A Girl Of The Limberlost ...................................................................................................................................1

Gene Stratton Porter .................................................................................................................................1

LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS...........................................................................................2

WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED........................................................................................................11

ACCOUNT............................................................................................................................................17

LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH...................................................................................................23

THE SCENE..........................................................................................................................................35

REAPPEARS .........................................................................................................................................43

ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE .................................................................................................................53

HIS FATHER........................................................................................................................................71

MARGARET.........................................................................................................................................74

COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST ................................................82

SEND GIFTS .........................................................................................................................................91

COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST................................................................................99

FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING...............................................................................112

AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS ..............................................................................120

AMMON WRITES A LETTER..........................................................................................................127

TALKING TREES TELL GREAT SECRETS...................................................................................135

ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION .................................................................................................140

REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY .........................................148

CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE..................................................153

EXPERIENCES REGRETS................................................................................................................160

ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION .............................................................................................165

STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST................................................................................173

THE ANGEL APPEAR .......................................................................................................................182

HENDERSON STANDS GUARD ......................................................................................................189

YELLOW EMPEROR .........................................................................................................................197

Chapter 1 A Girl of the Limberlost WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS

Elnora Comstock, have you lost your senses?" demanded the angry voice of Katharine Comstock while she

"Don't you `why mother' me!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "You know very well what I mean. You've given me no

peace until you've had your way about this going to school business; I've fixed you good enough, and you're

ready to start. But no child of mine walks the streets of Onabasha looking like a playactress woman. You

wet your hair and comb it down modest and decent and then be off, or you'll have no time to find where you

Elnora gave one despairing glance at the white face, framed in a most becoming riot of reddishbrown hair,

which she saw in the little kitchen mirror. Then she untied the narrow black ribbon, wet the comb and

plastered the waving curls close to her head, bound them fast, pinned on the skimpy black hat and opened the

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 2

"You'll take your dinner or you'll not go one step. Are you crazy? Walk almost three miles and no food from

six in the morning until six at night. A pretty figure you'd cut if you had your way! And after I've gone and

Elnora came back with a face still whiter and picked up the lunch. "Thank you, mother! Goodbye!" she said.

Mrs. Comstock did not reply. She watched the girl follow the long walk to the gate and go from sight on the

Elnora walked by instinct, for her eyes were blinded with tears. She left the road where it turned south, at the

corner of the Limberlost, climbed a snake fence and entered a path worn by her own feet. Dodging under

willow and scrub oak branches she came at last to the faint outline of an old trail made in the days when the

precious timber of the swamp was guarded by armed men. This path she followed until she reached a thick

clump of bushes. From the debris in the end of a hollow log she took a key that unlocked the padlock of a

large weatherbeaten old box, inside of which lay several books, a butterfly apparatus, and a small cracked

mirror. The walls were lined thickly with gaudy butterflies, dragonflies, and moths. She set up the mirror and

once more pulling the ribbon from her hair, she shook the bright mass over her shoulders, tossing it dry in the

sunshine. Then she straightened it, bound it loosely, and replaced her hat. She tugged vainly at the low brown

calico collar and gazed despairingly at the generous length of the narrow skirt. She lifted it as she would have

cut it if possible. That disclosed the heavy high leather shoes, at sight of which she seemed positively ill, and

hastily dropped the skirt. She opened the pail, removed the lunch, wrapped it in the napkin, and placed it in a

small pasteboard box. Locking the case again she hid the key and hurried down the trail.

She followed it around the north end of the swamp and then entered a footpath crossing a farm leading in the

direction of the spires of the city to the northeast. Again she climbed a fence and was on the open road. For

an instant she leaned against the fence staring before her, then turned and looked back. Behind her lay the

land on which she had been born to drudgery and a mother who made no pretence of loving her; before her

lay the city through whose schools she hoped to find means of escape and the way to reach the things for

which she cared. When she thought of how she appeared she leaned more heavily against the fence and

groaned; when she thought of turning back and wearing such clothing in ignorance all the days of her life she

On the bridge crossing a deep culvert at the suburbs she glanced around, and then kneeling she thrust the

lunch box between the foundation and the flooring. This left her emptyhanded as she approached the big

stone high school building. She entered bravely and inquired her way to the office of the superintendent.

There she learned that she should have come the previous week and arranged about her classes. There were

many things incident to the opening of school, and one man unable to cope with all of them.

