not a frown of anger or
contempt, but a pleasant smile of friendly amusement.

"Not the book," he said, "but me."

Miss Sally looked at the eager eyes that were not only serious, but
sincere and kind.

"Well, Mister Hewlitt," she said, "I guess I'll have to marry someone
some time so I might as well marry you as anybody. But I don't think pa
will ever give consent to havin' a book agent in the family. He hates
book agents worse than I used to."

"You don't any more," said Eliph', putting his hand very far across the
table.

"Well, no, I don't," said Miss Sally graciously, "not all of 'em."

CHAPTER XIX. Pap Briggs' Hen Food

The doubt that Miss Sally had expressed regarding Pap Briggs' acceptance
of Eliph' Hewlitt as a son-in-law was mild compared with the fact. When
the old man returned the next day from his farm at Clarence and learned
from Miss Sally that she had promised to marry the book agent he was
furiously angry. For two whole days he refused to wear his store teeth
at all, and when he recovered from his first height of anger it was to
settle down into a hard and fast negative. He went about town telling
anyone that would listen to him that there ought to be licenses against
book agents, and once having made up his mind that Miss Sally should not
marry Eliph' as long as he remained alive to prevent it, not even the
friendly approaches of the book agent could move him from his stubborn
resolution. Miss Sally would not think of marrying while her father was
in such a state of opposition, and indeed, Eliph' did not urge it. He
had no desire to defy his father-in-law, and he unwillingly but kindly
agreed to wait.

In this way the autumn faded into winter. Mrs. Tarbro-Smith returned to
New York with a note-book full of dialect and a head full of local color
and types, and if she took Susan with her it was only because she agreed
to bring her back in June, when T. J. Jones was to marry her. Miss Sally
lived on with her father, attending to his wants, which were few and
simple. An egg for breakfast, and enough tobacco to burn all day were
his chief earthly desires, eggs because he could eat them in comfort,
and tobacco because he liked it.

When Miss Sally had moved to town there was one thing she had said her
father SHOULDN'T do, after living all his life on a farm, and that was,
have store eggs for his breakfast.

"Hens is trouble enough, Lord knows," said Miss Sally, "an' dirty, if
they can't