A boisterous chorus greeted the boatman: "Hello, Harry! Did you find
anything? You're just in time. What'll you have?"
With a wave of greeting, the man fastened his boat to the landing, and
started up the slope.
"He'll have a Scotch, of course!" said some one. "Did anybody ever know
him to take anything else? Go and get it, Jim. He'll be nearly dead for
a drink after rowing all that distance."
The woman in the hammock lowered her book, and lay watching the man as
he came up the path toward the steps.
Harry Green, who, apparently, was a person of importance among them,
seated himself in an easy chair on the veranda, and accepted the glass
proffered by Jim.
"Did you find any eggs, Harry?" demanded one. The man first refreshed
himself with a long drink; then looked around with a grin of amused
appreciation: "I didn't get any eggs," he said; "but I found the nest
all right."
A shout of laughter greeted the reply.
"What sort of nest, Harry? Duck? Turkey? Hen? Dove? Or rooster?" came
from different members of the chorus.
Raising his glass as though offering a toast, he answered: "Love! my
children; love!"
A yell of delight came from the company, accompanied by a volley of:
"A love-nest! Well, what do you know about that! Good boy, Harry! Takes
Harry to find a love-nest! He's the boy to send for eggs! I should say,
yes! Martha will like that! Oh, won't she!"
This last remark turned their attention toward the woman in the hammock,
and they called to her: "Martha! Oh, Martha! Come here! You better
look after Harry! Harry has found a love-nest! Told you something would
happen if you let him go away alone!"
Putting aside her book, the woman came to join the company on the
veranda.
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