A JOURNEY TO NATURE 



ing to see the Florentine vision breaking softly 

 in the trees. But it did not. I suspect that the 

 yellow dog, supremely indifferent to the principle 

 involved, stole off regularly and had interviews 

 with the maid. There was an air of satisfaction 

 and placid contentment about her that was suspi 

 cious, and I wondered if yellow dogs and astral 

 maids had a Volapuk of their own. I have often 

 thought since that I must write to Miss Hapgood 

 and make some inquiries about this. 



However, I enjoyed the situation secretly. Gri- 

 selle was waiting for me to come first, and I was 

 determined that she should make the advance. 

 There was a soft chuckle in this, because it seemed 

 to be on the edge of flirtation, in spite of all her 

 splendid indifference. Ha, ha ! I said to myself 

 if you were a truly astral maid, you would 

 never have thought of hanging fire in this manner. 



When it began to look as if my unchivalrous 

 determination had to give way, there was a great 

 hullabaloo one morning. I believe I had put on 

 a white apron and was trying to do some kind of 

 housework, when Charlie and the yellow dog and 

 the sun all broke out at once. My recollection 

 of it is that I kicked the wet white apron in a wad 

 under the book-shelves, and galloped about to get 

 my smoking-jacket and my air of indifference on, 

 and then sauntered out with a fine carelessness , 

 and there she was, coming down the woody colon 

 nade, looking very trim in a new warm walking- 

 suit, swinging a fragile dress umbrella as a 

 walking-stick, very much as if she had been on 



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