miled and
added, "Let me think of this till to-morrow."

Mr. Polk agreed, and they separated for the night.

It was again a time of sore temptation for Steve. All night he tossed
and thought. In spite of recurring depression he had not given up hope
of winning Nancy. Her desire for musical advantages had been the most
discouraging thing of all, however, and if he accepted this offer, he
could hope to give her what she wanted, while since Raymond was not
accepted he felt free to win her if he could. He pictured the future
with increasing exhilaration, as the night approached its zenith, the
time of keenest mental activity; and then, as the ebb came with the
waning hours, suddenly a little figure reeled and staggered as it
tried to walk a crack in a cabin floor, and springing from bed Steve
strode to the window, and looked out upon the silent, starry sky.

"Oh, God," he said, "keep me from temptation;" and after a time he
went back to bed firm in the old resolution that whatever the
sacrifice involved, he would give himself, and not money alone, to the
work. And then he slept.

Next morning he smiled his sudden smile as Mr. Polk looked keenly into
his face, and said:

"I guess I am incorrigible, Mr. Polk,--I can't see it except in the
old way."

"All right, son," said Mr. Polk quietly, and when they separated it
was with a warm hand-clasp as Mr. Polk exacted a promise that Steve
would visit them his first opportunity. "'The little mother' longs to
see her boy," he said affectionately; then added, "Some day we hope to
be in shape to help you with your work."

When he was gone Steve left for the Follets again. A great peace had
come upon him with the renewal of his resolution, and his heart leaped
at the prospect of seeing Nancy again.

"How long it seems since I left her," he laughed to himself, and the
thought sprang to his mind from out the ever active realm of human
hope: "Perhaps I shall win her yet by some miracle!"

XV

FLICKERING HOPE

It was with keen satisfaction that Steve caught a glimpse of Nancy's
white dress out under the trees upon his return to the Follets. He
hurried over to the bench where she sat.

"Is there anything more satisfying than these Kentucky mountains?" he
said, with enthusiasm, as he seated himself beside her. "There is
something that constantly assures me I belong to them."

"I have wondered that you were not captured by the city with all its
allurements," said Nanc