Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/108

 your own bribe. Shall it be that excursion to the plantation?"

"I should say so, my brothers. Now for the secret. You must know—"

"Mrs. Harden, you promised; it would not be fair," interrupted Margaret earnestly, a delicious color stealing into her face.

"My dear, if he had said anything else; but we all have our price, and for years I have been pining to see the old Rondelet plantation. You shall go too. It 's a dream of a place, and we don't have to start very early in the morning. Train at eight, you know, then steamer up the river, and then—"

"But you have n't told me yet," interrupted Philip, "who the mysterious beauty is. I have a wager about her with Feuardent. We have both been searching the town to find her."

"Well, I have seen her just as she looks in the thing, with a little skirt to the knees, the vest, the bow and quivers and buskins, and very little beside. I came to the studio early one morning, and would n't be denied. I rattled the door, bit, kicked, scratched, banged, whanged, and raised particular Ned, till Margaret agreed to let me in—"

"On condition that you should promise never to tell about anything that you saw," interrupted Margaret