e drove on until he came to the first house,
and there he stopped and went in. He saw the child of the previous day,
and as she came forward her mother appeared in the doorway.

The Harvester explained who he was and that he was examining the woods
in search of some almost extinct herbs he needed in his business.
Then he told of having been at the adjoining farm the day before and
mentioned the sick woman. He added that later she had died. He casually
mentioned that a young woman there seemed pale and ill and wondered
if the neighbours would see her through. He suggested that the place
appeared as if the owner did not take much interest, and when the woman
finished with Henry Jameson, he said how very important it seemed to him
that some good, kind-hearted soul should go and mother the poor girl,
and the woman thought she was the very person. Without knowing exactly
how he did it, the Harvester left with her promise to remain with the
Girl the coming two nights. The woman had her hands full of strange and
delicious fruit without understanding why it had been given her, or why
she had made those promises. She thought the Harvester a remarkably fine
young man to take such interest in strangers and she told him he was
welcome to anything he could find on her place that would help with his
medicines.

The Harvester just happened to be coming from the woods as the woman
freshly dressed left the house, so he took her in the wagon and drove
back to the Jameson place, because he was going that way. Then he
returned to Medicine Woods and worked with all his might.

First he polished floors, cleaned windows, and arranged the rooms
as best he could inside the cabin; then he gave a finishing touch to
everything outside. He could not have told why he did it, but he thought
it was because there was hope that now the Girl would come to Onabasha.
If he found opportunity to bring her to the city, he hoped that possibly
he might drive home with her and show Medicine Woods, so everything
must be in order. Then he worked with flying fingers in the dry-house,
putting up her ginseng for market, and never was weight so liberal.

The next morning he drove early to Onabasha and came home with a loaded
wagon, the contents of which he scattered through the cabin where it
seemed most suitable, but the greater part of it was for her. He glanced
at the bare floors and walls of the other rooms, and thought of trying
to improve them, but he was afr