gle them from the twigs. She let them lie in his, and looked up
in his face and smiled.

'I will try to be a good wife, and manage all the common things, and not
tease you to be like other men, if you will sometimes read your books to
me and explain to me what life means, and why it is so beautiful, and
why things are as they are.'

'I'm afraid I don't understand these matters myself very well,' he said;
'but we can talk about them together.'

While he held her hands, she drooped her head till it touched his
shoulder.

He had kissed no one since his mother died, and the great joy that took
possession of his heart brought, by its stimulus, a sudden knowledge of
what had really happened to his mind. In a marvellously tender way, for
a man who could not go a-courting, he put his hand under the pretty chin
and looked down wonderingly, reverently, at the serious upturned face.
'And this is bonnie Eelan Reid?'

Then Eelan, thinking that he was teasing her gently for being so easily
won when she had gained the reputation of being so proud, cast down her
eyes and blushed.

So they were married, and lived happily, very happily, although they had
their sorrows, as others have. The schoolmaster was man enough to keep
the knowledge of his blunder a secret between himself and God.

As for Miss Blakely, she never quite understood who had stolen the
dollar, or when, or where; but she was glad to get it back. She never
forgave Mrs. Sims for having managed her trust so ill, although the
widow declared, with tears in her eyes, that she had done her best.

'He would have taken in the knowingest person, he would indeed, Ann
Blakely; and, to my notion, a straightforward woman like you is well
quit of a man who, while he looked so innocent, could act so deep.'

III

THRIFT

The end of March had come. The firm Canadian snow roads had suddenly
changed their surface and become a chain of miniature rivers, lakes
interspersed by islands of ice, and half-frozen bogs.

A young priest had started out of the city of Montreal to walk to the
suburb of Point St. Charles. He was in great haste, so he kilted up his
long black petticoats and hopped and skipped at a good pace. The hard
problems of life had not as yet assailed him; he had that set of the
shoulders that belongs to a good conscience and an easy mind; his face
was rosy-cheeked and serene.

Behind him lay the hill-side city, with its grey towers and spires and
snow-clad