"Where have you been attending school?" he asked, while he advised the teacher of Domestic Science not to

telephone for groceries until she knew how many she would have in her classes; wrote an order for chemicals

for the students of science; and advised the leader of the orchestra to hire a professional to take the place of

"I finished last spring at Brushwood school, district number nine," said Elnora. "I have been studying all

summer. I am quite sure I can do the first year work, if I have a few days to get started."

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 3

"Of course, of course," assented the superintendent. "Almost invariably country pupils do good work. You

may enter first year, and if it is too difficult, we will find it out speedily. Your teachers will tell you the list of

books you must have, and if you will come with me I will show you the way to the auditorium. It is now time

Elnora stood before the entrance and stared into the largest room she ever had seen. The floor sloped to a

yawning stage on which a band of musicians, grouped around a grand piano, were tuning their instruments.

She had two fleeting impressions. That it was all a mistake; this was no school, but a grand display of

enormous ribbon bows; and the second, that she was sinking, and had forgotten how to walk. Then a burst

from the orchestra nerved her while a bevy of daintily clad, sweet smelling things that might have been

birds, or flowers, or possibly gaily dressed, happy young girls, pushed her forward. She found herself

plodding across the back of the auditorium, praying for guidance, to an empty seat.

As the girls passed her, vacancies seemed to open to meet them. Their friends were moving over, beckoning

and whispering invitations. Every one else was seated, but no one paid any attention to the whitefaced girl

stumbling halfblindly down the aisle next the farthest wall. So she went on to the very end facing the stage.

No one moved, and she could not summon courage to crowd past others to several empty seats she saw. At

the end of the aisle she paused in desperation, while she stared back at the whole forest of faces most of

In a flash came the full realization of her scanty dress, her pitiful little hat and ribbon, her big, heavy shoes,

her ignorance of where to go or what to do; and from a sickening wave which crept over her, she felt she was

going to become very ill. Then out of the mass she saw a pair of big, brown boy eyes, three seats from her,

and there was a message in them. Without moving his body he reached forward and with a pencil touched the

back of the seat before him. Instantly Elnora took another step which brought her to a row of vacant front

She heard laughter behind her; the knowledge that she wore the only hat in the room burned her; every matter

of moment, and some of none at all, cut and stung. She had no books. Where should she go when this was

over? What would she give to be on the trail going home! She was shaking with a nervous chill when the

music ceased, and the superintendent arose, and coming down to the front of the flowerdecked platform,

opened a Bible and began to read. Elnora did not know what he was reading, and she felt that she did not

care. Wildly she was racking her brain to decide whether she should sit still when the others left the room or

In the midst of the struggle one sentence fell on her ear. "Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings."

Elnora began to pray frantically. "Hide me, O God, hide me, under the shadow of Thy wings."

Again and again she implored that prayer, and before she realized what was coming, every one had arisen and

the room was emptying rapidly. Elnora hurried after the nearest girl and in the press at the door touched her

Elnora stopped praying suddenly and the colour crept into her face. "I'll wager you are the first person I meet

when I find it," she said and stopped short. "Not that! Oh, I must not do that!" she thought in dismay. "Make

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 4

She followed with her eyes as the young people separated in the hall, some climbing stairs, some

disappearing down side halls, some entering adjoining doors. She saw the girl overtake the browneyed boy

and speak to him. He glanced back at Elnora with a scowl on his face. Then she stood alone in the hall.

Presently a door opened and a young woman came out and entered another room. Elnora waited until she

returned, and hurried to her. "Would you tell me where the Freshmen are?" she panted.

"Straight down the hall, three doors to your left," was the answer, as the girl passed.

"One minute please, oh please," begged Elnora: "Should I knock or just open the door?"

Elnora removed her hat. There was no place to put it, so she carried it in her hand. She looked infinitely better

without it. After several efforts she at last opened the door and stepping inside faced a smaller and more

"The superintendent sent me. He thinks I belong here," she said to the professor in charge of the class, but she

never before heard the voice with which she spoke. As she stood waiting, the girl of the hall passed on her

way to the blackboard, and suppressed laughter told Elnora that her thrust had been repeated.

"Be seated," said the professor, and then because he saw Elnora was desperately embarrassed he proceeded to

lend her a book and to ask her if she had studied algebra. She said she had a little, but not the same book they

were using. He asked her if she felt that she could do the work they were beginning, and she said she did.

