"Oh, yes," drawled the Watermelon sarcastically. "It was fun all right. Everybody wanted to be waited on first and everybody wanted the white meat." "What did they do when they didn’t get waited on?" asked Billy. "Yelled at me," said the Watermelon, "as if I was their servant. This is a free country and we are all equal. I said that to one old gent once and it raised Cain." "What’d he say?" "He said that might be, but we didn’t remain equal." "What did you say?" "I said, ’I know it and I am sorry for you, sir. Don’t blame yourself too much,’ I said. ’Was it drink that did it?’ When I left they didn’t give me any pay." "Why not?" asked Billy, eagerly amused. "They said I had broken too many dishes. I said if I had known they were going to keep my pay, I would have broken twice as many." "Why didn’t you do it, then?" asked Billy, whose ideas of vengeance were young and drastic. "Too much work," explained the Watermelon. "If I wasn’t extra strong, I wouldn’t have been able to break what I did." "I presume you return to the city to-night?" questioned Bartlett. The Watermelon thought of the shivering wretch who was trying to hide his nakedness in the forest depths and shook his head. "I’m leaving about three," said he, putting the parting off as long as possible because of Billy. It hurt him to think of leaving her, even then, charming, dainty Billy. "Tell me some other things you have done," teased Billy. "If I sat over that side," said the Watermelon with the boldness of desperation. In two short hours they would part for good, so why not make the most of the short time allowed? "If I sat over that side, I could tell you so much better the sad, sweet story of my life." "Come on," laughed Billy. And the Watermelon rose, to the amusement of those nearest, went around the table and drew up a chair beside Billy, with the general on the other side of him. Henrietta made vain attempts to take a hostess’ part in the conversation, and both Billy and the Watermelon made equally polite and good-natured endeavors to include her, but when two are young, and one is pretty and the other handsome, a third person assumes the proportions of not a crowd so much as a mob. The general was enjoying himself sufficiently with his dinner. He and Bartlett had gone to the same school and he felt as much right to neglect Bartlett as though he had been a brother. Henrietta turned to Bartlett and they chatted on the trivial affairs of the day, while Henrietta wondered if she did seem so very old to the Watermelon and Bartlett matured a plan that had come to him like an inspiration as he watched the Watermelon’s frank admiration for Billy.