Page:The leopard's spots - a romance of the white man's burden-1865-1900 (IA leopardsspotsrom00dixo).pdf/216

 "That's fine, we wouldn't need a barometer on life's voyage, would we?"

"No, but you will be looking for a pilot and a harbour before you've known her a month. Her upper lip is a little fuller and projects slightly over the lower, and they are both beautifully fluted and curved like the petals of a flower, which makes the most tantalising mouth a standing challenge for a kiss."

"Oh! Auntie, you're joking! You never saw such a girl. You're breaking into my heart, stealing glances at my ideal."

"All right, sir, wait and see for yourself. She has pretty shell-like ears, her laughter is full, contagious, and like music. She plays divinely on the piano, can't sing a note, but dresses to kill. You might as well wind up your affairs, and get ready for the first serious work of your life. You will have your hands full after you see her."

"But did I understand you to say she's rich?"

"Yes, they say her father is worth half a million."

"Do you think she could be interested in the poor in this county?"

"Yes, she doesn't seem to know she's an heiress. Her father, the General, is a deacon in the Baptist church at Independence, and hates dudes and fops with all his old-fashioned soul. His idea of a man is one of character, and the capacity of achievement, not merely a possessor of money. Still, I imagine he is going to give any man trouble who tries to take his daughter away from him."

"I'm afraid that money lets me out of the race."

"Nothing of the sort, when you see her you will never allow a little thing like that to worry you."

"It's not her dollars that will worry me. It's the fact that she's got them and I haven't. But, anyhow, Auntie,