"Oh，you must really take one at a time，you know，"asserted Louise."It's the only proper way.""Then I'll start on thet dark—eyed one thet's a sewin'，"hesaid，slowly.
Beth looked up from her work and smiled.
"Go ahead，Mr.Clark，"she said，encouragingly."My name is Beth.Had you forgotten it？""Call me Skim，"he said，gently.
"Very well，Skim，—Now look here，Patsy Doyle，if you're going to sit there and giggle you'll spoil everything.Mr.Clark wants to court，and it's getting late.""P'raps I've went fur enough fer tonight，"remarkedSkim，uneasily."Next time they'll leave us alone，an'then—""Oh，don't postpone it，please！"begged Beth，giving the boy a demure glance from her soft brown eyes."And don't mind my cousins.I don't.""These things kain't be hurried，"he said."Si Merklecourted three weeks afore he popped.He tol'me so.""Then he was a very foolish man，"declared Patsy，positively."Just look at Beth！She's dying to have you speak out.What's the use of waiting，when she knows why you arehere？"By this time Skim had been flattered to the extent of destroying any stray sense he might ever have possessed.His utter ignorance of girls and their ways may have been partly responsible for his idiocya，or his mother's conviction that all that was necessary was for him to declare himself in order to be accepted had misled him and induced him to abandon any native diffidenceb he might have had.Anyway，the boy fell into the snarec set by the mischievous young ladies without a suspicion of his impending fate.
"Miss Beth，"said he，"ef yer willin'，I'll marry ye；anytime ye say.I agreed t'help Dick Pearson with the harvestin'，but I'll try to'git Ned Long to take my place，an'it don't matter much，nohowd.""But I couldn't have you break an engagement，"cried Beth，hastily.
"Why not？"
"Oh，it wouldn't be right，at all.Mr.Pearson would never forgive me，"she asserted.
"Can't ye—"
"No；not before harvest，Skim.I couldn't think of it.""But arterward—""No；I've resolved never to marry after harvest.
So，as you're engaged，and I don't approve of breaking engagements，I must refuse your proposition entirely."Skim looked surprised；then perplexed；then annoyed."P'raps I didn't pop jest right，"he murmured，growingred again.
"You popped beautifully，"declared Patsy."But Beth is very peculiar，and set in her ways.I'm afraid she wouldn't make you a good wife，anyhow.""Then p'raps the gal in blue—""No；"said Louise."I have the same prejudices as my cousin.If you hadn't been engaged for the harvest I might have listened to you；but that settles the matter de？nitely，as far as I am concerned."Skim sighed.
"Ma'll be mad as a horneta ef I don't get any of ye，"he remarked，sadly."She's paid Sam Cotting fer this courtin'suit，an'he won't take back the gloves on no 'count arter they've been wore；an'thet'll set ma crazy.Miss Patsy，ef yo'think ye could—""I'm sure I couldn't，"said Patsy，promptly."I'm awfully sorry to break your heart，Skim，dear，and ruin your future life，and make you misanthropicb and cynical，and spoil your mother's investment and make her mad as a hornet.All this grieves me terribly；but I'll recover from it，if you'll only give me time.And I hope you'll ？nd a wife that will be morecongeniala than I could ever be."Skim didn't understand all these words，but the general tenorb of the speech was convincing，and filled him with dismay.
"Rich gals is tarnal skeerce in these parts，"he said，regretfully.
Then they gave wayc again，and so lusty was the merriment that Uncle John and the Major abandoned their game and came across the room to discover the source of all this amusement.
"What's up，young women？"asked their Uncle，glancingfrom their laughing faces to the lowering，sullen one of the boy，who had only now begun to suspect that he was being "poked fun at.""Oh，Uncle！"cried Patsy；"you've no idea how near youhave been to losing us.We have each had an offer of marriage within the last half hour！""Dear me！"ejaculated Uncle John.
"It shows the young man's intelligence and good taste，"said the Major，much amused."But is it a Mormon ye are，sir，to want all three？"directing a keen glance at Skim.
"Naw，'tain't，"he returned，wholly disgusted with the outcome of his suit."All three got as't 'cause none of 'em's got sense enough t'know a good thing when they seen it.""But I do，"said the Major，stoutly；"and I maintain thatyou're a good thing，and always will be.I hope，sir，you'll call 'round and see me in Baltimore next year.I'll not be there，but ye can leave your card，just the same.""Please call again，sir，"added Uncle John；"about October—just before snow ？ies."The boy got up.
"I don't keer none，"he said，defiantly."It's all ma's fault，gittin'me laughed at，an'she won't hear the last of it in a hurry，nuther.""Be gentle with her，Skim，"suggested Beth，softly."Remember she has to face the world with you by her side."Having no retort for this raillery，which he felt rather thanunderstood，Skim seized his hat and fled.Then Patsy wiped the tears from her eyes and said：
"Wasn't it grand，girls？I haven't had so much fun since I was born."