worth their weight in silver, but there's one thing you can count on it's being true about and that is wedding

zing her hand right before everybody, "

a very useful place to find strange words. It said: "Lares et Penates, household gods," which didn'

o her, "if he thinks up such names as them for his f

has got a pair of two little twins that have been going around for the last five years in need of a

count of Ike, although mammy is usually what she calls very plain-spoken with him. A plain-spoken person is one that says nasty things to your face and expects you not to get mad. When they say them behind your back they're "diplomatic." But finally she started off to name them, and, havi

going to the kitchen to get some

ut the biscuits with a haughty look,

ou name whic

these common niggers roun' here'll shorten it to 'Peanu

erest, "ain't you glad they're named at last, so'

icking holes in the top of them with a fork, "glad ain't no name for it! Why, I ain't had as mu

y they nearly faint when a great crowd stares at them, others say they bet folks will think they've got St. Vituses' dance from trembling so; anyhow, they're all very modest. But Miss Cis, I believe, ain't putting on, for all she claims toward modestness is that her knee

I ran over and saw her dressed in a pretty blue kimono, which set off her good looks greatly, down by the woodpile which they keep in the side yard. There is a hedge of honeysuckle which runs

y, "can you help me find two ni

said yes'm to the board question, the

ited they threaten to let me drop. If I could strap two nice little boards

he looked so funny that I started to laugh, when just then I heard another laugh on the other side of the honeysuckle vines. I found a place where I could peep through and saw it was Julius and Mr. Ma

to see that they had heard her, so I hollered and told her that I heard Marcella calling her from the up-stairs window, so she ran right on in without coming back to the woodpile. I started

nly looking in the other direction and talking very se

Mr. Macdonald's long, slow voice saying. "She is a very lovel

the briers off of a long switch he held in his hand, and ta

Macdonald said, his voice so solem

Julius r

devoted, "I did that very thing the first

; and I moved my seat right up to the hedge so I could get

ever heard of," Julius said

nald said, looking like he didn't know wheth

en they're telling you to follow their example. "What d

as if he wasn't any taller than me, and him over six feet tall. "It would be the

ill half laughing, "the most absurd thi

relatives cried a little too. Weddings are all alike, but proposals are all different, and I think I'd better use more space on them in my diary, so my grandchildren won't get sleepy over the sameness. But it would be a waste of handwriti

ed him so that all through the ceremony he looked so pale and troubled that you'd have thought it was him getting married. Final

wed her

going to accept him or not. I stayed close to their heels all day, but he didn't get a chance to propose until just after dark, d