re that one could be
perfectly happy and completely miserable at the same time."

Then, for the first time since he had entered the carriage she looked at
him. Her eyes met his, and--well, nothing more was said for some time.
Nan had as much as she could do to straighten her hat, and get her hair
smoothed out as it should be, so that people wouldn't know that she and
Gabriel were engaged. That was what she said, and she was so cute and
lovely, so sweet and gentle that Gabriel threatened to crush the hat and
get the hair out of order again. And they were very happy.

When they arrived at Shady Dale, Gabriel insisted that Nan go home with
him, and he gave what seemed to the young woman a very good reason. "You
know, Nan, my grandmother has been Bethuning me every time I mentioned
your name, and I have heard her Bethuning you. We'll just go in hand in
hand and tell her the facts in the case."

"Hand in hand, Gabriel? Wouldn't she think I was very bold?"

"No, Nan," replied Gabriel, very emphatically. "There are two things my
grandmother believes in. She believes in her Bible, and she believes in
love."

"And she believes in you, Gabriel. Oh, if you only knew how much she
loves you!" cried Nan.

They didn't go in to the dear old lady hand in hand, for when they
reached the Lumsden Place, they found Miss Polly Gaither there, and they
interrupted her right in the midst of some very interesting gossip. Miss
Polly, after greeting Gabriel as cordially as her lonely nature would
permit, looked at Nan very critically. There was a question in her eyes,
and Nan answered it with a blush.

"I thought as much," said Miss Polly, oracularly. "I declare I believe
there's an epidemic in the town. There's Pulaski Tomlin, Silas Tomlin,
Paul Tomlin, and now Gabriel Tolliver. Well, I wish them well,
especially you, Gabriel. Nan is a little frivolous now, but she'll
settle down."

"She isn't frivolous," said Gabriel, speaking in the ear-trumpet; "she
is simply young."

"Is that the trouble?" inquired Miss Polly, with a smile, "well, she'll
soon recover from that." And then she turned to Gabriel's grandmother,
and took up the thread of her gossip where it had been broken by the
arrival of Nan and Gabriel.

"I declare, Lucy, if anybody had told me, and I couldn't see for
myself, I never would have believed it. Why, Silas Tomlin is a changed
man. He looks better than he did twenty-five years ago. He goes about
smiling, and while he is