or him, but Al's wife aint satisfied here, and,
though they've been here, off an' on, the house is shet up most o' the
time. It's for sale an' to rent, both, ef enybody wants it. I'm sorry
about you, too, fur it was a nice tavern, when Dave kept it."

We admitted that we were also very sorry, and the kind-hearted woman
showed a great deal of sympathy.

"You might stay here, but we haint got no fit room where you two could
sleep."

At this, Euphemia and I looked very blank.

"But you could go up to the house and stay, jist as well as not," Mrs.
Carson continued. "There's plenty o' things there, an' I keep the key.
For the matter o' that, ye might take the house for as long as ye want
to stay; Dave 'd be glad enough to rent it; and, if the lady knows how
to keep house, it wouldn't be no trouble at all, jist for you two. We
could let ye have all the victuals ye'd want, cheap, and there's plenty
o' wood there, cut, and every thing handy."

We looked at each other. We agreed. Here was a chance for a rare good
time. It might be better, perhaps, than any thing we had expected.

The bargain was struck. Mrs. Carson, who seemed vested with all the
necessary powers of attorney, appeared to be perfectly satisfied with
our trustworthiness, and when I paid on the spot the small sum she
thought proper for two weeks' rent, she evidently considered she had
done a very good thing for Dave Dutton and herself.

"I'll jist put some bread, an' eggs, an' coffee, an' pork, an' things in
the basket, an' I'll have 'em took up for ye, with yer trunk, an' I'll
go with ye an' take some milk. Here, Danny!" she cried, and directly her
husband, a long, thin, sun-burnt, sandy-headed man, appeared, and to him
she told, in a few words, our story, and ordered him to hitch up the
cart and be ready to take our trunk and the basket up to Dutton's old
house.

When all was ready, we walked up the hill, followed by Danny and the
cart. We found the house a large, low, old-fashioned farm-house,
standing near the road with a long piazza in front, and a magnificent
view of mountain-tops in the rear. Within, the lower rooms were large
and low, with quite a good deal of furniture in them. There was no
earthly reason why we should not be perfectly jolly and comfortable
here. The more we saw the more delighted we were at the odd experience
we were about to have. Mrs. Carson busied herself in getting things in
order for our supper and general accommodation. She