"That is exactly what I said, and I meant ever word of it," declared Jerry. "I will not conceal from you, Mrs. Atchison, my determination that your brother shall be my second husband." There was no question of Mrs. Atchison's complete surprise now. "Your _second_ husband, child?" "My second husband, Mrs. Atchison. Life is short at best, and I was told by my old mammy when I was a little child--she turned out afterward to be a real voodoo woman--that I should be married twice. I am very superstitious and that made a great impression on my mind. It is not in keeping with my ideas of life, Mrs. Atchison, to be long a widow, so that I think it perfectly right to choose a second husband even before I am quite sure that I have chosen wisely for my first." "Has the military person weak lungs?" "No; but his mind is not strong. Anything sudden like apoplexy would be sure to go hard with him." "Then you should be careful not to shock him. It would be almost criminal to break your engagement with him." "That rests entirely with him, Mrs. Atchison. The man I love must be brave, tender and true. After our present difficulties are over I shall know whether Rutherford Gillingwater is the man I believe I am going to marry in October." "But you spoke a moment ago of Tommy's official position. Is this arrangement a matter of general knowledge in North Carolina?" "No; it is not. You and he and I are the only persons who know it. Papa does not know it yet; and when papa finds it out it may go hard with him. You see, Mrs. Atchison"--and Jerry leaned forward and rested an elbow on the tea-table and tucked her little chin into the palm of her hand--"you see, papa is very absent-minded, as great men often are, and he went away and forgot to perform some duties which the honor and dignity of the state require to be performed immediately. There are some wicked men who have caused both North Carolina and South Carolina a great deal of trouble, but they must not be punished in this state, but in South Carolina, which is just over there somewhere. There are many reasons for that which would be very tiresome to tell you about, but the principal one is that Barbara Osborne, the daughter of the governor of South Carolina, is the snippiest and stuck-upest person I have ever known, and while your brother and I are in charge of this state I have every intention of annoying her in every way I can. When Mr. Ardmore has caught those wicked men I spoke of, who really do not belong in this state at all, they will be marched straight into South Carolina and then we shall see what Governor Osborne does about it; and we will show Barbara Osborne, whose father never had to paper _his_ dining-room, after the war between the states, with bonds of the Confederacy--we will show her that there's a good deal of difference between the Dangerfields and the Osbornes, and between the proud Old North State and the state of South Carolina."