“If I had been in thy place,” said Mrs. Crowder, reflectively, “sometimes I would have enjoyed a long rest of bachelordom; it would have been a variety.”

“Oh, I have had variety of that kind,” said he.  “For many succeeding decades I have been widower, or bachelor, whichever you choose to call it.

“As I was saying, this girl pleased me very much.  She was good-looking, bright, and witty, and her dark, flashing eyes won her a great deal of attention from the young men of the place; but she would not have anything to do with them.  They could not boast much in regard to intelligence or education, nor were any of them in very good circumstances; and so, in spite of my years, she seemed to take very kindly to me, and I made up my mind I would marry her the approaching autumn.  I had some money, and there was a house with a piece of land for sale near the town.  This I planned to buy, and to settle down as an agriculturist.  I was tired of school-teaching.”

“No wonder,” said Mrs. Crowder, “as thee intended to take out of it its principal attraction.”

“We were walking, one evening, over the fields, talking of astronomy, in which she took a great interest, when we saw a man approaching who was evidently a stranger.  He was a fellow of medium height, but he gave the impression of great size and vigor.  As he came nearer, striding over the rough places, and paying no attention to paths, I saw that he was very broad-shouldered, with a heavy body and thick neck.  His legs were probably of average size, but they looked somewhat small in comparison with his body and his long arms, which swung by 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.

[Illustration:  “‘She turned her head.’”]

“‘That’s a fine figure of a man,’ she said.  ’He looks strong enough for anything.’

“I didn’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 sitting under a tree, talking to the stranger of yesterday.”

“She was a regular flirt,” said Mrs. Crowder.

“Apparently she was,” replied her husband; “but although I might have excused her, considering how much better suited this stranger was to her, in point of years at least, I was not willing to withdraw and leave her to another, especially as he might be a person entirely unworthy of her.