He believed he could
have a prolonged visit home, yet manage so admirably that when he
returned he would be followed by a squad of recruits, and chief of
all he would be the triumphant suitor of Susie Rolliffe. Her
manner in parting had satisfied him that he had made go deep an
impression that it would be folly not to follow it up. He trudged
the remainder of the journey alone, and secured tolerable
treatment by assuring the people that he was returning for
recruits for the army. He reached home in the afternoon of
Christmas; and although the day was almost completely ignored in
the Puritan household, yet Mrs. Watkins forgot country, Popery,
and all, in her mother love, and Zeke supped on the finest turkey
of the flock. Old Mr. Watkins, it is true, looked rather grim, but
the reception had been reassuring in the main; and Zeke had
resolved on a line of tactics which would make him, as he
believed, the military hero of the town. After he had satisfied an
appetite which had been growing ever since he left camp, he
started to call on Susie in all the bravery of his best attire,
filled with sanguine expectations inspired by memories of the past
and recent potations of cider.
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