cked a stone that lay at his feet.

"You-all always does find out," he murmured, with unwilling admiration.
"You see Ah was right smart glad about the baby, 'n 'bout M'lissy bein'
so well, 'n Ah jus' took a little; 'n Pink Pressley was awful
aggravatin', 'n Ah jus' 'lowed Ah didn' want nothin' t' interrup' mah
joy," he ended, looking up with a humorous twinkle that brought a
responsive smile to the severe young face before him.

"But Ah know hit ain' right to M'lissy," he went on hurriedly, for he
realized that the smile was only transitory, "'n Ah'm goin' to try, Ah
sho' am," he added, stepping out of the way of the horse, grown uneasy
at this long colloquy. "Ah certainly am goin' to get out the tools 'n
look 'em over to-morrow," he finished, as Sydney gathered up her reins.

"I hope so, Bud; but why don't you do it _to-day_?" she called back,
saying to herself, as Johnny broke into a canter, "As if poor Bud ever
could do anything to-day! He should have been born in the land of
_manana_."

The horse lengthened his stride into a sweeping gallop where the
condition of the road permitted, slackening his pace and betaking
himself to the side, and even to the footpath on the bank, when the mud
grew too deep for speed. The girl paid little attention to him, for,
like all mountain horses, he was accustomed to pick his way with a
sagacity that man cannot assist.

On Sydney's face rested a shade too heavy to have been brought there by
the failings, customary to the country, of Melissa's husband. But
twenty years are not proof against the joint attack of sunshine and
fresh, sweet air and the glorious motion of a horse, and she seemed a
happy, care-free girl to Bob Morgan, sitting in the sun on his father's
porch.

Unlike the Carroll house, which was of stone and surrounded by roofed
verandas, Dr. Morgan's dwelling presented an unabashed glare of
whitewashed weather-boarding. It needed only green shutters to be a
hostage from New England. In summer a rose climbed over the portico and
broke the snowy monotony, but at this season the leafless stems served
only to enhance the bareness.

As he heard Sydney's approach Bob raised his aching head from his hand
and sprang unsteadily to his feet. She was quick to notice his
condition, for she knew only too well the weakness that was wringing
the heart of the good old Doctor and lining "Miss Sophy's" face. Bob
was their only son and only child, "'n hit do seem strange," the
countr