Saturday noon
Now , dear , look out for yourself ! '' Of that classic tournament between the clans of Mallett and Seagrave the chronicles are lacking . Doubtless their ancestors before them joined joyously in battle , confident that all details of their prowess would be carefully recorded by the family minstrel . But the battle of that Saturday noon hour was witnessed only by the sparrows , who were too busy lugging bits of straw and twine to half-completed nests in the cornices of the House of Seagrave , to pay much attention to the combat of the Seagrave children , who had gone quite mad with the happiness of companionship and were expressing it with all their might . Naïda 's dark curls mingled with the grass several times before Geraldine comprehended that her new companion was absurdly at her mercy ; and then she seized her with all the desperation of first possession and kissed her hard . `` It 's ended , '' breathed Geraldine tremulously , `` and nobody gained the victory and -- you _ will _ love me , wo n't you ? '' `` I do n't know -- I 'm all dirt . ''