Fugen eBooks

"Is that one of the city beaux you were telling us about?" asked
her father, sotto voce.
"Yes; but I don't want any beaux around to-day. I didn't think
he'd be so persistent." Then, conscious that she was not dressed
for company, but for work upon which she had set her heart, she
advanced and gave Mr. Minturn a rather cool greeting.
But the persistent beau was equal to the occasion. He had endured
Sue's absence as long as he could, then had resolved on a long
day's siege, with a grand storming-onset late in the afternoon.
"Please, Miss Banning," he began, "don't look askance at me for
coming at this unearthly hour. I claim the sacred rites of
hospitality. I'm an invalid. The doctor said I needed country air,
or would have prescribed it if given a chance. You said I might
come to see you some day, and by playing Paul Pry I found out, you
remember, that this was your birthday, and--"
"And this is my father, Mr. Minturn."
Mr. Minturn shook the farmer's hand with a cordiality calculated
to awaken suspicions of his designs in a pump, had its handle been
thus grasped.


Pages:
262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286