That was how it happened, that three minutes after entering the room she was told to take her place beside the

girl who had gone last to the board, and whose flushed face and angry eyes avoided meeting Elnora's. Being

compelled to concentrate on her proposition she forgot herself. When the professor asked that all pupils sign

their work she firmly wrote "Elnora Comstock" under her demonstration. Then she took her seat and waited

with white lips and trembling limbs, as one after another professor called the names on the board, while their

owners arose and explained their propositions, or "flunked" if they had not found a correct solution. She was

so eager to catch their forms of expression and prepare herself for her recitation, that she never looked from

the work on the board, until clearly and distinctly, "Elnora Comstock," called the professor.

The dazed girl stared at the board. One tiny curl added to the top of the first curve of the m in her name, had

transformed it from a good old English patronymic that any girl might bear proudly, to Cornstock. Elnora sat

speechless. When and how did it happen? She could feel the wave of smothered laughter in the air around

her. A rush of anger turned her face scarlet and her soul sick. The voice of the professor addressed her

"This proposition seems to be beautifully demonstrated, Miss Cornstalk," he said. "Surely, you can tell us

That word of praise saved her. She could do good work. They might wear their pretty clothes, have their

friends and make life a greater misery than it ever before had been for her, but not one of them should do

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 5

better work or be more womanly. That lay with her. She was tall, straight, and handsome as she arose.

"Of course I can explain my work," she said in natural tones. "What I can't explain is how I happened to be so

stupid as to make a mistake in writing my own name. I must have been a little nervous. Please excuse me."

She went to the board, swept off the signature with one stroke,then rewrote it plainly. "My name is

Comstock," she said distinctly. She returned to her seat and following the formula used by the others made

As Elnora resumed her seat Professor Henley looked at her steadily. "It puzzles me," he said deliberately,

how you can write as beautiful a demonstration, and explain it as clearly as ever has been done in any of my

classes and still be so disturbed as to make a mistake in your own name. Are you very sure you did that

"I am very glad you think so," said the professor. "Being Freshmen, all of you are strangers to me. I should

dislike to begin the year with you feeling there was one among you small enough to do a trick like that. The

When the hour had gone the class filed back to the study room and Elnora followed in desperation, because

she did not know where else to go. She could not study as she had no books, and when the class again left the

room to go to another professor for the next recitation, she went also. At least they could put her out if she did

not belong there. Noon came at last, and she kept with the others until they dispersed on the sidewalk. She

was so abnormally self conscious she fancied all the hundreds of that laughing, throng saw and jested at her.

When she passed the browneyed boy walking with the girl of her encounter, she knew, for she heard him

say: "Did you really let that gawky piece of calico get ahead of you?" The answer was indistinct.

Elnora hurried from the city. She intended to get her lunch, eat it in the shade of the first tree, and then decide

whether she would go back or go home. She knelt on the bridge and reached for her box, but it was so very

light that she was prepared for the fact that it was empty, before opening it. There was one thing for which to

be thankful. The boy or tramp who had seen her hide it, had left the napkin. She would not have to face her

mother and account for its loss. She put it in her pocket, and threw the box into the ditch. Then she sat on the

"Perhaps the worst is over," she said at last. "I will go back. What would mother say to me if I came home

So she returned to the high school, followed some other pupils to the coat room, hung her hat, and found her

way to the study where she had been in the morning. Twice that afternoon, with aching head and empty

stomach, she faced strange professors, in different branches. Once she escaped notice; the second time the

"Have you not decided on your course, and secured your books?" inquired the professor.

"I have decided on my course," replied Elnora, "I do not know where to ask for my books."

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 6

"Only to those bringing an order from the township trustee," replied the Professor.

"No! Oh no!" cried Elnora. "I will have them to morrow," and gripped her desk for support for she knew

that was not true. Four books, ranging perhaps at a dollar and a half apiece; would her mother buy them? Of

Did not Elnora know the story of old. There was enough land, but no one to do clearing and farm. Tax on all

those acres, recently the new gravel road tax added, the expense of living and only the work of two women to

meet all of it. She was insane to think she could come to the city to school. Her mother had been right. The

girl decided that if only she lived to reach home, she would stay there and lead any sort of life to avoid more

of this torture. Bad as what she wished to escape had been, it was nothing like this. She never could live

down the movement that went through the class when she inadvertently revealed the fact that she had

expected books to be furnished. Her mother would not secure them; that settled the question.

But the end of misery is never in a hurry to come; before the day was over the superintendent entered the

room and explained that pupils from the country were charged a tuition of twenty dollars a year. That really

was the end. Previously Elnora had canvassed a dozen methods for securing the money for books, ranging all

the way from offering to wash the superintendent's dishes to breaking into the bank. This additional expense

made her plans so wildly impossible, there was nothing to do but hold up her head until she was from sight.

