le girl where she would probably be struck by the other end of the
easel. The boy resumed his cautious descent.

The stage drivers made such great noise as a collection that as
individuals their identities were lost. With a highly important air, as
a man proud of being so busy, the baggageman of the train was thundering
trunks at the other employees on the platform. Hawker, prowling through
the crowd, heard a voice near his shoulder say, "Do you know where is
the stage for Hemlock Inn?" Hawker turned and found a young woman
regarding him. A wave of astonishment whirled into his hair, and he
turned his eyes quickly for fear that she would think that he had
looked at her. He said, "Yes, certainly, I think I can find it." At the
same time he was crying to himself: "Wouldn't I like to paint her,
though! What a glance--oh, murder! The--the--the distance in her eyes!"

He went fiercely from one driver to another. That obdurate stage for
Hemlock Inn must appear at once. Finally he perceived a man who grinned
expectantly at him. "Oh," said Hawker, "you drive the stage for Hemlock
Inn?" The man admitted it. Hawker said, "Here is the stage." The young
woman smiled.

The driver inserted Hawker and his luggage far into the end of the
vehicle. He sat there, crooked forward so that his eyes should see the
first coming of the girl into the frame of light at the other end of the
stage. Presently she appeared there. She was bringing the little boy,
the little girl, the nursemaid, and another young woman, who was at once
to be known as the mother of the two children. The girl indicated the
stage with a small gesture of triumph. When they were all seated
uncomfortably in the huge covered vehicle the little boy gave Hawker a
glance of recognition. "It hurted then, but it's all right now," he
informed him cheerfully.

"Did it?" replied Hawker. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, I didn't mind it much," continued the little boy, swinging his
long, red-leather leggings bravely to and fro. "I don't cry when I'm
hurt, anyhow." He cast a meaning look at his tiny sister, whose soft
lips set defensively.

The driver climbed into his seat, and after a scrutiny of the group in
the gloom of the stage he chirped to his horses. They began a slow and
thoughtful trotting. Dust streamed out behind the vehicle. In front, the
green hills were still and serene in the evening air. A beam of gold
struck them aslant, and on the sky was lemon and pink information of the
s