' She was just like the moon. I'm well acquainted
with the moon, and--"
"Hush!" Louise interrupted. "Don't you hear something stirring--there,
behind us?"
He laughed. "Of course something's always 'stirring behind us' on the
prairie, and things you can't hear at all in the day are almost loud at
night. There are thousands of sounds that never get to your ears when the
sun is busy, but when Aunt Primrose Moon is saying, 'Hush! Hush!' to the
naughty children of this world, you can hear a whole new population at
work, cracking away like mad. Say, ain't I letting myself go to-night?"
he added, giggling again and sitting down beside her. "I'm going to give
you just half an hour, and at the end of that half-hour you've got to go
to sleep."
"I can't--I can't," she said scarcely above a whisper. As though in
response to an unspoken thought, he said casually: "I'm going to walk
awhile when you've lain down, and then--" He pointed to a spot about
twenty yards away. "Do you see the two big stones there? Well, when I've
finished my walk and my talk with Aunty Primrose"--he laughed up at the
moon--"I'm going to sit down there and snooze till daylight." He pointed
again: "Right over there beside those two rocks. That's my bed. Do you
see?"
She did not reply at once, but a long sigh came from her lips. "You'll be
cold," she said.
"No, it's a hot night," he answered.
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