was the
choicest news that Dever had had to give out for many a day, and the
circulation was amazing in its rapid transit. I had a host of friends
here where I had grown to manhood, and the first impulse was to take
Cliff Street by storm. It was Cam Gentry who counselled better methods.

"Now, by hen, let's have some sense," he urged, "the boy's jest got
here. He's ben through life and death, er tarnation nigh akin to it.
Let's let him be with his own till to-morror. Jest ac like we'd had a
grain o' raisin' anyhow, and wait our turn. Ef he shows hisself down on
this 'er street we'll jest go out and turn the Neoshy runnin' north for
an hour and a half while we carry him around dry shod. But now, to-day,
let him come out o' hidin', and we'll give him welcome; but ef he stays
up there with Candace, we'll be gentlemen fur oncet ef it does purty
nigh kill some of us."

"Cam is right," Cris Mead urged. "If he comes down here he'll take his
chances, but we'll hold our fire on the hill till to-morrow."

"Well, by cracky, the Baronets never miss prayer meeting, I guess.
Springvale will turn out to-night some," Grandpa Mead declared.

And so while I revelled in a home-coming, thankful to be alone with my
own people, the best folks on earth were waiting and dodging about, but
courteously abstaining from rushing in on our sacred home rights.

In the middle of the afternoon Cam Gentry called to Dollie to come to
his aid.

"Jest tie the end of this rope good and fast around this piazzer post,"
he said.

His wife obeyed before she noted that the other end was fastened around
Cam's right ankle. To her wondering look he responded:

"Ef I don't lariat myself to something, like a old hen wanting to steal
off with her chickens, I'll be up to Baronet's spite of my efforts, I'm
that crazy to see Phil once more."

Through the remainder of the May afternoon he sat on the veranda, or
hopped the length of his tether to the side-walk and looked longingly up
toward the high street, that faced the cliff, but his purpose did not
change.

Springvale showed its sense of delicacy in more ways than this. Marjie
was the last to hear of my leaving when all suddenly I turned my back on
the town nearly ten months before. And now, while almost every family
had discussed my return--anything furnishes a little town a
sensation--the Whately family had had no notice served of the
momentarily interesting topic. And so it was that Marjie, innocent of