University of Virginia Library

13. CHAPTER XIII.
VERTY EXPRESSES A DESIRE TO IMITATE MR. JINKS.

The voice which they heard first was that of Mr. Jinks; and
that gentleman was apparently engaged in the pleasant occupation
of complimenting a lady.

“Fairest of your sex!” said the enthusiastic Mr. Jinks, “how
can I express the delight which your presence inspires me with
—ahem!”

The sound of a fan coming in contact with a masculine hand
was heard, and a mincing voice replied:—

“Oh, you are a great flatterer, Mr. Jinks. You are really too
bad. Let us view the beauties of nature.”

“They are not so lovely as those beauties which I have been
viewing since I saw you, my dearest Miss Sallianna.”

(“That's old Scowley's sister, he said so,” whispered Verty.)

“Really, you make me blush,” replied the mincing and languishing
voice—“you men are dreadful creatures!”

“Dreadful!”

“You take advantage of our simplicity and confidence to make
us believe you think very highly of us.”

“Highly! divinest Miss Sallianna! highly is not the word;
extravagantly is better! In the presence of your lovely sex we
feel our hearts expand; our bosoms—hem!—are enlarged, and
we are all your slaves.”

(“Just listen, Redbud!” whispered Verty, laughing.)

“La!” replied the voice, “how gallant you are, Mr. Jinks!”

“No, Madam!” said Mr. Jinks, “I am not gallant!”

“You?”

“Far from it, Madam—I am a bear, a savage, with all the
rest of the female sex; but with you—you—hem! that is different!”

(“Don't go, Redbud!—”

“But, Verty—”

“Just a minute, Redbud.”)

“Yes, a savage; I hate the sex—I distrust them!” continued
Mr. Jinks, in a gloomy tone; “before seeing you, I had made up
my mind to retire forever from the sight of mankind, and live on
roots, or something of that description. But you have changed
me—you have made me human.”

And Mr. Jinks, to judge from his tone of voice, was looking
dignified.

The fair lady uttered a little laugh.

“There it is!” cried Mr. Jinks, “you are always happy—
always smiling and seducing—you are the paragon of your sex.
If it will be any satisfaction to you, Madam, I will immediately
die for you, and give up the ghost.”

Which Mr. Jinks seemed to consider wholly different from the
former.

“Heigho!” said the lady, “you are very devoted, sir.”

“I should be, Madam.”

“I am not worthy of so much praise.”

“You are the pearl of your sex, Madam.”

“Oh, no! I am only a simple young girl—but twenty-five
last January—and I have no pretensions in comparison with
many others. Immured in this quiet retreat, with a small property,
and engaged in the opprobrious occupation of cultivating
the youthful mind—”

“A noble employment, Madam.”

“Yes, very pleasing; with this, and with a contemplation of
the beautiful criterions of nature, I am happy.”

“Fairest of your sex, is this all that is necessary for happiness?”
observed Mr. Jinks.

“What more?”

“Is solitude the proper sphere of that divine sex which in all
ages of the world—ahem!—has—”

“Oh, sir!”

And the flirting of the fan was heard.

“Should not woman have a companion—a consoler, who—”

The fan was evidently used to hide a number of blushes.

“Should not such a lovely creature as yourself,” continued
the enthusiastic Jinks, “choose one to—”

Redbud rose quickly, and said, blushing and laughing:—

“Oh, come, Verty!”

“No, no—listen!” said Verty, “I do believe—”

“No, no, no!” cried Redbud, hurriedly, “it was very wrong—”

“What?—courting.”

“Oh, no! It's mean in us to listen!”

And she went out of the arbor, followed by Verty, who said,
“I'm glad courting ain't wrong; I think I should like to court
you, Redbud.”

Redbud made no reply to this innocent speech of Mr. Verty,
but walked on. The noise which they made in leaving the arbor
attracted the attention of the personages whose conversation we
have been compelled to overhear; and Mr. Jinks and his companion
passed through an opening in the shrubbery, and appeared
in full view.

Miss Sallianna was a young lady of thirty-two or three, with
long corkscrew curls, a wiry figure—a smile, of the description
called “simpler,” on her lips, and an elegant mincing carriage of
the person as she moved. See carried a fan, which seemed to
serve for a number of purposes: to raise artificial breezes, cover
imaginary blushes, and flirt itself against the hands or other
portions of the persons of gentlemen making complimentary
speeches.

She displayed some temporary embarrassment upon seeing
Redbud and Verty; and especially started at that young
gentleman.

Mr. Jinks was more self-possessed.

“Ah, my dear sir!” he said, stalking toward Verty, and grimacing,
at the same time, at Redbud, “are you there, and with
the fairest of her—hem!”

