“I so often think of this tree and this mossy bank,” said Jeff. “I have been wondering all the way up from Louisville if you would sit here with me a while.”
“You might have employed your time better.”
“Yes, I might have wondered what you were giving the motormen for dinner. Judith, will you do me a favor? Please put down that milk can. I want to ask you something and I’d be much happier and feel much safer if you’d let the buttermilk can roll down the hill. There now, that’s a good girl!” He gave the can a push and it rolled away, with much banging and jangling.
“First, let me ask your advice. The old men of Ryeville have sent for me to come and talk with them. It seems they want me to run for 264 the office of county attorney. They say they are sure their candidate will be elected and I believe they can control the politics of the county from their hotel porch. I’ll accept their proposition if you will tell me to.”
“Why should I decide?”
“Oh, Judith, can’t you see that life isn’t worth living in Louisville or anywhere else if you are not with me? I have been loving you from the minute I first saw you standing on the platform swinging your milk can. In fact, I believe I have been loving you from the time I saw you on the trolley that day I got back home. Why I didn’t love you when you were such a spunky little kid, tramping around peddling fish and rabbits and blackberries, I don’t know. I must have been a blind fool or I would have. Anyhow, I love the memory of you when you were a little girl. Can’t you care for me a little, Judith?”
“I believe I can.”
“And you won’t mind putting the nor back on your name?”
“No, Jeff. I won’t mind.”
Long the lovers sat under the great tree. The seven o’clock trolley whistled for the next to the last stop, but Jeff and Judith did not hear it. Fortunately for the hungry men, Uncle 265 Billy had seen from afar the young people seeking the shade of the beech grove and when Judith did not return to the house he had astutely reasoned that matters of import were detaining her.