"Indeed! Do women dwell in your fancy as fixed stars?"
"Fixed stars are all suns, are they not? I know of one with wonderful powers of attraction," said he, with a significant glance.
"Does she live in New York?" quietly asked Annie.
"You know well she does not. She is a votaress of nature, and, as I said, I shall search in every burr for the hidden clew to her favor."
"You had better look for chestnuts, sir."
"Chestnuts! Fit food for children and chipmonks. I am in quest of the only manna that ever fell from heaven. Have you read Longfellow's 'Golden Legend,' Miss Walton?"
"Yes," she replied, with a slight contraction of the brow as if the suggestion were not pleasing.
The children now came running toward them and wished to resume their old places. "No, sir," said Walter, decisively. "You deserted your lady's side and your place is filled; and Susie—
"'Thou fair, false one,'
—you renounced me for a chipmonk. My wounded heart has found solace in another."