Down the long corridor alone among hundreds, down the long street alone among thousands, out into the

country she came at last. Across the fence and field, along the old trail once trodden by a boy's bitter agony,

now stumbled a whitefaced girl, sick at heart. She sat on a log and began to sob in spite of her efforts at

Oh the shame, the mortification! Why had she not known of the tuition? How did she happen to think that in

the city books were furnished? Perhaps it was because she had read they were in several states. But why did

she not know? Why did not her mother go with her? Other mothers but when had her mother ever been or

done anything at all like other mothers? Because she never had been it was useless to blame her now. Elnora

realized she should have gone to town the week before, called on some one and learned all these things

herself. She should have remembered how her clothing would look, before she wore it in public places. Now

she knew, and her dreams were over. She must go home to feed chickens, calves, and pigs, wear calico and

coarse shoes, and with averted head, pass a library all her life. She sobbed again.

"For pity's sake, honey, what's the matter?" asked the voice of the nearest neighbour, Wesley Sinton, as he

seated himself beside Elnora. "There, there," he continued, smearing tears all over her face in an effort to dry

them. "Was it as bad as that, now? Maggie has been just wild over you all day. She's got nervouser every

minute. She said we were foolish to let you go. She said your clothes were not right, you ought not to carry

"Well, you see, Elnora, she didn't like to. You got such a way of holding up your head, and going through

with things. She thought some way that you'd make it, till you got started, and then she begun to see a

hundred things we should have done. I reckon you hadn't reached that building before she remembered that

your skirt should have been pleated instead of gathered, your shoes been low, and lighter for hot September

The girl broke into hysterical laughter. "Right!" she cried. "Right! Uncle Wesley, you should have seen me

among them! I was a picture! They'll never forget me. No, they won't get the chance, for they'll see me again

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 7

"Now that is what I call spunk, Elnora! Downright grit," said Wesley Sinton. "Don't you let them laugh you

out. You've helped Margaret and me for years at harvest and busy times, what you've earned must amount to

"Don't mention clothes, Uncle Wesley," sobbed Elnora, "I don't care now how I look. If I don't go back all of

"Oh, I don't know as you are so dratted poor," said Sinton meditatively. "There are three hundred acres of

"It takes all we can earn to pay the tax, and mother wouldn't cut a tree for her life."

"Well then, maybe, I'll be compelled to cut one for her," suggested Sinton. "Anyway, stop tearing yourself to

"Humph! First time I ever knew you to be stumped by twenty dollars, Elnora," said Sinton, patting her hand.

"It's the first time you ever knew me to want money," answered Elnora. "This is different from anything that

"Drive to town with me in the morning and I'll draw it from the bank for you. I owe you every cent of it."

"You know you don't owe me a penny, and I wouldn't touch one from you, unless I really could earn it. For

anything that's past I owe you and Aunt Margaret for all the home life and love I've ever known. I know how

"Just a loan, Elnora, just a loan for a little while until you can earn it. You can be proud with all the rest of the

"No," said Elnora, "there are none. You and Aunt Margaret have given me all the love there has been in my

life. That is the one reason above all others why you shall not give me charity. Hand me money because you

find me crying for it! This isn't the first time this old trail has known tears and heartache. All of us know that

story. Freckles stuck to what he undertook and won out. I stick, too. When Duncan moved away he gave me

all Freckles left in the swamp, and as I have inherited his property maybe his luck will come with it. I won't

touch your money, but I'll win some way. First, I'm going home and try mother. It's just possible I could find

secondhand books, and perhaps all the tuition need not be paid at once. Maybe they would accept it

quarterly. But oh, Uncle Wesley, you and Aunt Margaret keep on loving me! I'm so lonely, and no one else

Wesley Sinton's jaws met with a click. He swallowed hard on bitter words and changed what he would have

"Elnora," he said at last, "if it hadn't been for one thing I'd have tried to take legal steps to make you ours

when you were three years old. Maggie said then it wasn't any use, but I've always held on. You see, I was

the first man there, honey, and there are things you see, that you can't ever make anybody else understand.

