the pigs and the old buggy; an Irish teamster bid in John
Templeton's horses, and a Pole, a good man, I know him well, bought the
land, and will no doubt keep his geese in the summer kitchen, and get
rich from the cultivation of the ancient fields. While old John
Templeton bowed himself humbly before a wrathful God he would never go
down on his knees, as the Poles do, to the fertile earth. And--I
forgot--an Italian from Nortontown bought for a song the apple and
chestnut crops, and busy third generation Americans loaded in the
antiques and drove off with them to the city.

The last I saw of Julia Templeton, that hard-favoured woman, she was
standing, an angular figure, in the midst of the wreck of the luncheon
dishes, one arm wrapped in her apron, the other hand shading her eyes
while she watched the company, in wagons and automobiles, trailing away
to the westward, and the towns....

The sale was over; but the most valuable antiques of all found no
purchasers: they were left behind with Julia Templeton: only she could
use them.

CHAPTER XII

A WOMAN OF FORTY-FIVE

We have an Astonishing Woman in this community. She acts in a way that
no one expects, and while we are intensely interested in everything she
does, and desire to know about it to the uttermost detail, we are
inclined to speak of her in bated breath.

Some Woman to Talk About in a country neighbourhood is a kind of public
necessity. She fills one of the stated functions like the town assessor,
or the president of the Dorcas Society; and if ever the office falls
vacant we have immediate resort to one of those silent elections at
which we choose our town celebrities. There are usually several
candidates, and the campaign is accompanied by much heated argument and
exemplification. We have our staunch party men and our irresponsible
independents on whom you can never put your finger; and if we are
sometimes a little vague in our discussion of principles and issues we
share with our national political leaders an intense interest in
personalities. Prominent citizens "come out" for this candidate or that,
we "spring surprises," and launch new booms, and often, at the last
moment, we are taken off our feet by the circulation of comebacks. I
take a pardonable pride, however, in saying, to the credit of our
democratic institutions that most of the candidates elected are chosen
strictly upon merit.

I shall never forget the afternoon, now more than a yea