Then from the pack which
Mahaffy carried, the rudiments of a simple but filling meal were
produced.
"Your parents took no chances when they named you Solomon!" said
the judge approvingly.
CHAPTER XIV
BELLE PLAIN
Now, Tom," said Betty, with a bustling little air of excitement
as she rose from the breakfast table that first morning at Belle
Plain, "I am ready if you are. I want you to show me
everything!"
"I reckon you'll notice some changes," remarked Tom.
He went from the room and down the hall a step or two in advance
of her. On the wide porch Betty paused, breathing deep. The
house stood on an eminence; directly before it at the bottom of
the slight descent was a small bayou, beyond this the forest
stretched away in one unbroken mass to the Mississippi. Here and
there, gleaming in the brilliant morning light, some great bend
of the river was visible through the trees, while the Arkansas
coast, blue and distant, piled up against the far horizon.
"What is it you want to see, anyhow, Betty?" Tom demanded,
turning on her.
"Everything--the place, Tom--Belle Plain! Oh, isn't it
beautiful! I had no idea how lovely it was!" cried Betty, as
with her eyes still fixed on the distant panorama of woods and
water she went down the steps, Tom at her heels--he bet she'd get
sick of it all soon enough, that was one comfort!
"Why, Tom! Why does the lawn look like this?"
"Like what?" inquired Tom.
"Why, this--all weeds and briers, and the paths overgrown?" and
as Betty surveyed the unkempt waste that had once been a lawn, a
little frown fixed itself on her smooth brow.
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