m
good-bye with the dish-cloth, and there were Harris and Tom directly
beneath her.

And they did not observe Lyddy.

"All right, old man," Master Tom was saying, as he wrung the young
chemist's hand. "The governor and I _were_ a bit worried about grandma,
and your tip came in the nick of time.

"But," he added, with a chuckle, "I had no end of trouble getting Mom and
the girls to let James come up this way. You see, they'd never been this
way over the hill before."

"Now," said Lyddy to herself, when the boys had passed out of hearing,
"here is another case where this Harris Colesworth deliberately put
his--his _nose_ into other people's business!

"He knew these Castles. At least, he knew that they belonged to grandma.
And he took it upon himself to be a talebearer. I don't like him! I
declare I never _shall_ really like him.

"Of course, perhaps grandma's son and the rest of the family might be
getting anxious about her. But suppose they'd been nasty about it and
tried to make her go home with them?

"No. 'Phemie is always saying Harris Colesworth has 'such a nice nose.'
It is nothing of the kind! It is too much in other people's business to
suit me," quoth Lyddy, with decision.

Her opinion of him, however, did not feaze Harris in the least. Mr. Somers
was inclined to be stiff and "offish" since the previous evening, but
Harris was jolly, and kept everybody cheered up--even grandma, who was
undoubtedly a little woe-begone after her family had departed--for a
while, at least.

It was a little too cool yet to sit out of doors after sunset, and that
evening after supper they gathered about a clear, brisk fire on the
dining-room hearth, and Harris Colesworth led the conversation.

And perhaps he had an ulterior design in leading the talk to the Widow
Harrison's troubles. He said nothing at which Jud Spink could take
offense, but it seemed that Harris had informed himself regarding the
old woman's life with her peculiar husband, and he knew much about Bob
Harrison himself.

"Say--he was a caution--he was!" cried Harris. "And he kept folks guessing
all about here for years. The Pritchetts say Bob was a ne'er-do-well
when he was a boy----"

"And that is quite so," put in Professor Spink. "I can remember the way
the old folks talked about him when I was a boy about here."

"Just so," agreed Harris. "He made out he was entitled to a pension from
the government, for years. And he always told folks he had brou