"Well, the dear boy is pining to see you. That I know, so there is a pair of you." "Is he getting thin?" questioned Virginia, eagerly. "Not exactly, but--listen!" And Mrs. Harris held up a warning finger as she looked out over the piazza. "He is coming!" "Oh, dear!" exclaimed Virginia, in an ecstacy of joy. "I shall hide and surprise him. Oh! his favorites have wilted. I will pluck fresh ones in the conservatory, and hasten back--don't tell!" and with that she flew out of the room through the portieres. As Mrs. Harris stood alone in a contemplative mood, she said aloud to herself: "Oh, dear! These hearts of ours! How foolish they make us at times--I have often thought our Sam was a 'lady killer,' now I am sure of it." Just then Sam Harris stepped across the piazza and entered the room. Sam was a young man just having passed his twenty-fourth birthday. His strong chin was indicative of fidelity to his friends, and his mass of reddish, curly hair lent expression to a jovial expression of countenance. Sam was particularly joyous in anticipation of meeting Virginia Thorpe. "Have you seen her, Auntie?" and he straightway opened a door leading to the library and looked in; then he closed it. Mrs. Harris quietly watched him and became disturbed with misgivings, lest his zeal in his present frame of mind would impair the dignity she considered so essential to his enterprise as well as to the position the Harrises held in society. It was therefore necessary to impress on him the importance of "proper" form, which she immediately undertook, and addressed him with calm stateliness. "Now, Sam, I warn you to be careful how you greet Virginia. Remember, though but twenty-two, she is an accomplished young lady." "Don't I know it!" he replied, with a satisfied smile. "Don't touch the portieres, Sam! Sam!" she exclaimed in alarm, but her command was unheeded, and Sam spread them wide apart, much to his aunt's consternation. No one being behind the portiere, she appeared amazed, but quickly recovering her composure, continued: "Dear me! How very strange! Oh, yes, I forgot. She has gone to the conservatory." Then she muttered in low tones: "Now I have said it, and she told me not to tell." "Well, I'm off to the conservatory, too--eh, Auntie! Don't follow me," and he strode toward the piazza. "Sam! Sam! Remain here. I have something to say to you." "Well, be quick, Auntie. You know I am crazy to see her. Eh! I guess so." "'Crazy!' Well, remember the least display of rudeness or unseemly eagerness will be promptly met with a frown of displeasure." "Auntie, she's finer than the petals of a rose." "But, like a rose, too, she is just as sensitive," cautioned Mrs. Harris, as she majestically moved over to the mantel--and then she abruptly turned, at a fresh thought. "Sam, for the sake of our social prestige--for my own hope that your affection shall be reciprocated"--