ks to the dogs on the subject. They however soon pricked up their
ears, and sprang to their feet, excited and pleased. They were
hospitable souls and welcomed the diversion of a visitor. As the wagon
drew nearer, Stanwood observed that there was a woman sitting beside the
driver; whereupon he repaired to his own room to give himself a hasty
polish. The dogs began to bark in a friendly manner, and, under cover of
their noise, the wagon came up and stopped before the door. Suddenly a
rap resounded, and in acknowledgment of this unusual ceremony, the
master of the house went so far as to pull on his best coat before
stepping out into the main room. There in the doorway, cutting off the
view of the Peak, stood a tall, well-dressed young woman, patting one of
the dogs, while the others leaped, barking, about her.

Somewhat mystified by this apparition, Stanwood approached, and said;
"Good-evening, madam."

"Good-evening," came the reply, in a rather agitated voice. "I'm
Elizabeth."

"The deuce you are!"

Struck, not by the unfatherly, but by the ungentlemanly nature of his
response, Stanwood promptly gathered himself together, to meet the
situation.

"Pray come in and take a seat," he said; and then, falling into the
prairie speech: "Where are you stopping?"

The tall young lady, who had entered, but who had not taken the
proffered seat, looked at him a moment, and then she came toward him
with a swift, impulsive movement, and said: "Why, papa, I don't believe
you know me! I'm Elizabeth!"

"Yes, yes, oh, yes! I understand. But I thought perhaps you were paying
a visit somewhere--some school friend, you know, or--or--yes--some
school friend."

The girl was looking at him half bewildered, half solicitous. It was not
the reception she had anticipated at the end of her two-thousand-mile
journey. But then, this was not the man she had expected to see--this
gaunt, ill-clad figure, with the worn, hollow-eyed face, and the gray
hair. Why, her father was only fifty years old, yet the lines she saw
were lines of age and suffering. Suddenly all her feeling of perplexity
and chagrin and wounded pride was merged in a profound tenderness. She
drew nearer, extending both her hands, placed them gently upon his
shoulders and said: "Will you please to give me a kiss?"

Stanwood, much abashed, bent his head toward the blooming young face,
and imprinted a perfunctory kiss upon the waiting lips. This
unaccustomed exercise completed h