"And by so doing increase them? No. My hands are full enough as it is, and to have you incessantly fretting and fuming about little crooked things which all the fretting in creation won't straighten out, would be more than I could stand. Melville, you must really consent to be guided blindly by my judgment in this matter. I have studied the subject carefully, and it is only for a little while, sweet. We are young, we can afford to take things easy." "Men of pluck," exclaimed Mell, with spirit, "don't take things easy! They grip hold of things and turn them into moulds of purpose." "Do they, little wiseacre? Then, manifestly, I am not a man of pluck. I am made of weak stuff, a feeble straw, perhaps, in your estimation, tossed about by every little puff of air! Ha! ha! ha! How little you know about me, Mell!" "That is true," responded Mell, promptly, adding, with that lively turn of expression which gave such zest to her conversation, "very little, and that little nothing to your credit!" Jerome was amused. He laughed and stopped, and forthwith laughed again. "Ah, Melville, you charm me afresh at every meeting. Where do you get all your _sauce piquant_? Beside you for life, that old meddling busy-body, _ennui_, will never get a single chance at a fellow. Your name ought to be Infinite Variety." "And yours," retorted Mell, with the quickness he enjoyed, "Palpably Obscure! But here we are at my own gate. Fasten your horse and come in." Her voice was absolutely pleading. "I would with ever so much pleasure, but--that whip is yet to be found, and the riders will be coming back. I must at once rejoin them. Good night, Mell." "Good-night," responded Mell, from the other side of the gate, and in angered tones, "Jerome, have I not spoken plainly enough to you? Must I repeat that I am not your toy--not your plaything--but a resolute woman, determined to maintain my own respect and to accept nothing less than yours? You shall not so much as make free with the tip end of this little finger of mine, until--" "Well," said Jerome, "let me know the worst. When will that terrible interdict be removed?" "When you can enforce the right by virtue of possession." "Heaven speed that moment!" exclaimed he, sighing audibly and mounting his horse. "When shall we meet again, Melville?" "That rests with you." "Let me see, then. Not to-morrow, for at daylight we are off to Gale Bluff for the day. Not on Wednesday, for there's a confounded picnic afoot for that day. I wish the man who invented picnics had been endowed with immortal life on earth and made to go to every blessed one of 'em! But on Thursday, Mell, I shall be in the meadow at the usual hour." "But I won't!" "Yes, you will, Mell." "Positively, _I will not!_" "Nonsense. What is your objection? Where is the harm? The young ladies at the Bigge House entertain me out of doors." "Do they?" Mell was astonished, and began to waver. "I thought it wasn't considered the thing."