:

"It's the first house past the grove where Snip and I went this
afternoon!"

Seth gave no heed to his lameness as he ran at full speed down the
road; the thought that now was the time when he might in some slight
degree repay Aunt Hannah for having given shelter to him and Snip,
lending speed to his feet.

The Dean family had not yet retired when he arrived at the farmhouse,
and, stopping only sufficiently long to tell in fewest possible words
of what had happened, Seth ran back to help Gladys care for the
invalid, for he was feverishly eager to have some part in the nursing.

Aunt Hannah was on the couch with her wounds partially bandaged when
the boy returned, and although her suffering must have been severe,
that placid face was as serene as when he bade her good-night.

"Mis' Dean is comin' right away. What can I do?"

"Nothing more, my dear," the little woman replied quietly. "You have
been of such great service to me this night that I can never repay
you."

"Please don't say that, Aunt Hannah," Seth cried, his face flushing
with shame as he remembered the past. "If I could only do somethin'
real big, then perhaps you wouldn't think I was so awful bad."

"I believe you to be a good boy, Seth, and shall until you tell me to
the contrary. Even then," she added with a smile, "I fancy it will be
possible to find a reasonable excuse."

The arrival of Mrs. Dean put an end to any further conversation, and
Seth was called upon to aid in carrying Aunt Hannah to the foreroom,
in which was the best bed, although the little woman protested
against anything of the kind.

"I am as well off in my own bed, Sarah Dean. Don't treat me as if I
was a child who didn't know what was best."

"You are goin' into the foreroom, Hannah Morse, an' that's all there
is about it. That bed hasn't been used since the year your brother
Benjamin was at home, an' I've always said that if anything happened
to you, an' I had charge of affairs, you should get some comfort out
of the feathers you earned pickin' berries. We'll take her into the
foreroom, boy, for it's the most cheerful, an' she deserves the best
that's goin'."

"You can bet she does!" Seth exclaimed with great emphasis; and then
he gave all his attention to obeying the many commands which issued
from Mrs. Dean's mouth.

When the little woman had been disposed of according to her neighbor's
ideas of comfort, Seth was directed to build a fire in the kitchen
stove; Glady