I'll bet my hat Bates means business with
Miss Harriet."
Westerfelt walked into the parlor of the hotel. A colored girl was
sweeping the carpet and went out to tell Harriet that he wished to see
her. Harriet didn't keep him waiting long. On rising she had dressed
for church. She wore a pretty gray gown with a graceful bow of ribbon
at her throat, and carried her cloak on her arm. She put it on the
sofa as she entered. She was agitated, and he felt her hand quiver
when he took it.
"I came to ask you to drive to the camp-ground with me," he said, as
her hand slid out of his; "will you go?"
"Why--why," she stammered, "I--I--promised to go with Mr. Bates; I'm
very sorry; if I had known--"
He glanced through the open door; his face had suddenly grown cold,
hard, and suspicious. He was jealous even of a man she had never been
with before. She sank into a chair and looked up at him helplessly,
appealingly. She knew he was jealous, and in that proof of his love
her heart went out to him.
"Oh, it don't matter," he said, quickly. "I'm going to drive out
myself anyway, and I thought if you had nobody to take you, you might
like to go 'long.
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