ht and hearing, the Piper stopped his whistling. "'T is
no need to be cheerful, Laddie," he explained to the dog, "when there's
none to be saddened if you're not. We don't know about the loose link,
and perhaps we can never find it, but we're going to try. We'll take
off the chain and put the poor soul in the sun again before we go away,
if we can learn how to do it, but I'm thinking 't is a heavy chain and
the sun has long since ceased to shine."

After supper, he lighted a candle and absorbed himself in going over
his stock. He had made a few purchases in the city and it took some
time to arrange them properly.

Last of all, he took out a box and opened it. He held up to the
flickering light length after length of misty white chiffon--a fabric
which the Piper had never bought before.

"'T is expensive, Laddie," he said; "so expensive that neither of us
will taste meat again for more than a week, though we walked both ways,
but I'm thinking she'll need more sometime and there was none to be had
here. We'll not be in the way of charging for it since her gown is
shabby and her shoes are worn."

Twilight deepened into night and still the Piper sat there, handling
the chiffon curiously and yet with reverence. It was silky to his
touch, filmy, cloud-like. He folded it into small compass, and crushed
it in his hands, much surprised to find that it did not crumple. All
the meaning of chiffon communicated itself to him--the lightness and
the laughter, the beauty and the love. Roses and moonlight seemed to
belong with it, youth and a singing heart.

"'T is a rare stuff, I'm thinking, Laddie," he said, at length, not
noting that the dog was asleep. "'T is a rare, fine stuff, and well
suited to her wearing, because she is so beautiful that she hides her
face."

XII

A Grey Kitten

With her mouth firmly set, and assuming the air of a martyr trying to
make himself a little more comfortable against the stake, Miss
Mehitable climbed the hill. In her capable hands were the implements
of warfare--pails, yellow soap, and rags. She carried a mop on her
shoulder as a regular carries a gun.

"Havin' said I would clean house, I will clean house," she mused, "in
spite of all the ingratitude and not listenin'. 'T won't take long,
and it'll do my heart good to see the place clean again. Evelina's got
no gumption about a house--never did have. I s'pose she thinks it's
clean just because she's swept it and brush