She loved him Elnora, she just made an idol of him. There was that oozy green hole, with the thick scum

broke, and two or three big bubbles slowly rising that were the breath of his body. There she was in spasms of

agony, and beside her the great heavy log she'd tried to throw him. I can't ever forgive her for turning against

you, and spoiling your childhood as she has, but I couldn't forgive anybody else for abusing her. Maggie has

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 8

got no mercy on her, but Maggie didn't see what I did, and I've never tried to make it very clear to her. It's

been a little too plain for me ever since. Whenever I look at your mother's face, I see what she saw, so I hold

my tongue and say, in my heart, `Give her a mite more time.' Some day it will come. She does love you,

Elnora. Everybody does, honey. It's just that she's feeling so much, she can't express herself. You be a patient

girl and wait a little longer. After all, she's your mother, and you're all she's got, but a memory, and it might

"It would kill her!" cried the girl swiftly. "Uncle Wesley, it would kill her! What do you mean?"

"Nothing," said Wesley Sinton soothingly. "Nothing, honey. That was just one of them fool things a man

says, when he is trying his best to be wise. You see, she loved him mightily, and they'd been married only a

year, and what she was loving was what she thought he was. She hadn't really got acquainted with the man

yet. If it had been even one more year, she could have borne it, and you'd have got justice. Having been a

teacher she was better educated and smarter than the rest of us, and so she was more sensitive like. She can't

understand she was loving a dream. So I say it might do her good if somebody that knew, could tell her, but I

swear to gracious, I never could. I've heard her out at the edge of that quagmire calling in them wild spells of

hers off and on for the last sixteen years, and imploring the swamp to give him back to her, and I've got out of

bed when I was pretty tired, and come down to see she didn't go in herself, or harm you. What she feels is too

deep for me. I've got to respectin' her grief, and I can't get over it. Go home and tell your ma, honey, and ask

her nice and kind to help you. If she won't, then you got to swallow that little lump of pride in your neck, and

"I'll ask mother, but I can't take your money, Uncle Wesley, indeed I can't. I'll wait a year, and earn some, and

"There's one thing you don't consider, Elnora," said the man earnestly. "And that's what you are to Maggie.

She's a little like your ma. She hasn't given up to it, and she's struggling on brave, but when we buried our

second little girl the light went out of Maggie's eyes, and it's not come back. The only time I ever see a hint of

it is when she thinks she's done something that makes you happy, Elnora. Now, you go easy about refusing

her anything she wants to do for you. There's times in this world when it's our bounden duty to forget

ourselves, and think what will help other people. Young woman, you owe me and Maggie all the comfort we

can get out of you. There's the two of our own we can't ever do anything for. Don't you get the idea into your

head that a fool thing you call pride is going to cut us out of all the pleasure we have in life beside ourselves."

"Uncle Wesley, you are a dear," said Elnora. "Just a dear! If I can't possibly get that money any way else on

earth, I'll come and borrow it of you, and then I'll pay it back if I must dig ferns from the swamp and sell

them from door to door in the city. I'll even plant them, so that they will be sure to come up in the spring. I

have been sort of panic stricken all day and couldn't think. I can gather nuts and sell them. Freckles sold

moths and butterflies, and I've a lot collected. Of course, I am going back tomorrow! I can find a way to get

"Now, what do you think of that?" inquired Wesley Sinton of the swamp in general. "Here's our Elnora come

back to stay. Head high and right as a trivet! You've named three ways in three minutes that you could earn

ten dollars, which I figure would be enough, to start you. Let's go to supper and stop worrying!"

Elnora unlocked the case, took out the pail, put the napkin in it, pulled the ribbon from her hair, binding it

down tightly again and followed to the road. From afar she could see her mother in the doorway. She blinked

her eyes, and tried to smile as she answered Wesley Sinton, and indeed she did feel better. She knew now

what she had to expect, where to go, and what to do. Get the books she must; when she had them, she would

show those city girls and boys how to prepare and recite lessons, how to walk with a brave heart; and they

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 9

As she neared the door her mother reached for the pail. "I forgot to tell you to bring home your scraps for the

Elnora entered. "There weren't any scraps, and I'm hungry again as I ever was in my life."

"I thought likely you would be," said Mrs. Comstock, "and so I got supper ready. We can eat first, and do the

Elnora looked into her mother's face and smiled. It was a queer sort of a little smile, and would have reached

"I see you've been bawling," said Mrs. Comstock. "I thought you'd get your fill in a hurry. That's why I

wouldn't go to any expense. If we keep out of the poor house we have to cut the corners close. It's likely this

Brushwood road tax will eat up all we've saved in years. Where the land tax is to come from I don't know. It

gets bigger every year. If they are going to dredge the swamp ditch again they'll just have to take the land to

pay for it. I can't, that's all! We'll get up early in the morning and gather and hull the beans for winter, and put

"Do you think I didn't know that I was funny and would be laughed at?" she asked.

