he was quite able to wait upon himself in most ways, and
handled his crutches so deftly that they often seemed to Amy, as to him,
"but an extra pair" of feet or hands, as the case might be.

So he swung himself into the house and out again, once more looking for
his sister, and hearing her voice above stairs explaining, exhibiting,
and regretting:--

"Isn't it too bad, mother, that this young lady should have come just
now? Hal has worked so hard and done so much. Anyway, father, you must
not, indeed you must not, go into your studio till he can take you
there. It would be such a disappointment, for he's arranged and
rearranged till I'm sure even your fine taste will be pleased."

He lingered a moment to catch the answer, and it filled his foreboding
soul with great content.

"It is all very excellent thus far, dear, and we'll surely leave the
studio for him to show. I had no idea you could so transform this barn
of a place. From the outside it was ugliness itself, but you have all
done wonders. We shall be very happy here."

"Can that really be father speaking? and we feared he would be utterly
crushed. Amy was right. Blood tells. And there's something better even
than blood to help him now. That's love. Dear old Adam was right, too:
so long as we have each other we can be happy."

Then he caught up a light chair under his arm and swung himself back to
play knight-errant to this unknown damsel.

She found him very agreeable, for he was a gentleman and could not fail
in courtesy toward any woman, old or young. So agreeable, indeed, that
she remained rocking, chewing, and talking, till the shadows of the
autumn evening crept round them, and Cleena, watchful for her "child,"
and indignant at the intrusion of this stranger, appeared.

"Arrah musha, Master Hallam, will you be sittin' here catchin' your
death? Come in by, immediate. The supper is on, an' the master waitin'.
Sure, that's bad luck, for the first meal we're all together in the new
home. Come by."

Hallam rose. It was impossible for him to avoid asking Gwendolyn to
remain, and she, utterly ignoring the sniffs and scowls of Cleena,
promptly accepted.

Of that meal it is not worth while to write. The girl did have the grace
to keep reasonably quiet, though occasionally she would feel that this
silence was not doing herself justice, and would break into the cheerful
conversation of the others with a boldness and self-assertion that made
Amy stare.

Fi