Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. The Gipps Family Resolve To Know The Colonel's Seckets. Miss Tillik, owing to the shock ot the previous evening, and to overtaxing her brain-power in the composition of her sonnet, was unable to rise next morning in time to help her mother get breakfast, although she was on time to eat it. The colonel had gone out. After breakfast, she followed her mother up-stairs to the colonel's room and sat down in one of the easy chairs; and with her long, bony arms folded in elegant leisure, she looked on, talking in tones of subdued sorrow about that inopportune snore, while her mother, in a contrite, humble way, went about doing up the work. " I was hoping all the evening after Dickel left," crooned Miss Tillie, mournfully, " that you'd wake up and go off to bed; but I hated to tell you to, for fear of the colonel's thinking I wanted to be left alone with him. But I wish now I had!" "I don't think you'd better grieve about that no more," returned Mrs. Gipps, striving to appear sympathetic, as she beat up the colonel's pillows. " If he loves you " " Well, he does love me! " cried Miss Tillie. sharply. "I don't have no doubt of it, Tillie," replied her mother, with the unusual exhibition of maternal affection that she had made ever since her generous daughter entered into that engagement about the mortgage. " I think, myself, he loves you. I was only going to say if he does, he'll propose; and I bet he'll do it before he goes to bed to-night." " I hope so," rather dolorously returned Miss Tillie, looking into the mirror. " He ain't very young himself, and I think his front teeth are false. I'm going to go and dress right away. It's so warm I wouldn't wonder but what he'll be back early." But the colonel did not return till about half-past five; and ...