ast! There was turkey, with
dressing, and cranberries, and the usual vegetables, with pie and cake
galore, and a pocketful of nuts to top off with.

Janice was afraid that the dinner would cost Nelson a great deal of
money, until she saw him fairly press upon the good widow a two-dollar
bill for their entertainment!

"And I ain't right sure that I'd ought to take anything at all," the
widow declared. "An' at sech a time, too! We'd never been able to eat
all o' them vittles, Em and I, an' we're thankful to have somebody come
along and help us. An' it sure has perked us up right smart."

Nelson had been very gay at the dinner, and had kept the widow and her
daughter in good humor. But with Janice, as they walked back to the
station (Marty had gone off on some matter of his own), the young man
was very serious.

"I sincerely hope, Janice, that you will hear better news from your
father or his friends on the border than the newspaper gave last night.
The trains are snowbound, and no morning papers have reached the
Landing yet, so nobody here knows more than we do about the matter.
Don't set your heart too strongly upon hearing better news--that's all."

"I do not need that warning," Janice told him, with a sigh. "But I
felt as though I should quite go all to pieces if I had to sit still
and just wait. I had to _do something_. I can't tell you how thankful
I am to you for your trouble in bringing me down here."

"Trouble?" cried Nelson Haley. "You know it is a pleasure, Janice,"
and just then they reached the railroad station and found the operator
at his telegraph key again.

"I was just going to hunt you up, Miss Day," he cried, beckoning her
into the office. "Do you know, young lady, that you have suddenly
become a person of considerable importance?" and he laughed again.

"_Me?_" cried Janice, in amazement.

"You are the tea party--yes, ma'am! You are an object of public
interest. Two New York papers have sent to me for five-hundred word
interviews with you----"

"My goodness me!" gasped Janice. "How dreadful! What does it mean?"

"Your father's case has been taken up by the big papers all over the
country. It may be made a cause for American intervention. That is
the talk. The newspapers are interested, and the truth about your
father is likely to be known very quickly. All the special
correspondents down there on the border have been set to work----Ah!
and here is something from your man