t Sarah, more and more
alarmed, felt never less susceptible to merriment.

"Do take him right over to Dr. Sackett's!" she exclaimed, with deep
solicitude.

"Yes," murmured the unhappy man, "if you can get me there. I--I can't
walk--I am sure!"

"We can carry you," replied Chester. "Come, boys!"

"Be careful that I--I don't die by the way!" whispered Mr. Kerchey, on
the point of swooning.

The young men fastened their horses under the shed, rolled up their
sleeves, and "took hold." Happily, the doctor's house was close by, and
they arrived seasonably at the door, with their companion still groaning
and moaning piteously. No wonder! The doctor found his excuse. Mr.
Kerchey had broken an arm, besides doing some extensive damage to his
shoulder.

When informed of the true state of the case, the company were sobered at
once; and Sarah, especially, was very much distressed.

"I was the cause of it all!" she exclaimed, with strong feelings of
self-reproach.

"To make ample reparation," said Jane Dustan, "all you have to do is to
take care of your victim during his recovery."

"And I'll do it, laugh as you may!" exclaimed Sarah.

She kept her word as far as practicable. Mr. Kerchey was carried home
the next day; and every afternoon, during the long week he was confined
to his room, she called to inquire about his health, and often stopped
to make his broth with her own hands, or to read the newspaper for him.

Mr. Kerchey loved the broth only because she made it, and when she read
he was entertained by the sweet tone of her voice alone. Of course, he
forgave her for frightening the horse; and if ever there was a poor
fellow in love with a kind-hearted, mischievous, merry girl, it was Mr.
Kerchey, convalescent, in love with Sarah Royden.

XXIX.

MRS. ROYDEN'S DINNER-PARTY.

How fast the time fled! How quickly, yet how smoothly, the old
clergyman's vacation rounded to its close!

Looking back to the day of his arrival, it was hard to realize that more
than three weeks had glided away. Yet when he and his friends remembered
what had been done, and how many happy and profitable hours they had
spent together, the wonder was that so much could have been crowded
within so brief a space of time.

The present chronicle of the old clergyman's vacation is necessarily
meager. It would require a larger volume to do anything like justice to
the scenes which opened, shifted and closed, during his stay. I have
onl