company, though I'm glad to say it soon vanished. We had two kinds of
preserves, and some honey beside, and there was a pie with a pale,
smooth crust, and three cuts in the top. It looked like a very good
pie of its kind; but one can't eat every thing, though one does one's
best. And we had big cups of tea; and, though Miss Hannah supposed I
had never eaten with any thing but silver forks before, it happened
luckily that I had, and we were very merry indeed. Miss Hannah told us
several stories of the time she kept school, and gave us some
reminiscences of her life at the Port; and Miss Cynthia looked at me
as if she had heard them before, and wished to say, "I know she's
having a good time." I think Miss Cynthia felt, after we were out in
the woods, as if I were her company, and she was responsible for me.

I thanked them heartily when I came away, for I had had such a
pleasant time. Miss Cynthia picked me a huge nosegay of her flowers,
and whispered that she hoped I wouldn't forget about lending her the
book. Poor woman! she was so young,--only a girl yet, in spite of her
having lived more than fifty years in that plain, dull home of hers,
in spite of her faded face and her grayish hair. We came away in the
rattling wagon. Georgie sat up in his place with a steady hand on the
reins, and keeping a careful lookout ahead, as if he were steering a
boat through a rough sea.

We passed the house where the auction had been, and it was all shut
up. The cat sat on the doorstep waiting patiently, and I felt very
sorry for her; but Georgie said there were neighbors not far off, and
she was a master hand for squirrels. I was glad to get sight of the
sea again, and to smell the first stray whiff of salt air that blew in
to meet us as we crossed the marshes. I think the life in me must be
next of kin to the life of the sea, for it is drawn toward it
strangely, as a little drop of quicksilver grows uneasy just out of
reach of a greater one.

"Good-night, Georgie!" said I; and he nodded his head a little as he
drove away to take the horse home. "Much obliged to you for my ride,"
said he, and I knew in a minute that his father or one of the aunts
had cautioned him not to forget to make his acknowledgments. He had
told me on the way down that he had baited his nets all ready to set
that evening. I knew he was in a hurry to go out, and it was not long
before I saw his boat pushing off. It was after eight o'clock, and the
moon was comi