them two days,"
said Sam. "I'll be at it hammer and tongs, father, till it's time for
me to start o' Friday. You tell 'em as how I'm coming. I'll be there
afore they want me. And when they've got me they won't get much out
of me, I guess."

To all this the miller made no reply, not forbidding his son to work
the mill, nor thanking him for the offer. But Mrs. Brattle and Fanny,
who could read every line in his face, knew that he was well-pleased.

And then there was the confusion of the start. Fanny, in her
solicitude for her father, brought out a little cushion for his
seat. "I don't want no cushion to sit on," said he; "give it here to
Carry." It was the first time that he had called her by her name, and
it was not lost on the poor girl.

CHAPTER LXVII.

SIR GREGORY MARRABLE HAS A HEADACHE.

Mary Lowther, in her letter to her aunt, had in one line told the
story of her rupture with Mr. Gilmore. This line had formed a
postscript, and the writer had hesitated much before she added it.
She had not intended to write to her aunt on this subject; but she
had remembered at the last moment how much easier it would be to tell
the remainder of her story on her arrival at Loring, if so much had
already been told beforehand. Therefore it was that she had added
these words. "Everything has been broken off between me and Mr.
Gilmore--for ever."

This was a terrible blow upon poor Miss Marrable, who, up to the
moment of her receiving that letter, thought that her niece was
disposed of in the manner that had seemed most desirable to all her
friends. Aunt Sarah loved her niece dearly, and by no means looked
forward to improved happiness in her own old age when she should be
left alone in the house at Uphill; but she entertained the view about
young women which is usual with old women who have young women under
their charge, and she thought it much best that this special young
woman should get herself married. The old women are right in their
views on this matter; and the young women, who on this point are not
often refractory, are right also. Miss Marrable, who entertained a
very strong opinion on the subject above-mentioned, was very unhappy
when she was thus abruptly told by her own peculiar young woman that
this second engagement had been broken off and sent to the winds. It
had become a theory on the part of Mary's friends that the Gilmore
match was the proper thing for her. At last, after many difficulties,
the G