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caused
him to lose his temper and forget his dignity during the afternoon.
    "In what way?" asked Thérèse. "It would be better to dismiss him than
to rail at him. He takes reproof badly and is extremely treacherous."
    "Mill hands are not plentiful, or I should send him off at once. Oh,
he is an unbearable fellow. The men told me of a habit he has of
letting the logs roll off the carriage, causing a good deal of
annoyance and delay in replacing them. I was willing enough to believe
it might be accidental, until I caught him today in the very act. I am
thankful not to have knocked him down."
    Hosmer felt exhilarated. The excitement of his encounter with Joçint
had not yet died away; this softly delicious atmosphere; the subtle
aroma of the pines; his unlooked for meeting with Thérèse—all
combined to stir him with unusual emotions.
    "What a splendid creature Beauregard is," he said, smoothing the
animal's glossy mane with the end of his riding whip. The horses were
walking slowly in step, and close together.
    "Of course he is," said Thérèse proudly, patting the arched neck of
her favorite. "Beauregard is a blooded animal, remember. He quite
throws poor Nelson in the shade," looking pityingly at Hosmer's
heavily built iron-grey.
    "Don't cast any slurs on Nelson, Mrs. Lafirme. He's done me service
that's worthy of praise—worthy of better treatment than he gets."
    "I know. He deserves the best, poor fellow. When you go away you
should turn him out to pasture, and forbid any one to use him."
    "It would be a good idea; but—I'm not so certain about going away."
    "Oh I beg your pardon. I fancied your movements were directed by some
unchangeable laws."
    "Like the planets in their orbits? No, there is no absolute need of my
going; the business which would have called me away can be done as
readily by letter. If I heed my inclination it certainly holds me
here."
    "I don't understand that. It's natural enough that I should be fond of
the country; but you—I don't believe you've been away for three
months, have you? and city life certainly has its attractions."
    "It's beastly," he answered decidedly. "I greatly prefer the
country—this country; though I can imagine a condition under which it
would be less agreeable; insupportable, in fact."
    He was looking fixedly at Thérèse, who let her eyes rest for an
instant in the unaccustomed light of his, while she asked "and the
condition?"
    "If you were to go away. Oh! it would take the soul out of my life."
    It was now her turn to look in all directions save the one in which
his glance invited her. At a slight and imperceptible motion of the
bridle, well understood by Beauregard, the horse sprang forward into a
quick canter, leaving Nelson and his rider to follow as they could.
    Hosmer overtook her when she stopped to let her horse drink at the
side of the hill where the sparkling spring water came trickling from
the moist rocks, and emptied into the long out-scooped trunk of a
cypress, that served as trough. The two horses plunged their heads
deep in the clear water; the proud Beauregard quivering with
satisfaction, as arching his neck and shaking off the clinging
moisture, he waited for his more deliberate companion.
    "Doesn't it give one a sympathetic pleasure," said Thérèse, "to see
the relish with which they drink?"
    "I never thought of it," replied Hosmer, cynically. His face was
unusually flushed, and diffidence was plainly seizing him again.
    Thérèse was now completely mistress of herself, and during the
remainder of the ride she talked incessantly, giving him no chance for
more than the briefest answers.

VI - Melicent Talks
*
    "David Hosmer, you are the most supremely unsatisfactory man
existing."
    Hosmer had come in from his ride, and seating himself in the large
wicker chair that stood in the center of the room, became at once
absorbed in reflections. Being addressed, he looked up at his sister,
who sat sidewards on the edge of a table slightly removed, swaying