s. Fraser,
who, from the post-office veranda, noted the implement of fashion with
some misgiving. Of course, it was all right for a minister to carry
one if he chose. He was too far above the rest of the community to be
judged by ordinary standards; but there was no denying that a slim cane
savoured of "pride," and might prove a stumbling-block to Donald Neil
and wee Andra and such wayward youths as were easily led astray.

Meanwhile, the object of all this interest had arrived at the gate
between the big oaks. The house was a blaze of light, notwithstanding
the early hour. Bars of pink lamp-light stretched out across the dusky
lawn and into the dark corners of the orchard. Someone was playing a
lively jig on the organ. There was a mingled sound of talking,
laughter, screams and hurrying feet, and all the usual evening hubbub
of this lively place.

The Hamilton family consisted of seven girls who were allowed more
clothes and liberty than was considered quite respectable in Glenoro
society. The Hamilton parents were not usually reckoned in speaking of
the household and were at best only accessory. Old John Hamilton lived
in a state of good-natured bewilderment when in the bosom of his lively
family. He spent the day at his flour mill down the river road and in
the evenings read his Bible and his weekly paper undisturbed and happy
amid all the rush and din. His wife was a bright little woman who,
having had a hard time in her own youth, felt there was some
compensation in allowing the girls to "have their fling," as she termed
it, until they "settled down."

As the minister approached, Mrs. Hamilton was standing at the gate
waiting to welcome him, Miss Cotton beside her. Being the village
dressmaker, Miss Cotton had the open sesame to every home in the
neighbourhood and held its occupants at the mercy of her sharp tongue
and needle. To-night she chose to bestow her company upon the
Hamiltons, determined to lose nothing of the excitement consequent upon
the new minister's introduction to society.

The big sitting-room, to which Mrs. Hamilton led her guest, was full of
young folks, the Frasers, the Duffys, the Baskervilles, the Balfs and a
crowd of McDonalds; college students, farmers and mill-hands, for
Glenoro knew no social lines.

But amid all the crowd, the stranger's eye picked out a girl at the
other end of the room. She was seated on the organ-stool playing, and
turned at the sudden silence annou