y fair exhibit, Dunne," said a city-bred chap.

Six healthy young appetites did justice to this repast and insured
David's acceptance of five invitations to dine. It took Mrs. Tupps and
David fully a week to consume the remnants of this collation. The eggs
he bestowed upon an anemic-faced lodger who had been prescribed a milk
and egg diet, but with eggs at fifty cents a dozen he had not filled
his prescription.

[Illustration: "_David's friends were surprised to receive an off-hand
invitation
from him to 'drop in for a little country spread'_"]

At the end of the college year David went back to the farm, and a snug
sense of comfort and a home-longing filled him at the sight of the old
farmhouse, its lawn stretching into gardens, its gardens into
orchards, orchards into meadows, and meadows into woodlands. Through
the long, hot summer he tilled the fields, and invested the proceeds
in clothes and books for the ensuing year.

There followed three similar years of a hand-to-mouth existence, the
privations of which he endured in silence. There were little
occasional oases, such as boxes from Pennyroyal, or extra revenue now
and then from tutoring, but there were many, many days when his
healthy young appetite clamored in vain for appeasement. On such days
came the temptation to borrow from Barnabas the money to finish his
course in comfort, but the young conqueror never yielded to this
enticement. He grew stronger and sturdier in spirit after each
conflict, but lost something from his young buoyancy and elasticity
which he could never regain. His struggles added a touch of grimness
to his old sense of humor, but when he was admitted to the bar he was
a man in courage, strength, and endurance.

CHAPTER IV

It seemed to David, when he was at the farm again, that in his absence
time had stood still, except with Janey. She was a slender slip of a
girl, gentle voiced and soft hearted. Her eyes were infinitely blue
and lovely, and there was a glad little ring in her voice when she
greeted "Davey."

M'ri gave a cry of surprised pleasure when she saw her former charge.
He was tall, lithe, supple, and hard-muscled. His face was not very
expressive in repose, but showed a quiet strength when lighted by the
keenness of his serious, brown eyes and the sweetness of his smile.
His color was a deep-sea tan.

"It seems so good to be alive, Aunt M'ri. I thought I was weaned away
from farm life until I bit into one of thos