oking as Mr. Sherwood. Some who
came out of the swinging doors of saloons staggered, and were very noisy
in their speech and rude in their actions. Of course nobody spoke to
Nan, or troubled her; Henry Sherwood was undoubtedly a man of standing
in the settlement and highly respected.

Not far from the market place they came upon a sprawling old tavern,
with a fenced yard at one side. As they approached, a sled drawn by a
wild looking pair of rough, red-roan ponies, dashed out of the yard and
stopped at the broad front portico of the hotel.

"Hey, Tom! What's the matter with you?" called Uncle Henry. "Here we
are!"

The driver turned a broad, good-humored face to look over his burly
shoulder. Nan saw that Tom Sherwood strongly resembled his father.

"That you, Dad?" he drawled. "I'd about given you up. I didn't want to
drive down to the depot with these crazy creatures. And if I'd left 'em
standing they'd have kicked Phil's shed to pieces, I do believe. The
train's been in half an hour and more."

"I know," said his father. "I had a mess of words with Ged Raffer. That
delayed me."

"You ought to give him the back of your hand, and say no more about it,"
declared Tom, in a tone that showed he warmed in his bosom the family
grudge against the fox-faced man.

"Here's your Cousin Nan, Tom," said his father, without making rejoinder
to the young man's observation. "She must go into Phil's and get warm
and have a cup of hot coffee. I'll take some in a new-fangled bottle I
bought down in Chicago, so we can all have a hot drink on the way home."

"'Twon't keep warm twenty miles," said Tom.

"Yes 'twill. It'll keep HOT for twenty miles and more. They call it a
thermos bottle. It'll keep coffee hot, or cold, for a day, just as you
please."

"Jehosaphat, Dad! What kind of a swindle's that? How does the bottle
know whether you want your drink hot or cold? Huh! Those city folks
couldn't make me believe any such thing," objected the son.

Nan had to giggle at that, and Uncle Henry demanded: "Did you ever see
such a gump? Go on down to the station and tell Abe to fling that trunk
and the bags into the back of the sled. We'll have our coffee, and get
the thermos bottle filled, too, by the time you come back."

Nan liked tom Sherwood. He was about nineteen and almost as big as
his father. He was gentle with her, and showed himself to be an expert
driver of the roan colts. Otherwise Nan might have been much afraid
during th