wouldn't have gone to town!"

"It didn't matter at all." Then he laughed, coloring a little. "Of
course, I always hate missing you."

A loving look passed between the two, and Waldstricker proceeded, "But
as long as I was here, I thought I'd speak to Skinner. On the way down
the hill I met his daughter coming up. Rather startling personality,
that girl! But she's woefully ignorant!"

"She hasn't had much chance, poor little thing," excused Helen. "She
really has a beautiful voice, though."

"So I've noticed on Sundays."

"And she studies every minute," Professor Young thrust in, "and is so
eager to learn; she's advanced amazingly!" He laughed in a reminiscent
manner.

"One day," he proceeded, much amused, "she ran up the hill after me. I
didn't notice her until she was at my side, all out of breath. 'Well,
some little girl's been running,' I said."

"I want to learn things," she panted.

"Then I asked, 'What things?' and she answered, 'Oh, all about readin'
and writin' and the things big rich folks know. If I had books, I'd
learn 'em too.' ... Naturally I bought the books."

"Naturally," laughed Waldstricker.

"Well, I stopped to ask where she was going and if her father was at
home. Then she told me that she was on her way to a seeress, Mother
Moll, she called her, wasn't it?"

"Yes," assented Young, nodding his head. "The old woman lives on the
north side of the gully."

Waldstricker bent forward and pursued. "I went into the hut with the
girl." He stopped and his lip took an upward curve. "The old hag tells
fortunes from a pot, a steaming pot full of boiling water, I think."

Here he turned suddenly on Deforrest. "That's got to stop, Young. It's
against the Bible, prophesying and the like."

"She's really a harmless old thing, though," replied the lawyer
sententiously, "and every squatter on Cayuga Lake loves her. Believe me,
Eb, she's absolutely harmless."

"Not harmless if she's disobeying God's law," contradicted Waldstricker,
seriously. "Isn't there some way by which she can be turned out of the
shack?"

Deforrest shook his head. "Not that I know of as long as she holds her
squatter rights. Her people take care of her, and she tells their
fortunes to pay for food." He broke off the explanation, only to take it
up again, "No, there isn't any way to oust her. Frederick Graves' father
tried to get the Skinners off, but failed."

"Oh, I didn't know," observed Waldstricker. "I must have been away