f this evening to Greenwood."

"I expected that."

"Go with me this afternoon, _do_, my dear! We can ride on to Harlow
also."

"I spent all yesterday with my mother."

"Then, good-bye! I will be home in an hour."

John found it very pleasant to ride through the village and up Hatton
Hill again. He thought the very trees bent their branches to greet him
and that the linnets and thrushes sang together about his return. Then
he smiled at his foolish thought, yet instantly wondered if it might not
be true, and thus fantastically reasoning, he came to the big gates of
the Hall, and saw his mother watching for his arrival.

He took her hands and kissed her tenderly. "O mother! Mother!" he cried.
"How glad I am to see you!"

"To be sure, my dear lad. But if I had not got your note this morning, I
would have known by the sound of your horse's feet he was bringing John
home, for your riding was like that of Jehu, the son of Nimshi. But
there! Come thy ways in, and tell me what has happened thee, here and
there."

They talked first of the coming war, and John advised his mother to
prepare for it. "It will be a war between two rich and stubborn
factions," he said. "It is likely enough to last for years. I may have
to shut Hatton mill."

"Shut it while you have a bit of money behind it, John. I heard Arkroyd
had told his hands he would lock his gates at the end of the month."

"I shall keep Hatton mill going, mother, as long as I have money enough
to buy a bale of cotton at any price."

"I know you will. But there! What is the good of talking about
_maybe's_? At every turn and corner of life, there is sure to stand a
_maybe_. I wait until we meet and I generally find them more friendly
than otherwise."

"I wanted Jane to come with me this afternoon, and she would not do so."

"She is right. I don't think I expect her to come. She didn't like what
I said to her the last time she favored me with a visit."

"What did you say to her, mother?"

"I will not tell thee. I hev told her to her face and I will not be a
backbiter. Not I! Ask thy wife what I said to her and why I said it and
the example I set before her. She can tell thee."

"Whatever is the matter with the women of these days, mother?"

"I'm sure I cannot tell. If they had a thimbleful of sense, they would
know that the denial of the family tie is sure to weaken the marriage
tie. One thing I know is that society has put motherhood out of
fashion. It consi