One day a bevy of laughing and chattering girls with one gallant in white flannels approached the mill while Chip in calico was kneeling beside a flower-bed. She looked up at once and saw her erstwhile admirer at Peaceful Valley, Mr. Goodnow. One instant only their eyes met, his to turn quickly away, and then Chip, coloring at the slight, rose and entered the house. Once safe in this asylum, womanlike, she hastened to peep out at the arrivals. They halted for only a glance about and then, their protector (?) still in the lead, vanished behind the mill. The next afternoon, just as Chip was returning from the village store, she met Mr. Goodnow again, this time alone. With a bow and smile he raised his hat and halted. "Why, Miss Raymond," he exclaimed eagerly, "I am so glad to meet you again. Are you visiting here, and when did you leave Peaceful Valley?" "I am living here now," returned Chip, coolly, continuing on her way, "where you saw me yesterday." "Oh, yes," he answered, not the least abashed, "and you must pardon me for not recognizing you then. It's been a year, you know, since I saw you, and you have changed so in that time." "Of course," responded Chip, her eyes snapping, "you couldn't remember me so long. Why don't you tell the truth and say you didn't dare know me before those ladies?" "Why, Miss Raymond, you wrong me; but I admire your frankness--it is so unusual among your charming sex!" "Then you did know me," she returned sarcastically, "I knew well enough, and if they were with you now, you wouldn't know me. I'm no fool, if I do wear calico." It was blunt. It was truthful. It was Chip all over; but this polished rake never winced. "I never dispute a lady," he answered suavely; "it doesn't pay. Besides, I have found they all prefer sweet lies instead of truth. And now I will admit you looked so charming as you raised your face from among the flowers that I was dazed and didn't think to bow." "You weren't so dazed but that you managed to get away in a hurry." "Why, of course, I was piloting my friends up to the lily pond," he returned, still unruffled, "and much as I desired, I couldn't pause to visit with you." They had now reached Chip's home. She halted at the gate, turned, and looked at him. "I hope we may be friends, now that you have scolded me enough," he added. "I had a delightful week with you last summer. I've lived it over many times. May I not call here to-morrow, and you and I will gather some of the lilies?" A droll smile crept over Chip's face at this. "Yes, if you will bring your lady friends also," she answered. And with a "Thank you," and raising his hat once more, this smooth-spoken fellow, impervious to sarcasm, turned away. "Who was the young man?" Aunt Abby queried, when Chip entered the house.