as
impossible to say, but in his outward rush the half-wit brushed so
rudely past Hallam that he knocked his crutch from his grasp, so that he
would have fallen, had not the superintendent caught and steadied the
lad to a seat.

"That's 'Bony' all over. As irresponsible as a child and ungovernable in
his rage. Yet, never fear; he'll be back again, sometime."

"But--he has taken Balaam. What can I do now?"

Mr. Metcalf walked to the window and looked out. There was a dash of
something black disappearing at the turn of the road.

"Humph! That's bad. He's taken the road to the mountains. When his
'wood fit' comes over him, summer or winter, he vanishes. Sometimes he
is gone for months."

"And he's taken Balaam with him," repeated the other.

"Yes; he certainly has;" but when the superintendent looked toward
Hallam he was startled by the hopeless expression of the lad's fine
face.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY.

"Sit down, lad, and rest. It will not be long before noon, and then I
will send for your sister to come here."

"Thank you. Do you think he will stay long, this time?"

"'Bony'? It's just as the fit takes him. There's no accounting for his
whims, poor unbalanced fellow. In some respects he is clever and
remarkably clean-handed. In fixing parts of the machinery, I would
rather have his help than that of most professionals, he is so careful
about the minutest details. Yet, of course, it would be out of the
question to rely upon him. There's another thing. He's a most excellent
nurse. For days at a time, when there's been sickness in the mill
village, he has devoted himself faithfully to whoever seemed to take his
fancy. His big, ungainly hand has a truly wonderful power of soothing.
When I had rheumatic fever, he was the only person I could endure to
have in the room with me. His step was lighter even than that of my
wife, and I really believe I should have died but for his care."

The superintendent was talking, simply to entertain and divert his
visitor from the lad's own present annoyance, but he little knew how
full of import his casual remarks were to his hearer.

"Do you mean that he is magnetic? that there is something in the claim
he makes of being a 'healer'?"

"Quite as much as in the claim of any such person. There are, of course,
some human beings so constituted that they can influence for good the
physical conditions of other people. I am very sorry that his presen