Considering the warmth of the day it was not unnatural that Mr.
Gammon showed a very red face, shining with moisture; but his
decided hilarity, his tendency to hum tunes and beat time with his
feet, his noisy laughter and expansive talk, could hardly be
attributed to the same cause. Having taken a seat near Minnie he
kept his look steadily fixed upon her, and evidently discoursed with
a view of affording her amusement; not altogether successfully it
appeared, for the young girl--she was but seventeen--grew more and
more timid, less and less able to murmur replies. She was prettier
than her mother had ever been, and spoke with a better accent. Her
features suggested a more delicate physical inheritance than Mrs.
Clover's comeliness could account for. As a matter of fact she had
her father's best traits, though Mrs. Glover frequently thanked
goodness that in character she by no means resembled him.
Mr. Gammon was in the midst of a vivid description of a rat hunt, in
which a young terrier had displayed astonishing mettle, when his
hostess abruptly interposed.
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