r arm
was a spade. He entered Miss Evelina's gate without ceremony and made
a wry face as he looked about him. He scarcely knew where to begin.

The sound of the wide, even strokes roused Miss Evelina from her
lethargy, and she went to the window, veiled. At first she was
frightened when she saw the queer man whom she had met in the woods
hard at work in her garden.

The red feather in his hat bobbed cheerfully up and down, the little
yellow dog ran about busily, and the Piper was whistling lustily an
old, half-forgotten tune.

She watched him for some time, then a new thought frightened her again.
She had no money with which to pay him for clearing out her garden, and
he would undoubtedly expect payment. She must go out and tell him not
to work any more; that she did not wish to have the weeds removed.

Cringing before the necessity, she went out. The Piper did not see her
until she was very near him, then, startled in his turn, he said, "Oh!"
and took off his hat.

"Good-morning, madam," he went on, making a low bow. She noted that
the tip of his red feather brushed the ground. "What can I do for you,
more than I'm doing now?"

"It is about that," stammered Evelina, "that I came. You must not work
in my garden."

"Surely," said the Piper, "you don't mean that! Would you have it all
weeds? And 't is hard work for such as you."

"I--I--" answered Miss Evelina, almost in a whisper; "I have no money."

The Piper laughed heartily and put on his hat again. "Neither have I,"
he said, between bursts of seemingly uncalled-for merriment, "and
probably I'm the only man in these parts who's not looking for it. Did
you think I'd ask for pay for working in the garden?"

His tone made her feel that she had misjudged him and she did not know
what to say in reply.

"Laddie and I have no garden of our own," he explained, "and so we're
digging in yours. The place wants cleaning, for 't is a long time
since any one cared enough for it to dig. I was passing, and I saw a
place I thought I could make more pleasant. Have I your leave to try?"

"Why--why, yes," returned Miss Evelina, slowly. "If you'd like to, I
don't mind."

He dismissed her airily, with a wave of his hand, and she went back
into the house, never once turning her head.

"She's our work, Laddie," said the Piper, "and I'm thinking we've begun
in the right way. All the old sadness is piled up in the garden, and
I'm thinking there's weeds in he