at once through his mind,--that if she was
safe, he would not be required to stand guard in the snow for hours
as he had hoped. But this grief passed when he fully realized what
Waitstill's presence at the farm at this unaccustomed hour really
meant. After he had been told, he hung about her like the child that he
was,--though he had a bit of the hero in him, at bottom, too,--embracing
her waist fondly, and bristling with wondering questions.

"Is she really going to stay with us for always, Ivory?" he asked.

"Every day and all the days; every night and all the nights. 'Praise God
from whom all blessings flow!'" said Ivory, taking off his fur cap and
opening the door of the living-room. "But we've got to wait for her a
whole fortnight, Rod. Isn't that a ridiculous snail of a law?"

"Patty didn't wait a fortnight."

"Patty never waited for anything," Ivory responded with a smile; "but
she had a good reason, and, alas! we haven't, or they'll say that we
haven't. And I am very grateful to the same dear little Patty, for when
she got herself a husband she found me a wife!"

Rodman did not wholly understand this, but felt that there were many
mysteries attending the love affairs of grown-up people that were too
complicated for him to grasp; and it did not seem to be just the right
moment for questions.

Waitstill and Ivory went into Mrs. Boynton's room quietly, hand in hand,
and when she saw Waitstill she raised herself from her pillow and held
out her arms with a soft cry of delight.

"I haven't had you for so long, so long!" she said, touching the girl's
cheek with her frail hand.

"You are going to have me every day now, dear," whispered Waitstill,
with a sob in her voice; for she saw a change in the face, a new
transparency, a still more ethereal look than had been there before.

"Every day?" she repeated, longingly. Waitstill took off her hood, and
knelt on the floor beside the bed, hiding her face in the counterpane to
conceal the tears.

"She is coming to live with us, dear.--Come in, Rod, and hear me tell
her.--Waitstill is coming to live with us: isn't that a beautiful
thing to happen to this dreary house?" asked Ivory, bending to take his
mother's hand.

"Don't you remember what you thought the first time I ever came here,
mother?" and Waitstill lifted her head, and looked at Mrs. Boynton with
swimming eyes and lips that trembled. "Ivory is making it all come true,
and I shall be your daughter!"

Mr