sure to come; for he has business at L-----' (that was our
market-town), 'and will require a little refreshment before
he goes.'

I submitted accordingly, with the best grace I could;
and, happily, I had not long to wait. Mr. Wilson soon
arrived, and, indisposed for business as I was at that
moment, and little as I cared for the field or its owner, I
forced my attention to the matter in hand, with very credit-
able determination, and quickly concluded the bargain--
perhaps more to the thrifty farmer's satisfaction than he
cared to acknowledge. Then, leaving him to the discussion
of his substantial 'refreshment,' I gladly quitted the house,
and went to look after my reapers.

Leaving them busy at work on the side of the valley, I
ascended the hill, intending to visit a corn-field in the more
elevated regions, and see when it would be ripe for the sickle.
But I did not visit it that day; for, as I approached, I
beheld, at no great distance, Mrs. Graham and her son
coming down in the opposite direction. They saw me; and
Arthur already was running to meet me; but I immediately
turned back and walked steadily homeward; for I had fully
determined never to encounter his mother again; and
regardless of the shrill voice in my ear, calling upon me to
'wait a moment,' I pursued the even tenor of my way; and
he soon relinquished the pursuit as hopeless, or was called
away by his mother. At all events, when I looked back, five
minutes after, not a trace of either was to be seen.

This incident agitated and disturbed me most unaccount-
ably--unless you would account for it by saying that Cupid's
arrows not only had been too sharp for me, but they were
barbed and deeply rooted, and I had not yet been able to
wrench them from my heart. However that be, I was
rendered doubly miserable for the remainder of the day

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