"Well, she can just go awn wantin’," said the usually gallant Mr. Mazyck, ungallantly. "If I’d give Araby to her, I’d lose both my mare and my sweetheart." "Somehow or other I can’t help thinking that Carolina will get that horse in spite of you. Barney, do go and see what time it is! This is the third time I’ve been down here to wait for this mean train!" "Yonder she comes now. Only three hours and fifteen minutes late. That’s not so bad, Aunt Angie. When she tries, she can tardy herself up a heap mo’ than that!" Mrs. La Grange anxiously scanned the shabby coaches for a sight of her daughter’s blooming face. Peachie jumped from the car steps and ran to her mother’s arms. They kissed each other like two lovers who had been parted for years. "Have you had a pleasant week, darling baby?" asked her mother. Peachie’s pink cheeks paled and her face clouded over. "No, I haven’t," she whispered, hurriedly, "but I don’t want anybody but you to know. Don’t let Barney ask me. Let’s hurry." Mrs. La Grange led the way to the borrowed carriage with a sinking heart. Aside from two visits to her aunt in Charleston, this was the only time Peachie had ever been away from home. And now to have this invitation to visit Savannah, given the year before and anticipated all this time, turn into the failure which Peachie’s face indicated, was almost as great a disappointment to Mrs. La Grange as to the girl herself. In the carriage, where Old Moses could not hear them, the mother anxiously awaited the story. "Begin at the beginning and don’t skip a word. We’ve two good hours before us with nobody to interrupt." "Well, you know how happy Carolina was at the prospect of taking me to a fine hotel like the De Soto, and how lovely my clothes were, and how pleased Cousin Lois was at the prospect of seeing her old friends there? Well, people called, of course,--none of the girls, though,--and Mrs. General Giddings, who is the leader of Savannah society, at once asked Cousin Lois to be a chaperon at the Valentine Ball. John Hobson invited me, and Jim Little asked Carolina, and, do you know, it was the first time in all her life that Carolina had ever been to a ball with a man! She says she always went with a chaperon and met her partners at the dance. And she wanted to do that in Savannah, but Mrs. Giddings assured her that it was all right, and so she did. "Oh, mother, I wish you could have seen us that night! You know how I looked, but Cousin Lois wore a black satin brocade, studded with real turquoises and blue ostrich feathers woven into the goods. And, with all her size, she looked perfectly lovely. Carolina wore a white Paris muslin over white silk, with every flounce trimmed with real lace. Her hair looked as if she only had one pin in it, it was so loose and fluffy and--well, artistic is the only word to describe her. She looked like a fairy princess. It began in the dressing-room." "What began?