s board and room."

"Well, if she won't take it," remarked Quincy, "Mandy may have the
balance of it for her trouble. The man wants the room, and he is able to
pay for it."

Then Quincy and Ezekiel went into the house for supper.

The next morning Quincy found that Uncle Ike had not forgotten his
promise, for he was on hand promptly, dressed for a trip to Eastborough
Centre. This time they took the carryall and two horses, and Uncle Ike
sat on the front seat with Quincy.

They reached Eastborough Centre and found Dr. Tillotson awaiting them.
The return home was quickly made and Uncle Ike took the doctor to the
parlor. Then he went to Alice's room, and Quincy heard them descend the
stairs. The conversation lasted for a full hour, and Quincy sat in his
room thinking and hoping for the best. Suddenly he was startled from his
reveries by a rap upon the door, and Uncle Ike said the doctor was
ready. Quincy drove him back to Eastborough Centre, and on the way the
doctor gave him his diagnosis of the case and his proposed treatment. He
said it would not be necessary for him to see her again for three weeks,
or until the medicine that he had left for her was gone. He would come
down again at a day's notice from Quincy.

On his return Mandy told him that Miss Alice was in the parlor and would
like to see him. As he entered the room she recognized his footstep, and
starting to her feet turned towards him. He advanced to meet her and
took both her hands in his.

"How can I thank you, my good friend," said she, "for the interest that
you have taken in me, and how can I repay you for the money that you
have spent?"

Quincy was at first disposed to deny his connection with the matter, but
thinking that Uncle Ike must have told of it, he said, "I don't think it
was quite fair for Uncle Ike, after promising to keep silent!"

"It was not Uncle Ike's fault," broke in Alice; "it was nobody's fault.
Nobody had told the doctor that there was any secret about it, and so he
spoke freely of your visit to the city, and of what you had said, and of
the arrangements that you had made to have the treatment continued as
long as it produced satisfactory results. But," continued Alice, "how
can I ever pay you this great sum of money that it will cost for my
treatment?"

"Do not worry about that, Alice," said he, using her Christian name for
the second time, "the money is nothing. I have more than I know what to
do with, and it is a pleasur