bered by both. As in nature about them, the
conditions of development and rapid change now existed.

She did not read aloud very much, and long silences fell between them.
They were reaching a higher plane of companionship, in which words are
not always essential. Both had much to think about, and their thoughts
were like roots which prepare for blossom and fruit.

With Monday, busy life was resumed. The farmer began planting his corn
and Alida her flower seeds. Almost every day now added to the brood of
little chicks under her care. The cows went out to pasture. Holcroft
brought in an increasing number of overflowing pails of milk, and if
the labors of the dairy grew more exacting, they also grew more
profitable. The tide had turned; income was larger than outgo, and it
truly seemed to the long-harassed man that an era of peace and
prosperity had set in.

To a superficial observer things might have appeared to be going on
much as before, but there were influences at work which Holcroft did
not clearly comprehend.

As Alida had promised herself, she spent all the money which the eggs
brought in, but Holcroft found pretty muslin curtains at the parlor
windows, and shades which excluded the glare from the kitchen. Better
china took the place of that which was cracked and unsightly. In
brief, a subtle and refining touch was apparent all over the house.

"How fine we are getting!" he remarked one evening at supper.

"I've only made a beginning," she replied, nodding defiantly at him.
"The chickens will paint the house before the year is over."

"Phew! When do the silk dresses come in?"

"When your broadcloth does."

"Well, if this goes on, I shall certainly have to wear purple and fine
linen to keep pace."

"Fine linen, certainly. When you take the next lot of eggs to town I
shall tell you just the number of yards I need to make half a dozen
extra fine shirts. Those you have are getting past mending."

"Do you think I'll let you spend your money in that way?"

"You'll let me spend MY money just as I please--in the way that will do
me the most good!"

"What a saucy little woman you are becoming!" he said, looking at her
so fondly that she quickly averted her eyes. "It's a way people fall
into when humored," she answered.

"See here, Alida, you're up to some magic. It seems but the other day
I brought you here, a pale ghost of a woman. As old Jonathan Johnson
said, you were 'enj'yin' poor healt