tch they had raised a hundred and twenty quarts. There was another
side to the labor-question,--diversity of industry. Jane's idea of a
great fruit-garden, or call it a farm, was not bad. You could crowd ten
such patches in an acre of ground. If nothing better came to hand, he
might hire some of the ground lying waste around Yerbury, and set the
idle at work.

Sylvie came through with some flowers in her hand. Jack looked up again,
and laughed, and threw himself on the grass under a tree, chatting
gayly. He felt so light at heart! She wondered a little, and then,
without knowing the cause, rejoiced with him in the depths of her soul.

The two men started the next morning, and at the appointed time were
ushered into Miss McLeod's private parlor. Maverick had said, "She's a
little queer in some ways; but in the main you will like her, I think."
Meanwhile Jack had formed a dozen ideals of her, based mostly on the
personal appearance of Miss Barry and his grandmother.

The door of the adjoining room opened, and Miss McLeod entered. An old
woman, of course, and a fashionable woman, but with a young-old face and
figure. Not the graceful airiness of youth, so often painful in its
desire to impress the beholder with what it is not, but an old age to
which all the good things of life, rightly used, have contributed, and
brought about a delightful result. She was of medium height, and
possibly had not been handsome in her palmy days; but she challenged
one's respect for a true and honorable womanhood, and an old age neither
inane, querulous, nor servile.

A rather plump figure, with deep chest, full shoulders, and erect
carriage. The face was wrinkled; but the skin had a peachy softness, the
lips were still full and finely curved, and, though the mouth was rather
wide, it indicated resolution and decision. The whole contour of the
face was slightly aquiline, the forehead high and broad, but the curling
hair falling over it in the requirements of fashion softened it; shining
silvery white, curling naturally, and very abundant, the coil at the
back partly covered with a diamond-shaped bit of elegant black thread
lace that matched the barb at her throat. Her rich, soft, steel-colored
silk made no rustle as she crossed the floor, but the diamonds in her
ears and on her breast flashed a glitter of sunlight about her.

Maverick greeted her with pleasant but not effusive warmth, and
introduced his friend. They skirmished on the boun