sted with the pert little hussy who had just left
the premises. Also, Waitstill loomed large in his household comforts
and economies, having a clear head, a sure hand, and being one of the
steady-going, reliable sort that can be counted on in emergencies, not,
like Patty, going off at half-cock at the smallest provocation. Yes,
Waitstill, as a product of his masterly training for the last seven
years, had settled down, not without some trouble and friction, into a
tolerably dependable pack-horse, and he intended in the future to use
some care in making permanent so valuable an aid and ally. She did not
pursue nor attract the opposite sex, as his younger daughter apparently
did; so by continuing his policy of keeping all young men rigidly at
a distance he could count confidently on having', Waitstill serve
his purposes for the next fifteen or twenty years, or as long as he,
himself, should continue to ornament and enrich the earth. He would go
to Saco the very next day, and cut Patty out of his will, arranging his
property so that Waitstill should be the chief legatee as long as she
continued to live obediently under his roof. He intended to make the
last point clear if he had to consult every lawyer in York County; for
he wouldn't take risks on any woman alive.

If he must leave his money anywhere--and it was with a bitter pang that
he faced the inexorable conviction that he could neither live forever,
nor take his savings with him to the realms of bliss prepared for
members of the Orthodox Church in good and regular standing--if he must
leave his money behind him, he would dig a hole in the ground and
bury it, rather than let it go to any one who had angered him in his
lifetime.

These were the thoughts that caused him to relax his iron grip and smile
as he sat by the window, smoking his corn-cob pipe and taking one of his
very rare periods of rest.

Presently he glanced at the clock. "It's only quarter-past four," he
said. "I thought 't was later, but the snow makes it so light you can't
jedge the time. The moon fulls to-night, don't it? Yes; come to think
of it, I know it does. Ain't you settin' out supper a little mite early,
Waitstill?" This was a longer and more amiable speech than he had
made in years, but Waitstill never glanced at him as she said: "It is a
little early, but I want to get it ready before I leave."

"Be you goin' out? Mind, I won't have you follerin' Patience round;
you'll only upset what I'v