The young girl turned a
shy, blushing face toward him, and her cheeks, mantling under the full
rays of the lamp, rendered the exquisite purity of her complexion all the
more apparent. He also began to feel that he was flushing absurdly, but
he carried it off with his usual audacity.
"I am much embarrassed and perplexed," he said. "I was led to expect a
little sister that I could romp with, and pick up and kiss; but here is a
young lady that almost paralyzes me with awe."
"I'd like to see you paralyzed from any such cause just once," Leonard
remarked, laughingly. "Go kiss your sister, like a little man."
The young fellow seemed to relish the ceremony exceedingly, and responsive
mirthfulness gleamed for a moment in Amy's eyes. Then he dragged Webb
forward, saying, "Let me introduce to you the grave and learned member of
the family, to whom we all speak with bated breath. You must not expect him
to get acquainted with you in any ordinary way. He will investigate you,
and never rest until he has discovered all the hidden laws of your being.
Now, Webb, I will support you while Amy kisses you, and then you may sit
down and analyze your sensations, and perhaps cipher out a method by which
a kiss can be rendered tenfold more effective."
Unmoved by his brother's raillery, Webb took the young girl's hand, and
looked at her so earnestly with his dark, grave eyes, that hers drooped.
"Sister Amy," he said, gently, "I was prepared to welcome you on general
principles, but I now welcome you for your own sake.
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