as she was isn't according to regulation. We men are apt to act like the boys
we used to be and go for what we want without thinking of the consequences."

"It's the consequences that please me most. If you had been dependent on
Mumpson, Malonys, and Wigginses for your home comfort you wouldn't worry about
the talk of people who'd never raise a finger for you. Well, goodbye, I'm in
a hurry. Your heart's in the right place, Tom, and some day you'll come out
and take dinner with me. One dinner, such as she'll give you, will bring you
round. One of our steady dishes is a bunch of flowers and I enjoy 'em, too.
What do you think of that for a hard-headed old fellow like me?"

Some men are chilled by public disapproval and waver under it, but Holcroft
was thereby only the more strongly confirmed in his course. Alida had won his
esteem as well as his good will, and it was the instinct of his manhood to
protect and champion her. He bought twice as many flowers and seeds as she
had asked for, and also selected two simple flower vases; then started on his
return with the feeling that he had a home.

Alida entered upon her duties to the poultry with almost the pleasure of a
child. She first fed them, then explored every accessible nook and hiding
place in the barn and outbuildings. It was evident that many of the biddies
had stolen their nests, and some were brooding upon them with no disposition
to be disturbed. Out of the hundred or more fowls on the place, a good many
were clucking their maternal instincts, and their new keeper resolved to put
eggs under all except the flighty ones that left their nests within two or
three days' trial. As the result of her search, the empty egg basket was in a
fair way to be full again very soon. She gloated over her spoils as she
smilingly assured herself, "I shall take him at his word. I shall spend
nearly all I make this year in fixing up the old house within and without, so
he'll scarcely know it."