ht if I could have got word to you not to
worry."

Then there was a serious silence before Mrs. Todd spoke again to make a
formal announcement.

"She is the Queen's Twin," and Mrs. Todd looked steadily to see how I
might bear the great surprise.

"The Queen's Twin?" I repeated.

"Yes, she 's come to feel a real interest in the Queen, and anybody can
see how natural 't is. They were born the very same day, and you would
be astonished to see what a number o' other things have corresponded.
She was speaking o' some o' the facts to me to-day, an' you 'd think
she 'd never done nothing but read history. I see how earnest she was
about it as I never did before. I 've often and often heard her allude
to the facts, but now she's got to be old and the hurry's over with her
work, she 's come to live a good deal in her thoughts, as folks often
do, and I tell you 't is a sight o' company for her. If you want to
hear about Queen Victoria, why Mis' Abby Martin 'll tell you
everything. And the prospect from that hill I spoke of is as beautiful
as anything in this world; 't is worth while your goin' over to see her
just for that."

"When can you go again?" I demanded eagerly.

"I should say to-morrow," answered Mrs. Todd; "yes, I should say
to-morrow; but I expect 't would be better to take one day to rest, in
between. I considered that question as I was comin' home, but I
hurried so that there wa'n't much time to think. It's a dreadful long
way to go with a horse; you have to go 'most as far as the old Bowden
place an' turn off to the left, a master long, rough road, and then you
have to turn right round as soon as you get there if you mean to get
home before nine o'clock at night. But to strike across country from
here, there 's plenty o' time in the shortest day, and you can have a
good hour or two's visit beside; 't ain't but a very few miles, and
it's pretty all the way along. There used to be a few good families
over there, but they 've died and scattered, so now she 's far from
neighbors. There, she really cried, she was so glad to see anybody
comin'. You 'll be amused to hear her talk about the Queen, but I
thought twice or three times as I set there 't was about all the
company she 'd got."

"Could we go day after to-morrow?" I asked eagerly.

"'T would suit me exactly," said Mrs. Todd.

II.

One can never be so certain of good New England weather as in the days
when a long easterly storm has blown