arcely needs the statement that his labors were in honor of the new
editor-in-chief of the Carlow "Herald." The advent and the purposes
of this personage were, as yet, known certainly to only those of the
"Herald" and to the Briscoes. It had been arranged, however, that Minnie
and her father were not to come to the station, for the journalistic
crisis was immoderately pressing; the "Herald" was to appear on the
morrow, and the new editor wished to plunge directly, and without the
briefest distraction, into the paper's difficulties, now accumulated
into a veritable sea of troubles. The editor was to be delivered to the
Briscoes at eventide and returned by them again at dewy morn; and
this was to be the daily programme. It had been further--and most
earnestly--stipulated that when the wounded proprietor of the ailing
journal should be informed of the addition to his forces, he was not
to know, or to have the slenderest hint of, the sex or identity of the
person in charge during his absence. It was inevitable that Plattville
(already gaping to the uttermost) would buzz voluminously over it before
night, but Judge Briscoe volunteered to prevent the buzz from reaching
Rouen. He undertook to interview whatever citizens should visit
Harkless, or write to him--when his illness permitted visits and
letters--and forewarn them of the incumbent's desires. To-day, the
judge stayed at home with his daughter, who trilled about the house
for happiness, and, in their place, the "Herald" deputation of two had
repaired to the station to act as a reception committee.

Far away the whistle of the express was heard, muffled to sweetness in
the damp, and the drivers, whip in hand, came out upon the platform, and
the loafers issued, also, to stand under the eaves and lean their backs
against the drier boards, preparing to eye the travellers with languid
raillery.

Mr. Parker, very nervous himself, felt the old man's elbow trembling
against his own as the great engine, reeking in the mist, and sending
great clouds of white vapor up to the sky, rushed by them, and came to a
standstill beyond the platform.

Fisbee and the foreman made haste to the nearest vestibule, and were
gazing blankly at its barred approaches when they heard a tremulous
laugh behind them and an exclamation.

"Upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's chamber! Just behind you,
dear."

Turning quickly, Parker beheld a blushing and smiling little vision,
a vision with ligh