re too small, and,
smell as they might, they could not get at him. At last, watching his
chance he whipped out his jack-knife and cut off the tip of the
biggest wolf's nose. Then the wolves howled awfully and ran away, and
Peter put the nose-tip in his pocket, and lay down and went to sleep."

"Oh, how funny!" cried Eyebright, delighted. "What came next?"

"Morning came next, and he got out of the tree and ran home. His poor
grandmother had been frightened almost to death, and had not slept a
wink all night long; she hugged and kissed Peter for half an hour and
then hurried to cook him a hot breakfast. That's all the story,--only,
when Peter grew to be a man, he had the tip of the wolf's nose set as
a breast pin, and he always wore it."

Here Mr. Joyce set Eyebright down, and rose from his chair, for he
heard his horse's hoofs under the window.

"Oh, do tell me about the breast-pin before you go!" cried Eyebright.
"Did he really wear it? How funny! Was it set in gold, or how?"

"I shall have to keep the description of the breast-pin till we meet
again," replied Mr. Joyce. "My dear," and he stooped and kissed her,
"I wish I had a little girl at home just like you. Charley would like
it too. I shall tell him about you. And if you ever meet, you will be
friends, I am sure."

Eyebright sat on the door-steps and watched him ride down the street.
The sun was just setting, and all the western sky was flushed with
pink, the very color of a rosy sea-shell.

"Mr. Joyce is the nicest man that ever came here, I think," she said
to Wealthy, who passed through the hall with her hands full of
tea-things. "He told me a lovely story about wolves. I'll tell it to
you when you put me to bed, if you like. He's the nicest man I ever
saw."

"Nicer than Mr. Porter?" asked Wealthy, grimly, walking down the hall.

Eyebright blushed and made no answer. Mr. Porter was a sore subject,
though she was only six years old when she knew him, and had never
seen him since.

He was a young man who for one summer had rented a vacant room in Miss
Fitch's school building. He took a great fancy to Eyebright, who was a
little girl then, and he used to play with her, and carry her about
the green in his arms. Several times he promised her a doll, which he
said he would fetch when he went home. At last, he went home and came
back, but no doll appeared and whenever Eyebright asked after it, he
replied that it was "in his trunk."

One day, he careles