Faith, and so'll
your mother"--and Mrs. Seacomb at last got her visiters into the
parlour.

The parlour was as brown as the rest of the house. The visiters had not
time to remark more particularly; for their attention was claimed by a
tall girl of about Faith's age, with a loosely built, strong jointed
frame, in as marked contrast as possible to the clean outline and soft
angles of the other. She shook hands very cordially with Faith, but
made a reverence to the 'teacher.'

"Won't you take a chair, sir," she said, setting one for the gentleman.
"Aint it an age since we've looked at you, Faith! Your mother's been
here a long spell. Ma' was proud to see her come it. You haint been
here, seems to me, ever before!"

"How do you do, Genevieve?"

"I'm respectable well. Can't do nothin' uncommon, you know, down in
this 'eclusion. I guess it's as good to see company as blackberries. We
don't get it though.--I hope you don't mind a lonely sitiwation, sir?"
The last words with deep gravity and a bending head.

"It agrees well with a contemplative mind," replied the gentleman,
resolving that the young lady should not talk 'high english' alone.

"It does!" said Genevieve admiringly, taking him all in with her eyes.
"There is always something to look at to make you contemplate.--Then
you don't think it an objection, sir, to live so far away from society
as this?"

"I have lived further away from society than this," said Mr. Linden. "I
have seen regions of country, Miss Seacomb, where you could not even
hear of anybody but yourself."

"I declare!--And war' n't it awful still, sir?"

"It was beautiful, still," said Mr. Linden.

"I reckon it was!"

At this juncture Charles twelfth made his appearance, and Mr. Linden at
once turned to him--

"Well sir--how are the Turks?"

To which Charles twelfth, being taken much by surprise, replied,

"They're pretty well."

"Genevievy," said her mother, "if you'll make yourself agreeable, I'll
go hurry tea afore the rest of the children comes. They _will_ all come
to table, and there's so many." And Mrs. Derrick as in duty bound,
followed her to help.

"I'll go tell 'em!" said Charles twelfth as Mrs. Seacomb went out.

"No you will not"--said Mr. Linden,--"you will not go out of the house
again till I give you leave. Why don't you come to Sunday school and
learn to behave yourself?"

"What else?"--said Charles twelfth.

"What else!" said Mr. Linden,--"that will take you som