y followed
him.

"There, bless ye!" said "Seth's folks." "I waked up this morning kind of
expecting that I should see somebody from down Seth's way. I expect he's
well's common?"

"Oh, yes," responded Jonathan. "We had to leave him to keep house. He
was full o' messages, but I can't seem to remember none on 'em now."

"No matter, so long I know's he's well," said the little woman, shaking
hands with Betty and looking at her delightedly. "Now I want you all to
come in and stop to dinner," but Serena could not even be persuaded to
"'light down" on account of her duty to sister Sarah. Betty carried in
the armful of reading matter and Mrs. Pond followed her, and while our
friend looked at the plain little house and fancied Seth practicing his
tunes, and saw the beautiful cone frame which he had helped his mother
to make, the hospitable little mother was getting some home-made
root-beer out of a big stone jug, and soon served it to her three guests
in pretty old-fashioned blue and white mugs. Betty thought she had never
tasted anything so delicious as the flavor of spice and pleasing
bitterness in the cold drink, and Jonathan smacked his lips loudly and
promised to call for more as he came back. Mrs. Pond took another good
long look at Betty before they parted. "I wasn't expectin' you to be so
much of a young lady, I do' know's you be quite growed up yet, though,"
she said. This was not the least of the pleasures of that day, and they
went on next to sister Sarah's, where Betty and Serena and the freight
were to be left while Jonathan went off about his business.

It almost seemed as if up-country existed for the sake of its market
town of Tideshead. Betty had been there once or twice in her childhood,
but her memories even of sister Sarah were rather indistinct. She had
taken a long nap once on the patchwork quilt in the bedroom, and had
waked to find four or five women hooking a large rug in the kitchen,
all talking together, which had made an impression upon her young mind.
It was strawberry-time too on that last visit. But sister Sarah
remembered a great deal more about it than this, and was delighted to
see Betty once more. There was the very rug on the floor, already
beginning to look worn. One could remember it by a white, or rather a
gray, rabbit under some large green leaves which made part of the
design. It was impossible to say how many rugs there were in the house,
as if life went on for the sole purpose of m