right," rejoined Quincy, "a cigar would be too heavy for me
to-night. I have a slight headache, and if you will excuse me I will
roll a cigarette."

[Illustration: "MANDY SKINNER," AS SHE APPEARS IN THE PLAY.]

He took his little case of rice paper from his pocket and also a small
pouch of tobacco, and deftly made and lighted a cigarette. The three men
sat smoking, and as Quincy blew a ring into the air he wondered what Sir
Walter Raleigh would have said if he could have looked in upon them.

Quincy broke the silence. "I am afraid, Uncle Ike, that I have caused
you much inconvenience by driving you out of that pleasant front room
where I found my trunk."

"Not a bit," replied Uncle Ike. "I hate carpets, and I prefer to sleep
in my own bed, and what's more, I wanted to put up my stove, and there
was no chance in that front room. When real cold weather comes I always
have a ton of coal for my stove, so I am much better off where I am than
I would be downstairs. By the way, 'Zeke, just tell me all about Alice
again. You won't mind Mr. Sawyer; he is one of the family now."

"Well," said Ezekiel, "Alice was taken sick about the middle of
December. The folks where she boarded sent for a doctor. It was about
eight o'clock in the morning when she was taken, and it was noon before
she got easy, so they could get her to bed. She thought she was getting
better; then, she had another attack; then she thought she was getting
better again, and the third attack was the worst of the three. The folks
wanted to write to me, but she wouldn't let them. When she really did
begin to get better, she found out there was something that was worse
than being sick. She found she couldn't see to read either print or
writing, but Alice is a spunky girl, and she wouldn't give in, even
then. A friend told her to go and see Dr. Moses, who was an eye doctor,
and put herself right under his treatment. She thought she was going to
get well right off at first, but when she found it was likely to be a
long job, then she gave in and wrote to me. She has brought her
treatment down with her, and the doctor says she will have to go to
Boston once a month to see him, as he is too busy to come down here."

At this point in the proceedings the door opened and Mandy entered,
bringing a large dish of big red apples and another full of cracked
shellbarks. She left the room and returned almost immediately with a
large dish full of popcorn.

"Have an apple?" sa