Little he knew of the locust that suddenly whirred his mills
of shrillness in the maple-tree, and sounded so hot, hot, hot; or those
others that railed at the country quiet from the dim shade around the
brick house; or even the rain-crow that sat on the fence and swore to them
in the face of a sunny sky that they should see rain ere the day were
done.
Little the young man recked of what he ate at Judge Briscoe's good noon
dinner: chicken wing and young roas'n'-ear; hot rolls as light as the
fluff of a summer cloudlet; and honey and milk; and apple-butter flavored
like spices of Arabia; and fragrant, flaky cherry-pie; and cool, rich,
yellow cream. Lige Willetts was a lover, yet he said he asked no better
than to Just go on eating that cherry-pie till a sweet death overtook him;
but railroad sandwiches and restaurant chops might have been set before
Harkless for all the difference it would have made to him.
At no other time is a man's feeling of companionship with a woman so
strong as when he sits at table with her-not at a "decorated" and
becatered and bewaitered table, but at a homely, appetizing, wholesome
home table like old Judge Briscoe's. The very essence of the thing is
domesticity, and the implication is utter confidence and liking. There are
few greater dangers for a bachelor. An insinuating imp perches on his
shoulder, and, softly tickling the bachelor's ear with the feathers of an
arrow-shaft, whispers: "Pretty nice, isn't it, eh? Rather pleasant to have
that girl sitting there, don't you think? Enjoy having her notice your
butter-plate was empty? Think it exhilarating to hand her those rolls?
Looks nice, doesn't she? Says 'Thank you' rather prettily? Makes your
lonely breakfast seem mighty dull, doesn't it? How would you like to have
her pour your coffee for you to-morrow, my boy? How would it seem to have
such pleasant company all the rest of your life? Pretty cheerful, eh?"
When Miss Sherwood passed the editor the apple-butter, the casual, matter-
of-course way she did it entranced him in a strange, exquisite wonderment.
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