Page:Frank Stockton - Vizier of the two-horned Alexander.djvu/125

TWO-HORNED ALEXANDER his sides as he walked. He was a young man, bushy-bearded, with bright and observant eyes. As he passed us, he looked very hard at my companion, and, I am sorry to say, she turned her head and gazed steadfastly at him.

"'That 's a fine figure of a man, she said. 'He looks strong enough for anything.' "I did n't encourage her admiration. 'He might be made useful on a farm, I said; 'if his legs were as big as the rest of him, he could draw a plow as well as an ox.

"She made no answer to this; but her interest in astronomy seemed to decrease, and she soon proposed that we should turn back to the town. On the way we met the stranger again, and this time he stopped and asked us some questions about the country and the neighborhood. All the time we were talking he and my scholar were looking at each other, and each of them seemed entirely satisfied with the survey. The next day the girl was very inattentive at school, and in the afternoon, when I hoped to take a walk with her, I could not find her, and went out by myself. Before long I saw her