he'd be right; I don't know
any Vanderbilts, but I've known Maud since she was a baby. She's a--"

He paused, inspecting a nick in the chisel edge. Again Phillips
shifted in his seat on the edge of the workbench.

"Well?" he asked.

"Eh?" Jed looked up in mild inquiry. "What is it?" he said.

"That's what I want to know--what is it? You were talking about
Maud Hunniwell. You said you had known her since she was a baby
and that she was--something or other; that was as far as you got."

"Sho! . . . Hum. . . . Oh, yes, yes; I was goin' to say she was a
mighty nice girl, as nice as she is good-lookin' and lively.
There's a dozen young chaps in this county crazy about her this
minute, but there ain't any one of 'em good enough for her. . . .
Hello, you goin' so soon? 'Tisn't half-past nine yet, is it?"

Phillips did not answer. His somber expression was still in
evidence. Jed would have liked to cheer him up, but he did not
know how. However he made an attempt by changing the subject.

"How is Babbie this mornin'?" he asked.

"She's as lively as a cricket, of course. And full of excitement.
She's going to school next Monday, you know. You'll rather miss
her about the shop here, won't you?"

"Miss her! My land of Goshen! I shouldn't be surprised if I
follered her to school myself, like Mary's little lamb. Miss her!
Don't talk!"

"Well, so long. . . . What is it?"

"Eh?"

"What is it you want to say? You look as if you wanted to say
something."

"Do I? . . . Hum. . . . Oh, 'twasn't anything special. . . .
How's--er--how's your sister this mornin'?"

"Oh, she's well. I haven't seen her so well since--that is, for a
long time. You've made a great hit with Sis, Jed," he added, with
a laugh. "She can't say enough good things about you. Says you
are her one dependable in Orham, or something like that."

Jed's face turned a bright red. "Oh, sho, sho!" he protested, "she
mustn't talk that way. I haven't done anything."

"She says you have. Well, by-by."

He went away. It was some time before Jed resumed his chisel-
sharpening.

Later, when he came to reflect upon his conversation with young
Phillips there were one or two things about it which puzzled him.
They were still puzzling him when Maud Hunniwell came into the
shop. Maud, in a new fall suit, hat and fur, was a picture, a fact
of which she was as well aware as the next person. Jed, as always,
was very glad to see her.