im her
cheek to kiss as easy as a child--or started to, but there was a man in
uniform behind him, just rounding the turn, and she drew back.

"Major La Salle," says Master Dick, proud as Punch, you could see,
"Miss Elizabeth Winthrop."

She curtseyed and the Major bowed to the ground, and I couldn't but
notice a tiny bald spot amongst his curly dark hair.

"An old fellow for Master Dick's friend," thought I, and so he was,
being all of thirty-six, and more like Dr. Stanchon's crony than his
son's! Thirty-six was something in those days, you see, and Master
Dick was all ready to settle when the young men of his age to-day are
playing their football games and heedless as school girls.

The Major had lines about his mouth and eyes, and had buried a wife, we
learned, three years before the war--a sad marriage, by Master Dick's
accounts, as she wasn't worthy of him and had made him grave before his
time. Our young Captain couldn't talk enough of him and had written
many's the letters about him before ever we saw him. But we were both
surprised to find him so much older than we had thought, and Miss
Lisbet was afraid to talk much before him at first, for fear he'd find
her missish and ignorant. She didn't realize, the sweet thing, how any
one would think, to see her at the head of that great house, managing
all and doing so much good in the village, that she was the equal of
any woman.

They'd been but three days in the village, and all the time they had
from the doctor's wife's proud tea-drinkings, to show off her boy,
they'd spent with us. She always had me by her, for Mrs. Williams was
getting on, and best off by herself, and Miss Lisbet didn't feel 'twas
quite as it should be for her to be off with them alone. So when they
spoke of Madam's will, I was sewing near by.

Miss Lisbet was telling of her schemes for the poor blacks and the
Major was agreeing with her, and said that Master Dick's father had the
right of it.

"Now, for heaven's sake, Louis, don't encourage Miss Winthrop in any of
her plans for the human race," says Master Dick, laughing. "It's bad
enough to have my father executor. All that money depends on me, you
know, and I don't approve of women's rights as much as you do."

"Depends on you? What do you mean?" says the Major.

"Why, unless she marries me she doesn't get Madam's money at all," says
Master Dick. "The old lady was afraid of unprincipled fortune hunters,
and of me, at least,