“You never saw him before; but—he’s the son of his father. It’s the same name. He’s a youngster I’ve picked up. The boy came here from the country to go into the law. He’s a graduate of Tippecanoe College—my college and his father’s.”
“He’s very good-looking; is he anything else?”
“I hope so; I think so. I’ll send him around to pay his respects. He must know you.”
It was nearly six o’clock, and a procession of women was coming down the stairs to Mrs. Carr’s front door, as Rodney Merriam and Morris Leighton left the house with Mrs. Forrest and Zelda. The waiting carriages made a long line in the street.
“How gay it looks! The old town really has a metropolitan air at last. A tea—with men present—it’s almost beyond belief!”
“The town’s not so bad, Julia; and it’s a nice comfortable place for one’s old age. You’d better get reconciled.”
Mrs. Forrest’s carriage had drawn up to the curb and Leighton shut her into it.
“Be sure to come to my house to-morrow, Zee,” she called to the girl.
“Miss Dameron’s carriage!”
A shabby vehicle emerged from the line and came forward. Zelda and Leighton were talking animatedly together; and Merriam watched the approaching carriage with interest, standing back from the curb. It was a box-like, closed carriage of an old pattern, drawn by one horse, with the driver mounted on a low seat in front. Leighton opened the door.