4
Kittie Fleming was a pretty black-eyed girl, who afterward made the
trouble between Bob Wade and his father. At this party the thing which
made it a sad affair to me was the attentions paid to Virginia by Bob. I
might have been comforted by the nice way Kittie Fleming treated me, if
I had had eyes for any one but Virginia; but when Kittie smiled on me, I
always thought how much sweeter was Virginia's smile. But _her_ smiles
that evening were all for Bob Wade. In fact, he gave nobody else a
chance. It really seemed as if the governor and his wife were pleased to
see him deserting Kittie Fleming, but whether or not this was because
they thought the poor orphan Virginia a better match, or for the reason
that any new flame would wean him from Kittie I could not say. And I
suppose they thought Kittie's encouraging behavior to me was not only a
proof of her low tastes, or rather her lack of ambition, but a sure sign
to Bob that she was not in his class. So far as I was concerned I was
wretched, especially when the younger people began turning the gathering
into a "play party."
Now there was a difference between a play party and a kissing party or
kissing bee, as we used to call it. The play party was quite
respectable, and could be indulged in by church-members. In it the
people taking part sang airs each with its own words, and moved about in
step to the music. The absence of the fiddle and the "calling off" and
the name of dancing took the curse off.
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