ne, as if something were
happening that he could not understand. The sea boomed along the shore
beyond the marshes; the men could hear the rote of a piece of pebble
beach a mile or two to the southward; now and then there was a faint
tinkle of sleigh-bells. The fields looked wide and empty; the unusual
warmth of the day before had been followed by clear cold. Suddenly a
straggling company of women were seen coming from the next house. The
men at the barn flapped their arms, and one of them, the youngest,
danced a little to keep himself warm.

"Here they all come," said somebody, and at that instant the sound of
many sleigh-bells grew loud and incessant, and far-away shouts and
laughter came along the wind, fainter in the hollows and loud on the
hills of the uneven road. "Here they come! I guess you'd better go in,
Joe; they'll want to have lights ready."

"She'll have a fire all laid for him in the fore room," said the young
man; "that's all we want. She'll be expectin' you, Joe; go in now, and
they'll think nothin' of it, bein' Saturday night. Just you hurry, so
they'll have time to light up." And Joe went.

"Stop and have some talk with father," whispered Lizzie affectionately
to her lover, as she came to meet him. "He's all worked up, thinking
nobody'll respect him, an' all that. Tell him you're glad he beat."
And they opened the kitchen door.

"What's all that noise?" said John Packer, dropping his weekly
newspaper, and springing out of his chair. He looked paler and thinner
than he had looked the day before. "What's all that noise, Joe?"

There was a loud sound of bells now, and of people cheering. Joe's
throat had a lump in it; he knew well enough what it was, and could
not find his voice to tell. Everybody in the neighborhood was coming,
and they were all cheering as they passed the landmark pines.

"I guess the neighbors mean to give you a little party to-night, sir,"
said Joe. "I see six or eight sleighs comin' along the road. They've
all heard about it; some o' the boys that was here with the riggin'
went down to the store last night, and they was all tellin' how you
stood right up to Ferris like a king, an' drove him. You see, they're
all gratified on account of having you put a stop to Ferris's tricks
about them pines," he repeated. Joe did not dare to look at Lizzie or
her mother, and in two minutes more the room began to fill with
people, and John Packer, who usually hated company, was shaking hands