onteur herself, and she, too, was
ready with a story on the same subject. She and her husband never
interfered with each other's story-telling. Each chose his or her own
story and proceeded with it quite independent of the other one. But
it was confusing to the audience when the two stories ran
concurrently, as they did to-day.

Mrs. Perkins's story was about her youngest sister's husband's
brother, who was the "biggest cut-up you ever saw." He'd keep a whole
room full of people "in stitches, and he was engaged to a girl called
Sally Gibson--she was one of the Garafraxa Gibsons that ran the mill
at 'the Soble'--well, anyway, this Sally Gibson gave him the slip and
married a fellow from Owen Sound, and some say even kept the ring,"
though Mrs. Perkins was not prepared to say for sure; but, anyway,
this was pretty hard on her youngest sister's husband's brother.
Henry Hall was his name and he had bought the license and all. "He
was terrible cut up and vowed he'd marry some one and not lose his
license altogether, so he came over to where Bessie Collins lived,
and he came in at the back door, and there was Bessie scrubbin' the
floor, and he says: 'Bessie, will you marry me?' and she says,
knowin' what a cut-up he was, she says, 'Go on, Hank, you're
foolin',' and he says: 'I'm not foolin', Bessie,' and he told her
what Sally Gibson had went and done, and then Bessie says: 'Well,
wait till I've finished this floor and do off the door-step, and I
don't care if I do.' So she went and primped herself some and they
were married and they done well, too!"

* * *

When Pearl and her aunt were walking home that night Aunt Kate said:
"I like them people better one at a time. I never did like a two-ring
circus. I never could watch the monkey trundlin' a barrel up a
gangway when the clown was jumpin' through rings; it always annoyed
me to be losin' either one or the other. Did you get any sense of it,
Pearlie?"

But Pearl's thoughts were on an entirely different theme. "Miss
Morrison ain't what you'd call a real pretty girl, not like Mary
Barner or Camilla," she said absently.

CHAPTER XXV

THE COMING OF THURSA

Each hour a pearl, each pearl a prayer
To still a heart in absence wrung.
I tell each bead unto the end, and there
A cross is hung!

_----My Rosary._

EARLY in December Thursa came. Martha had asked Pearl to come over
and help her to receive her guest, which Pearl was only too glad to
do,