"Do men always fall in love with a girl because she is pretty?"
"Yes, Phil. They begin because she is pretty, and they love her more every day when she is so sweet and so good as my darling Phil."
All this time Jack had been leaning on his oars, and the boat was drifting slowly down the current. It was now close to the punt where the old gentleman sat watching them.
"They have made it up," he said. "That's right." And he chuckled.
She looked dreamy and contented; the tears were gone out of her eyes, and a sweet softness lay there, like the sunshine on a field of grass.
"She is a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valley," said this old gentleman. "That young fellow ought to be banished from the State for making other people envious of his luck. Looks a good-tempered rogue, too."
He observed with delight that they were thinking of each other while the boat drifted nearer to his punt. Presently—bump—bump!
Jack seized his sculls and looked up guiltily. The old gentleman was nodding and smiling to Phillis.
"Made it up?" he asked most impertinently. "That is right, that is right. Give you joy, sir, give you joy. Wish you both happiness. Wish I had it to do all over again. God bless you, my dear!"
His jolly red face beamed like the setting sun under his big straw hat, and he wagged his head and laughed.