Willie had his peculiar niche in Wilton and a very sacred niche it
was.

What marvel, therefore, that Celestina reverenced the very earth which
he trod and cheerfully put up with the strings, the wires, the spools,
the tacks, and the pulleys; that she shifted the meals about to suit
his convenience; and that when she was awakened at midnight by a
rhythmic hammering which portended that the inventor had once again
"got kitched with a new idee" she smiled indulgently in the darkness
and instead of cursing the echoes that disturbed her slumber whispered
to herself Jan Eldridge's oft-repeated prediction that the day would
come when Willie Spence would astonish the scoffers of Wilton and would
make his mark.

CHAPTER II

WILLIE HAS AN IDEE

On a day in June so clear that a sea gull loomed mammoth against the
sky; a day when a sail against the horizon was visible for miles; a day
when the whole world seemed swept and garnished as for a festival,
Zenas Henry Brewster drew rein before the Spence cottage, hitched the
Admiral to the picket fence that bordered the highway, and ascending
the bank which sloped abruptly to the road presented himself at the
kitchen door from which issued the aroma of baking bread.

"Mornin', Tiny," called the visitor, poking his head across the
threshold. "Willie anywheres about?"

Celestina, who was washing the breakfast dishes, glanced up at the lank
figure with a start.

"Law, Zenas Henry, what a turn you gave me!" she exclaimed. "I never
heard a footfall. Yes, Willie's outside somewheres. He and Jan
Eldridge have been tinkerin' with the pump since early mornin'.
They've had it apart a hundred times, I guess, an' like as not they're
round there now pullin' it to pieces for the hundred-an'-oneth."

Zenas Henry grinned.

"That's a queer to-do," he remarked. "What's got all the pumps?
Bewitched, I reckon. Ours ain't workin' fur a cent either, an' I drove
round thinkin' I'd fetch Willie home with me to have a look at it.
He's got a knack with such things an' I calculate he'd know what's the
matter with it. Darned if I do."

The man began to move away across the grass.

Celestina, however, who was in the mood for gossip, had no mind to let
him escape so easily.

"How's your folks?" questioned she, dropping her dishcloth into the pan
and following him to the door.

"Oh, we're all right," returned Zenas Henry with a backward glance.
"Captain Benjamin's shoulder pesters him