run away, let them; they would run back in a few days,
anyway, and then what would happen? Would the young man have the grace
to be ashamed of himself? Martin, she was sure, would never blame him;
his letter had breathed nothing but heartiest good-will. But Martin's
generosity only made the other's ingratitude the blacker.

Meanwhile, the first of June was fast approaching, and as yet no one
had a suspicion of the treasure hidden away in Mrs. Munn's lumber room.
Even that lady's talent for keeping a secret might have been rather
severely taxed had it not been that those around her were absorbed in
other interests. There were Davy and his bosom comrade, the eldest
orphan. They certainly would have divined that something unusual was
transpiring in the old storeroom; but just now they had no time for
such trivial things. For the race between Sawed-Off Wilmott and young
Lochinvar, begun on the last show day, and continued hotly all winter,
was fast reaching a culminating point. The boys were vastly interested
in it, and since the long evenings had passed Tim had discarded books
and fallen back into his old evil ways. So between them and Ella Anne,
life was made a thorny path for the rival lovers.

Then the shrewd Mrs. Munn had noticed that lately the doctor seemed to
be absent-minded. Indeed, he was very much worried over a problem of
his own that had nothing to do with his patients. The question was,
what had he done to offend Miss Cameron? Why she should have suddenly
changed from warm friendship to cold avoidance of him he could not
understand. Whenever he called, she was out, or overwhelmingly busy,
or just about to fulfil another engagement, until he understood, and
ceased calling. Her conduct hurt him more than he could have thought
possible. He had long known and admired her profoundly. He cared much
for her good opinion; but that her disapproval could wound him was
something he had not suspected. He had supposed that Rosalie had made
anything like that quite impossible for him forever.

So, in the midst of these abstractions, Miss Arabella's wedding gown
hung, all unnoticed, in the fragrance of lavender and mint, until at
last the end of May arrived, the eve of the day set for the elopement.

Dr. Allen had been driving Speed all day, and his other horse was out
in the pasture-field; so, early in the evening, he walked down toward
the Drowned Lands to see a patient, taking the pathway through the
r