ht the cow sooner than he had expected,
and had come to the railroad crossing just about the time that Cynthia's
train arrived. So he had stopped and taken in her and her bandbox, and
they had all ridden home together.

Mrs. Lennox stood in the kitchen door when they drove in.

"Oh, mother," Cynthia cried out, "I've had splendid luck! I've got the
handsomest bonnet!"

"I guess you won't care much about bonnets," answered her mother;
"_Fidelia's lost_." She spoke quite slowly and calmly, then she began to
weep wildly and lament. It was quite a time before she could make the
case plain to them, and Cynthia and her bandbox, and Mr. Lennox and the
horse and buggy and cow, all remained before her in a petrified halt.

As soon as Mr. Lennox fairly understood, he sprang out of the buggy,
untied the cow, led her into the barn, turned the team around, with a
sharp grate of the wheels, jumped in again, and gathered up the reins.
Cynthia, her rosy cheeks quite pale, still sat in her place, and the
tears splashed on her new bandbox cover. Mrs. Lennox had set her chair
outside the door, and followed it, with a painful effort. "Stop,
father!" she cried; "I'm goin' too!"

"Oh, mother, you can't!" said Mr. Lennox and Cynthia, together.

"I'm goin'. You needn't say a word. Father, you get out an' help me in."

Mr. Lennox got out and lifted, while Cynthia pulled. Mrs. Lennox's
injured foot suffered, but she set her mouth hard, and said nothing.
They started at a good pace, three on a seat, with Mr. Lennox in the
middle, driving.

They had got about half-way to the store when they overtook Aunt Maria.
Aunt Maria, with the green umbrella overhead, was proceeding steadily,
with a sideways motion that seemed more effective than the forward one.

"I'll get out, and let her get in," said Cynthia.

"No," said her father; "it won't do; it 'ill break the springs. We can't
ride three on a seat with Aunt Maria, anyhow, and I've got to drive."

So they passed Aunt Maria.

"Don't go any farther, Aunt Maria," Cynthia called, sobbingly, back to
her. "You sit down on the wall and rest."

But Aunt Maria shook her head, she could not speak, and kept on.

It was quarter-past three when they reached the Rose house and the
store. The store was in the front of the house, and the Rose family
occupied the rear portion. The house stood on a street corner, so a good
deal of it was visible, and the whole establishment had a shut-up air;
not a singl