aughter had been taken from them, he had replied:

"Yes, only two, thank God!" and had kissed awkwardly the hand laid over
his mouth, and Susan had seen the glitter of a tear on his faded lashes,
the first in many years.

Susan knew that Nathan would never forget the failures of that year, but
she also knew that the comfort of accustomed activities would help to fill
his mind and keep his thoughts from sore introspection. Here in Topeka
there was nothing to do but cogitate and reflect. It was therefore a
relief to her when Elizabeth received a letter from her mother summoning
her home to teach a spring term of school. While at any other time she
would have been filled with indignation at the recall of Elizabeth just as
she was beginning to get settled to her new work, Susan Hornby felt that
Elizabeth needed education less at this point than Nathan needed the busy
seeding season to occupy his troubled thoughts.

CHAPTER III

REFORMS NOT EASY TO DISCUSS

Elizabeth kept her tears and regrets to herself. She cried them out on her
pillow that night, all the disappointments and handicaps of that wonderful
year of experience and aspiration, but as she cried she planned the
arrangements of her going.

The letter was received on Thursday night; Elizabeth decided that she
would go for her books the next day, and say her farewells to desk,
recitation room, and the halls that had been dear to her. When Elizabeth
was called to the blackboard that afternoon to explain a problem in
algebra, the board, the pointer, the very chalk in her fingers cried aloud
their unity with her life and thought, and she sat down when it was over
with a great throbbing in her throat and ears, and a sense of overwhelming
disaster.

As Elizabeth carried her books home under her arm, bulging out one side of
her circular like an unevenly inflated pudding-bag, the throbbing
continued, and she turned into the less frequented streets with the
certainty that she was going to disgrace herself with tears shed publicly.
It had been a trying day, and in spite of all efforts her emotions broke
loose before she could gain the shelter of home. Hurrying blindly to get
the last block covered, she nearly dropped her books as she turned the
corner.

"The Unknown" was coming toward her!

Her startled glance of recognition was so unexpectedly open that he
thought that he had probably met her. He looked puzzled, but lifted his
hat as she hurried past him, w