A feeling of elation grew in her--elation born of her abounding health,
fine youth, the glory of the scene, the high intoxication of first love.

She beguiled the way with mountain ballads, paused, here and there, to
pluck some lovely flower, accumulating, presently, a nosegay so enormous
as to be almost unwieldy, whistled to the birds and smiled as they sent
back their answers, laughed at the fierce scolding of a squirrel on a
limb, heard the doleful wailing of young foxes and crept near enough
their burrow to see them huddled in the sand before it, waiting eagerly
for their foraging mother and the breakfast she would bring.

When the trail crossed a clear brook she paused upon the crude, low
bridge and watched the trout dart to and fro beneath it; where it
debouched upon a hill-side of commanding view she stopped there,
breathing hard from sheer enjoyment of the glory of the prospect spread
before her in the valley.

She was very happy, as she almost always was of summer mornings. The
mountain air, circulating in her young and sturdy lungs, was almost as
intoxicating as strong wine and made the blood leap through her
arteries, thrill through her veins.

The worries of the night before seemed, for a time, to have been
groundless. She ceased to fear her meeting with the bluegrass gentlefolk
and looked forward to it with real confidence and pleasure. Her
confidence in Layson was abounding, and she assured herself till the
thought became conviction that he never would permit her to subject
herself to anything which properly could be humiliating.