And cut up, and prance, and high
life! He was a mount for a general, for a Napoleon or a Kitchener.
And he had, not a wicked eye, but, oh, such a roguish eye,
intelligent and looking as if it cherished a joke behind and wanted
to laugh or to perpetrate it. And I asked Uncle John for Hilo.
And Uncle John looked at me, and I looked at him; and, though he
did not say it, I knew he was FEELING 'Dear Bella,' and I knew,
somewhere in his seeing of me, was all his vision of the Princess
Naomi. And Uncle John said yes. That is how it happened.
"But he insisted that I should try Hilo out--myself, rather--at
private rehearsal. He was a handful, a glorious handful. But not
vicious, not malicious. He got away from me over and over again,
but I never let him know. I was not afraid, and that helped me
keep always a feel of him that prevented him from thinking that he
was even a jump ahead of me.
"I have often wondered if Uncle John dreamed of what possibly might
happen. I know I had no thought of it myself, that day I rode
across and joined the Princess at Mana.
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