And Mr. Jinks stopped, nearly caught in the meshes of his
gallantry.

“Yes, this is me, and I've been talking with Redbud,” said
Verty; “is that Miss Sallianna?”

“The lady had recovered her simper; and now flirted her fan
as gracefully as ever.

“See how your reputation has gone far and wide,” said Mr.
Jinks, with a fascinating grimace.

“You know you were talking of her when—how do you do,
Miss Sallianna,” said Verty, holding out his hand.

“La!” said the fair one, inserting the points of her fingers
into Verty's palm, “and Mr. Jinks was talking of me? What
did he say, sir,—I suppose it was in town.”

“No, ma'am,” said Verty, “it was at the gate, when I came
to see Redbud—the pigeon showed me the way. He said you
were something—but I've forgot.”

“The paragon of beauties and the pearl of loveliness,” suggested
Mr. Jinks.

“I don't think it was that,” Verty replied, “but it was something
pretty—prettier than what you said just now, when you
were courting Miss Sallianna, you know.”

Mr. Jinks cleared his throat—Miss Sallianna blushed.

“Really—” said Mr. Jinks.

“What children!” said the lady, with a patronizing air;
“Reddy, do you know your lesson?”

By which question, Miss Sallianna evidently intended to reduce
Miss Redbud to her proper position of child.

“Yes, ma'am,” said Redbud “and Mrs. Scowley said I might
come in here.”

“With this—young man?”

“Yes, ma'am. He is a very old friend of mine.”

“Indeed!” simpered the lady.

“Are you not, Verty?”

But Verty was intently watching Longears, who was trying to
insert his nose between two bars of the garden gate.

“Anan?” he said.

“La, what does he mean?” said the lady; see! he's looking
at something.”

Verty was only making friendly signs to Longears to enter the
garden. Longears no sooner understood that he was called, than
he cleared the fence at one bound, and came up to his master.

Mr. Jinks had not heard his own voice for at least half a minute;
so he observed, loftily:

“A handsome dog! a very handsome dog, sir! What did you
say his name was? Longears? Yes? Here, Longears!”

And he made friendly signs of invitation to the hound. Longears
availed himself of these indications of friendship by rearing
up on Mr. Jinks, and leaving a dust-impression of his two paws
upon that gentleman's ruffled shirt-bosom.

Verty laughed, and dragged him away.

“Longears,” he said, “I'm surprised at you—and here, too,
where you should conduct yourself better than usual!”

Miss Sallianna was about to say something, when a bell was
heard to ring.

“Oh!” said Redbud, “there's school. Playtime's over.”

“Over?” said Verty, with an exhibition of decided ill-humor.

“Yes, sir,” said Miss Sallianna, “and my young pupil must
now return to her studies. Mr. Jinks—”

And the lady threw a languishing glance on her cavalier.

“You will come soon again, and continue our discussion—of
—of—the beauties of nature? We are very lonely here.”

“Will I come?” cried the enthusiastic Jinks; and having
thus displayed, by the tone in which his words were uttered, the
depth of his devotion, the grasshopper gentleman gallantly pressed

the hand held out to him, and, with a lofty look, made his exit
out of the garden.

Verty followed. But first he said to Redbud, smiling:

“I'm going to see Miss Lavinia this very day, to ask her to
let me come to see you. You know I must come to see you,
Redbud. I don't know why, but I must.”

Redbud blushed, and continued to caress Longears, who submitted
to this ceremony with great equanimity.

“Come!” said Miss Sallianna, “let us return, Miss Summers.”

“Yes, ma'am,” said Redbud; “good-bye, Verty,” she added,
looking at the boy with her kind, smiling eyes, and lowering her
voice, “remember what you promised me—to read your Bible.”

And smiling again, Redbud gave him her hand, and then followed
Miss Sallianna, who sailed on before—her head resting
languidly on one shoulder—her fan arranged primly upon her
maiden chin—her eyes raised in contemplation to the sky.

Poor Verty smiled and sighed, and followed Redbud with his
eyes, and saw her disappear—the kind, tender eyes fixed on him
to the last. He sighed again, as she passed from his sight; and
so left the garden. Mr. Jinks was swaggering amiably toward
town—Cloud was standing, like a statue, where his master had
left him. Verty, leaning one arm on the saddle, murmured:

“Really, Redbud is getting prettier than ever, and I wonder
if I am what Mr. Roundjacket calls `in love' with her?”

Finding himself unable to answer this question, Verty shook
his head wisely, got into the saddle, and set forward toward the
town, Longears following duly in his wake.