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 ing eyes. He shook his head solemnly, as if deploring the defiance of irresponsible girlhood. Eudora gave him a push, with a little snort of a laugh at his solemn teasing.

"Oh, you shut up!" she said, although Tom had not opened his close-latched and apparently most dignified mouth.

"If you want something to do you can cook for Tom and Waco," Mrs. Ellison told her hot-cheeked, red daughter. "That'll be more becoming to a girl than straddlin' around"

"Can't you think of any other word, mother?" Eudora asked pettishly. "It's not so very elegant, to say the least."

"It's as elegant as the doin's it describes. You can cook for the boys; that'll be"

"Well, then, I will cook for them."

"Not at all," said Tom, with the voice of high authority. "Delightful as it would be, I can't permit it."

"You can't permit it!" Eudora fairly gasped, facing him with genuine rebellion in her eyes. "Well, I like your nerve!"

"Just so," said Tom, inflexibly, calmly. "Pleasant as it is, delightful as it would be, Mr. Johnson and I can't continue living at your expense, madam. That isn't part of the bargain, you know. Mr. Johnson and I will provision ourselves, cook for ourselves, and make our quarters in the bunk-house when not on the road. You are both very-very kind."

"You'd just as well let her cook for you, Tom," Mrs. Ellison said persuasively. "Shell have to cook for some man, sooner or later."