ad thought it wise to pass their semi-yearly dividend, and with
hard times affecting everything more or less, he could not see how Mark
was to be kept at school. Sitting there, he tortured himself with the
thought of what he might have done if he had only foreseen. He called
himself an old fogy, and wished he might be twenty years younger.

"The bridge is broke and I have to mend it."

The song rose to his lips unconsciously, and he hummed it in a dreary
fashion that caused Peterkin to open his eyes. At least he did open
them, and there was something in the serenity of those yellow orbs that
recalled the Spectacle Man to himself.

"You are right, Peterkin, I am foolish, and I thank you for telling me
so," he said, stooping to caress the smooth head. "There is always a
way, and you'll find it if you'll keep your eyes open, and don't let the
clouds of despair and distrust gather and hide it," he continued to
himself, and he began to sing again, this time in a cheery tone.

That same evening he went to see Mrs. Gray. It was a business call, for
the old lady needed some stronger glasses, and could not get out in bad
weather to attend to it herself; but after he had tried her eyes, they
fell to talking about other matters.

Mrs. Gray was lonely and unhappy. Her only son was going to be married,
and she knew she was a burden to him, and she wished she was dead. She
had not meant to tell it, but the benevolent face of the Spectacle Man
invited confidence.

He confessed to being blue himself, and then he told her briefly the
story of the bridge.

"You may say it is all made up, but some way I know it is true," he
added earnestly. "There is always a way, if only we are patient and
don't give up. You haven't begun to be a burden yet, and I haven't had
to bring Mark home. We can't _see_ the way, but if we go on a step at a
time, we'll find it."

Emma was also having a taste of bad weather. In the first place, the
General had an illness much like Frances', and this meant that he must
be kept in bed and amused from morning till night. Then Emma's teacher
decided to have her pupils give an entertainment on Washington's
Birthday, and Emma was selected among others to take part. It was an
event of great importance to the school children, and at recess nothing
else was talked about.

As Emma expressed it, she had never been _in_ anything before in her
life, and no prima donna was ever more excited over her debut than she
at