“Would the ould scut like one too?” asked Minerva. “Oh, surely,” said Ethel, and so Minerva picked out a large apple and held it to the velvet nose of the poor old horse. He smelt it eagerly and opening his jaws took it in. Minerva sat down in the grass of the roadside and fell to, herself, and for a minute, Ethel said, the three jaws crunched apple pulp noisily. “Mis. Vernon?” “What is it, Minerva?” “How come a horse can eat when he’s standin’ up. Lyin’ the way he is now it’s easy because the apple kin go along level, but when he’s standin’ up how can it go way up in his head.” “Why, he swallows it.” “Yes, but how can he swallow up? We swallow down. If I was to stand awn my head I couldn’t swallow.” She was silent a minute and then she said, “Go’n’ to try.” And try she did. There in the lonely road, with Ethel reclining so luxuriously on a horse-hair sofa, Minerva played circus and made a croquet wicket of herself and then tried to eat an apple. Ethel was so interested in the experiment that she was surprised when she heard a masculine voice say, “Well, I swan!” She turned, and there below her in the road stood the figure of the Perkins’ hired man. “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve come,” said Ethel from her perch. “What’s the proper thing to do to this horse?” “Well, I’d git off his head first off.” Ethel left her seat, the hired man took hold of the bridle, the horse made one or two tries and then rose to his feet and Ethel said he [Illustration: She made a croquet wicket of herself.] shook himself so violently that she thought the harness would break. But it stayed together in all its knotted parts and Minerva, somewhat shamefaced at having been caught trying to swallow like a horse, climbed up into the wagon and my wife drove on down town, where she arrived just as Jack and Billy were about concluding a dicker with a hackman. When they saw th’ ould scut they concluded the dicker—Ethel having introduced herself, and then they insisted that she ride up with them, while Minerva followed after with the grips. Sibthorp and I and no fish arrived home simultaneously with my guests. The meeting of Billy and Cherry was most affecting. They acted like school children over each other. It struck me at the time how much more a woman will palaver over a man if she does not care for him in any other than a Platonic way than she will when her affections are engaged. It is also queer how some men express themselves more fully in their letters than they do in their actions. Billy was much quieter than Tom, and Jack was almost reserved.