some, and they give her as much as she likes."

"Ay, I've heard that, but--"

The remainder of the question was never uttered. Instead,

"Hod ahint a tree!" cried Tommy, hastily, and he got behind one himself;
but he was too late; Elspeth was upon them; she had caught them together
at last.

Tommy showed great cunning. "Pretend you have eggs in your hand," he
whispered to Grizel, and then, in a loud voice, he said: "Think shame of
yoursel', lassie, for harrying birds' nests. It's a good thing I saw
you, and brought you here to force you to put them back. Is that you,
Elspeth? I catched this limmer wi' eggs in her hands (and the poor birds
sic bonny singers, too!), and so I was forcing her to--"

But it would not do. Grizel was ablaze with indignation. "You are a
horrid story-teller," she said, "and if I had known you were ashamed of
being seen with me, I should never have spoken to you. Take him," she
cried, giving Tommy a push toward Elspeth, "I don't want the mean little
story-teller."

"He's not mean!" retorted Elspeth.

"Nor yet little!" roared Tommy.

"Yes, he is," insisted Grizel, "and I was not harrying nests. He came
with me here because he wanted to."

"Just for the once," he said, hastily.

"This is the sixth time," said Grizel, and then she marched out of the
Den. Tommy and Elspeth followed slowly, and not a word did either say
until they were in front of Aaron's house. Then by the light in the
window Tommy saw that Elspeth was crying softly, and he felt miserable.

"I was just teaching her to fight," he said humbly.

"You looked like it!" she replied, with the scorn that comes
occasionally to the sweetest lady.

He tried to comfort her in various tender ways, but none of them
sufficed this time, "You'll marry her as soon as you're a man," she
insisted, and she would not let this tragic picture go. It was a case
for his biggest efforts, and he opened his mouth to threaten instant
self-destruction unless she became happy at once. But he had threatened
this too frequently of late, even shown himself drawing the knife across
his throat.

As usual the right idea came to him at the right moment. "If you just
kent how I did it for your sake," he said, with gentle dignity, "you
wouldna blame me; you would think me noble."

She would not help him with a question, and after waiting for it he
proceeded. "If you just kent wha she is! And I thought she was dead!
What a start it gave me when I found ou