at I am an allopathist, whereas I ought
to be a homeopathist. The young lady and I have had a long conversation
on that subject and others. I find that she is a Nonconformist."

"What?" asked Ralph.

"I use the word in its political and social, as well as its religious
meaning. That is a sister worth taking care of, sir. Lock her up in her
room, if she inclines to any more midnight wanderings."

"And now, having finished with the young patient," said Miss Panney, who
was waiting with her bonnet and shawl on, "you can take up an old one,
and I will get you to drive me home on your way back to Thorbury."

The doctor had been very much interested in Miriam, and talked about
her to Miss Panney as he drove her to the Witton house, which, by the
way, was a mile and a half out of his direct road. The old lady
listened with interest, but did not wish to listen very much; she
wished to talk of Ralph.

"I like him," she said; "he has pluck. I have had a good deal of talk
with him, and he told me frankly that he could not afford to put money
into the place and farm it as it ought to be farmed. But he was born a
country man, and he has the heart of a country man; and he is going to
see if he can make a living out of it for himself and his sister."

"Which may result," said the doctor, "in his becoming a mere farm laborer
and putting an end to his sister's education."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed the old lady. "Young fellows--college men--go out
on ranches in the West and do that sort of thing, and it lowers them in
nobody's estimation. Let young Haverley call his farm a ranch and rough
it. It would be the same thing. I've backed him up strongly. It's a manly
choice of a manly life. As for his sister, she has been so long at school
that it will do her more good to stop than to go on."

"It will be hard scratching," said the doctor, "to get a living out of
Cobhurst, and I hope these young people will not come to grief while they
are making the experiment."

Miss Panney smiled without looking at her companion.

"Don't be afraid of that," she said presently; "I have pretty good
reason to think that he will get on well enough."

That evening Miriam sat up in bed with a shawl about her shoulders and
discoursed to her brother.

"Now, Ralph," said she, "you must have seen a lot of things about our
place, because, when I came to think of it, it was plain enough that you
couldn't help it. I am crazy to see what you saw, but you mustn'