"Yes, but I couldn't put it all into words like that."
"Ah," he thought, "she has the mind of a poet, the heart of a child,
the soul of a woman."
"I read somewhere," she went on, as though certain of his understanding
and sharing her mood, "that the Pagans said man was made to stand
upright so that he might raise his face to heaven and his eyes to the
stars. Somehow, it seems those old Pagans had a finer conception of
many vital truths than some of us have in this age."
"That's true. We have them beaten in many ways, but when we come across
a thing like that we stop to think and wonder where they got it. I
always did like mythology. Pandora and her box, Clytie and her emblem
of constancy, and Ulysses--what schoolboy escaped the thrills of
Ulysses? I bet you pitied Orpheus!"
"I did! But aren't we serious for a picnic? Next thing we know one of
us will be saying thirdly, fourthly, or amen!"
"I don't know--it suits me. You're so sensible, Amanda, it's a pleasure
to talk with you. Most girls are so frothy."
"No disparaging remarks about our sex," she said lightly, "or I'll
retaliate."
"Go on," he challenged, "I dare you to! What's the worst fault in mere
man?"
She raised her hand in protest. "I wash my hands of that! But I will
say that if most girls are frothy, as you say, it's because most men
seem to like them that way. Confess now, how many shallow, frothy girls
grow into old maids? It's generally the butterfly that occasions the
merry chase, straw hats out to catch it. You seldom see a straw hat
after a bee."
"Oh, Amanda, that's not fair, not like you!" But he thought ruefully of
Isabel and her butterfly attractions. "I admit we follow the
butterflies but sometimes we wake up and see our folly. True, men don't
chase honeybees, but they have a wholesome respect for them and build
houses for them. After all, the real men generally appreciate the real
women. Sometimes the appreciation comes too late for happiness, but it
seldom fails to come. No matter how appearances belie it, it's a fact,
nevertheless, that in this crazy world of to-day the sincere, real girl
is still appreciated. The frilly Gladys, Gwendolyns and What-nots still
have to yield first place to the old-fashioned Rebeccas, Marys and
Amandas."
Her heart thumped at the words. She became flustered and said the first
thing that came into her head to say, "I like that, calling me old-
fashioned! But we won't quarrel about it. Let's eat our lunch; that
will keep us from too much talking for a while."
Martin handed her the box. He was silent as she opened it. She noted
his preoccupation, his gray eyes looking off to the distant fields.