He was not heaven-gazing, but seemed plunged
in tobacco-inspired meditation of the flowers beneath him. Arnold's quick
eye detected the pink flush that rose to the little ear of his cousin. The
sound of their footsteps on the stone sidewalk came faintly to Kemp; he
raised his eyes slowly and indifferently. The indifference vanished when
he recognized them.
With a hasty movement he threw the cigar from him and ran down the steps.
"Good-evening," he called, raising his old slouch hat and arresting their
evident intention of proceeding on their way. They came up, perforce, and
met him at the foot of the steps.
"A beautiful evening," he said originally, holding out a cordial hand to
Arnold and looking with happy eyes at Ruth. She noticed that there was a
marked difference in his appearance from anything she had been used to.
His figure looked particularly tall and easy in a loose dark velvet jacket,
thrown open from his broad chest; the large sombrero-like hat which had
settled on the back of his head left to view his dark hair brushed
carelessly backward; an unusual color was on his cheek, and a warm glow in
his gray eyes.
"I hope," he went on, frankly transferring his attention to Ruth, "this
weather will continue. We shall have a magnificent autumn; the woods must
be beginning to look gorgeous.
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