金布尔利穿着“华丽”的衣服来到维格农场。他将自己的求婚目标锁定在美丽的贝丝身上，将剩下两个作为“候选人”。三个调皮的女孩听明白来意后“鼓励”他向自己心仪的女孩表白。这场华丽的闹剧最终会怎样收场呢？
The boy's musings confirmed him in the idea that his mother's scheme was entirely practical.He didn't hankera much to marry，being young and fairly satisfied with his present lot；but opportunities like this did not often occur，and it seemed his boundenb duty to take advantage of it.
He got the "store clothes"next day，together with a scarletnecktie that was "all made up in the latest style，"as Sam Cotting assured him，and a pair of yellow kid gloves "？t fer a howlin'swell."Skim wasn't sure，at ？rst，about the gloves，but capitulatedc when Sam declared they were "real city？ed."In the evening he "togged upd，"with his mother's help，and then walked over to the Wegg farm.
Beth answered the knock at the door.The living room was brightly lighted；Uncle John and the Major were playing checkers in a corner and Patsy was softly drumming on the piano.Louise had a book and Beth had been engaged upon some fancy—work.
When the door opened Skim bobbed his head and said：
"Evenin'，mom.I've come a—visitin'."Beth conquered an inclination to smile."Won't you come in？"she said，sweetly.
"Thankee；I will.I'm Skimbley Clark，ye know；down t'
the village.Ma keeps a store there."
"I'm pleased to meet you，Mr.Clark.Allow me to introduce to you my uncle and cousins，"said the girl，her eyes dancing with amusement.
Skim acknowledged the introductions with intense gravity，and then sat down upon a straight—backed chair near the piano，this being the end of the room where the three girls were grouped.Uncle John gave a chuckle and resumed his game with the Major，who whispered that he would give a dollar for an oil painting of Mr.Clark—if it couldn't be had for less.
Louise laid down her book and regarded the visitor wonderingly.Patsy scented fun and drew a chair nearer the group.Beth resumed her embroidery with a demure smile that made Skim decide at once that "he picked the pretty one."Indeed，the decision did justice to his discretion.BethDe Graf was a rarely beautiful girl and quite outshonea her cousins in this respect.Louise might be attractive and Patsy fascinating；but Beth was the real beauty of the trio，and the most charming trait in her character was her unconsciousness that she excelled in good looks.
SoSkimstaredhard at Beth，andanswered thepreliminary remarks addressed to him by Patsy and Louise in a perfunctoryb manner.
"Won't you take off your gloves？"asked Louise，soberly.
"It's so warm this evening，you know."
The boy looked at his hands.
"It's sech a tarnal job to git 'em on agin，"he replied."Don't put them on，then，"advised Patsy."Here in thecountry we are allowed to dispense witha much unnecessary social etiquette.""Air ye？Then off they come.I ain't much stuck ongloves，myself；but ma she 'lowed that a feller goin'courtin'orter look like a sport."A chorus of wild laughter，which greeted this speech，had the effect of making Skim stare at the girls indignantly.He couldn't ？nd anything funny in his remark；but there they sat facing him and uttering hysterical peals of merriment，until the tears ran down their cheeks.
Silently and with caution he removed the yellow gloves from his hands，and so gave the foolish creatures a chance "to laugh out their blamed giggle."But they were watching him，and saw that he wasdisconcerted.They had no mind to ruin the enjoyment in store for them by offending their guest，so they soon resumed a fitting gravity and began to assist the youth to forget their rudeness.
"May I ask，"said Patsy，very graciously，"which one of usyou intend to favor with your attentions？""I ain't much used to sech things，"he replied，looking down at his big hands and growing a little red—faced."P'raps Ihadn't orter tell，before the rest o'ye.""Oh，yes；do tell！"pleaded Louise."We're so anxious to know.""I don't s'pose it's right clever to pick an'choose when ye're all by，"said Skim，regaining con？dence."But ma，she 'lowed thet with three gals handy I orter git one on 'em，to say the leasta.""If you got more than one，"remarked Beth，calmly，"itwould be illegal.""Oh，one's enough，"said Skim，with a grin."Peggy says it's too many，an'a feller oughtn't to take his gal out'n a grab—bag.""I should think not，indeed，"returned Patsy."But hereare three of us openly displayed，and unless you turn us all down as unworthy，it will be necessary for you to make a choice.""What foolishness are you girls up to now？"demandedUncle John，catching a stray word from the other corner while engaged in a desperate struggle with the Major.
"This is a time for you to keep quiet，Uncle，"retortedPatsy，merrily."We've got important things to consider that are none of your affairs，whatever."Skim reflected that he didn't want this one，except as a last resortb.She was "too bossyc.""When I started out，"he said，"I jest come a—courtin'，as any feller might do thet wasn't much acquainted.But ef I've got to settle down to one o'ye—"He hesitated.