you off,"
he called from the gate. "Good night."

The morning train left at nine o'clock, and at a quarter to nine Albert,
who had kept his eye on the clock ever since eight, his hour of arriving
at the office, called to Mr. Price.

"I say," he said, in a low tone and one as casual as he could assume, "I
am going to run out for a few minutes. I'll be right back."

Issachar's response was as usual anything but low.

"Eh?" he shouted. "Goin' out? Where you goin'?"

"Oh, I'm just going out--er--on an errand."

"What kind of an errand? I was cal'latin' to run out myself for a little
spell. Can't I do your errand for you?"

"No, no. . . There, there, don't bother me any more. I'm in a hurry."

"Hurry! So'm I in a hurry. I was cal'latin' to run acrost to the deepo
and see Helen Kendall start for Boston. She's goin' this morning; did
you know it?"

Before the somewhat flustered assistant bookkeeper could reply Captain
Zelotes called from the inner office:

"Wouldn't wonder if that was where Al was bound, too," he observed. "And
I was thinkin' of the same thing. Suppose we all go together. Labe'll
keep shop, won't you, Labe?"

Mr. Keeler looked over his spectacles. "Eh?" he observed. "Oh, yes, yes
. . . yes, yes, yes. And say good-by to Helen for me, some of you, if
you happen to think of it. Not that 'twill make much difference to her,"
he added, "whether she gets my good-bys or not, but it might make some
to me. . . . Um, yes, yes."

Mr. Price was eager to oblige.

"I'll tell her you sent 'em, Labe," he said, patronizingly. "Set your
mind to rest; I'll tell her."

Laban's lip twitched. "Much obliged, Is," he chirruped. "That's a great
relief! My mind's rested some already."

So, instead of going alone to the railway station, Albert made one of a
delegation of three. And at the station was Mr. Kendall, and two of the
school committee, and one or two members of the church sewing circle,
and the president and secretary of the Society for the Relief of the
French Wounded. So far from being an intimate confidential farewell,
Helen's departure was in the nature of a public ceremony with
speech-making. Mr. Price made most of the speeches, in fact the lower
portion of his countenance was in violent motion most of the ten
minutes.

"Take care of yourself, Helen," he urged loudly. "Don't you worry about
your pa, we'll look out for him. And don't let none of them Boston
fellers carry you off. We'll watch and see tha