but Jethro
stood on the platform, silent and motionless: more eloquent in his
sorrow--so Mr. Merrill thought--than any human being he had ever known.
Mr. Merrill wondered if Jethro's sorrow were caused by this parting
alone; he believed it was not, and suddenly guessed at the true note of
it. Having come by chance upon the answer to the riddle, Mr. Merrill
stood still with his hand on the carriage door and marvelled that he had
not seen it all sooner. He was a man to take to heart the troubles of his
friends. A subtle change had indeed come over Jethro, and he was not the
same man Mr. Merrill had known for many years. Would others, the men with
whom Jethro contended and the men he commanded, mark this change? And
what effect would it have on the conflict for the mastery of a state
which was to be waged from now on?

"Father," said his daughter Susan, "if you don't get in and close the
door, we'll drive off and leave you standing on the sidewalk."

Thus Cynthia went to her new friends in their own carriage. Mrs. Merrill
was goodness itself, and loved the girl for what she was. How, indeed,
was she to help loving her? Cynthia was scrupulous in her efforts to give
no trouble, and yet she never had the air of a dependent or a
beneficiary; but held her head high, and when called upon gave an opinion
as though she had a right to it. The very first morning Susan, who was
prone to be late to breakfast, came down in a great state of excitement
and laughter.

"What do you think Cynthia's done, Mother?" she cried. "I went into her
room a while ago, and it was all swept and aired, and she was making up
the bed."

"That's an excellent plan," said Mrs. Merrill, "tomorrow morning you
three girls will have a race to see who makes up her room first."

It is needless to say that the race at bed-making never came off, Susan
and Jane having pushed Cynthia into a corner as soon as breakfast was
over, and made certain forcible representations which she felt bound to
respect, and a treaty was drawn up and faithfully carried out, between
the three, that she was to do her own room if necessary to her happiness.
The chief gainer by the arrangement was the chambermaid.

Odd as it may seem, the Misses Merrill lived amicably enough with
Cynthia. It is a difficult matter to force an account of the relationship
of five people living in one house into a few pages, but the fact that
the Merrills had large hearts makes this simpler. There are few