Page 49 (1/2)

Then Kate thought of Hiht, for

after nineteen years of Bates men Robert Gray would seem a deified

creature to their wo, while her face flushed with pleasure If she had reone after the blackberries, as it was sure as fate

that she would have done, then she would have met him first, and

he would have courted her instead of Nancy Ellen Suddenly Kate

shook herself savagely and sat straight "Why, you big fool!" she

said "Nancy Ellen went to the berry patch in a pink dress,

wearing a sunbonnet toa blue bowl Think of

the picture she ed old dirt-coloured gingham, Father's boots, and his old

straw hat jammed down tobecause I had the berries to pick He would

have taken one look at 's for

dear life Better cut that idea right out!"

So Kate "cut that idea out" at once, but the operation was

painful, because when one turns ly spots in one's disposition, there is no anaesthetic, nor is

the work done with skilful hands, so the wounds are nuly scars; but Kate was ruthless She resolved never to

think of that brook scene again In life, as she had lived it,

she would not have profited by having been first at the berry

patch Yet she had a right to think of Robert Gray's face, grave

in concern for her, his offers to help, the influence he would

have in her favour with Nancy Ellen Of course if he was forced

to postpone his wedding he would not be pleased; but it was

i Nancy Ellen would

materialize into action on his part No sane man loved a woman as

beautiful as her sister and cast her aside because of a few