THE SOUTH BAT. 173 



least he does not say so directly, but what he does 

 say gives me that impression. Just think, jour 

 father threw water over mine, and he was all mud 

 and dirt when he reached home." 



" Impossible," said Harry, with a laugh, " he must 

 have fallen overboard." 



" Oh, no, and your father would not ride home 

 with him." 



" How did he get home then ? he certainly would 

 not have walked by preference four miles, on so hot 

 a day as this. Imagine his half killing himself to 

 deprive a person of his company who wished to be 

 rid of him." 



" Oh, it must be ; father was so angry, he told me 

 I should not seo you again." 



This response was illogical, and went far to dis- 

 prove itself, but was enforced by her bursting into 

 tears. " I have been crying ever since," she sobbed. 



Harry consoled her, sure of her affection ; and 

 knowing that parents are a slight affair against 

 .affection, he brought back smiles to her lips by his 

 comments on her account of her father's statement, 

 and promised her it would come right if she only 

 kept on obeying as scrupulously as she was then 

 doing. She punished him for this by flying away 

 in her former merry manner, leaving him to seek 

 an explanation at home. 



" Father," he said, on arriving there and seeking 

 him out, "how spruce you look ; that is your best 

 suit. Are you going to pay a visit ? " 



"I believe not, this evening; my other clothes 