"Yes, funny! A regular caricature," answered Elnora. "No one else wore calico, not even one other. No one

else wore high heavy shoes, not even one. No one else had such a funny little old hat; my hair was not right,

my ribbon invisible compared with the others, I did not know where to go, or what to do, and I had no books.

What a spectacle I made for them!" Elnora laughed nervously at her own picture. "But there are always two

sides! The professor said in the algebra class that he never had a better solution and explanation than mine of

"That was poor taste," admitted Elnora. "But, you see, it is a case of whistling to keep up my courage. I

honestly could see that I would have looked just as well as the rest of them if I had been dressed as they were.

We can't afford that, so I have to find something else to brace me. It was rather bad, mother!"

"Oh, but I haven't" hurried in Elnora. "I just got a start. The hardest is over. Tomorrow they won't be

surprised. They will know what to expect. I am sorry to hear about the dredge. Is it really going through?"

"Yes. I got my notification today. The tax will be something enormous. I don't know as I can spare you, even

"You've heard about doing evil that good might come from it," she said. "Well, mother mine, it's something

like that with me. I'm willing to bear the hard part to pay for what I'll learn. Already I have selected the ward

building in which I shall teach in about four years. I am going to ask for a room with a south exposure so that

the flowers and moths I take in from the swamp to show the children will do well."

CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS 10

"You little idiot!" said Mrs. Comstock. "How are you going to pay your expenses?"

"Now that is just what I was going to ask you!" said Elnora. "You see, I have had two startling pieces of news

today. I did not know I would need any money. I thought the city furnished the books, and there is an

outoftown tuition, also. I need ten dollars in the morning. Will you please let me have it?"

"Ten dollars!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "Ten dollars! Why don't you say a hundred and be done with it! I could

get one as easy as the other. I told you! I told you I couldn't raise a cent. Every year expenses grow bigger

"I never meant to," replied Elnora. "I thought clothes were all I needed and I could bear them. I never knew

"Well, I did!" said Mrs. Comstock. "I knew what you would run into! But you are so bulldog stubborn, and

so set in your way, I thought I would just let you try the world a little and see how you liked it!"

"Do you mean to say," she demanded, "that you knew, when you let me go into a city classroom and reveal

the fact before all of them that I expected to have my books handed out to me; do you mean to say that you

"Anybody but an idiot mooning over a book or wasting time prowling the woods would have known you had

to pay. Everybody has to pay for everything. Life is made up of pay, pay, pay! It's always and forever pay! If

you don't pay one way you do another! Of course, I knew you had to pay. Of course, I knew you would come

home blubbering! But you don't get a penny! I haven't one cent, and can't get one! Have your way if you are

"Swampy, you mean, mother," corrected Elnora. She arose white and trembling. "Perhaps some day God will

teach me how to understand you. He knows I do not now. You can't possibly realize just what you let me go

through today, or how you let me go, but I'll tell you this: You understand enough that if you had the

money, and would offer it to me, I wouldn't touch it now. And I'll tell you this much more. I'll get it myself.

I'll raise it, and do it some honest way. I am going back tomorrow, the next day, and the next. You need not

It was ten o'clock when the chickens, pigs, and cattle were fed, the turnips hoed, and a heap of bean vines was

Wesley Sinton walked down the road half a mile and turned at the lane leading to his home. His heart was hot

and filled with indignation. He had told Elnora he did not blame her mother, but he did. His wife met him at

CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED 11

"Most too much, Maggie," he answered. "What do you say to going to town? There's a few things has to be

"Along the old Limberlost trail, my girl, torn to pieces sobbing. Her courage always has been fine, but the

thing she met today was too much for her. We ought to have known better than to let her go that way. It

wasn't only clothes; there were books, and entrance fees for outof town people, that she didn't know about;

while there must have been jeers, whispers, and laughing. Maggie, I feel as if I'd been a traitor to those girls

of ours. I ought to have gone in and seen about this school business. Don't cry, Maggie. Get me some supper,

"I don't just know. But we've got to do something. Kate Comstock will be a handful, while Elnora will be

two, but between us we must see that the girl is not too hard pressed about money, and that she is dressed so

she is not ridiculous. She's saved us the wages of a woman many a day, can't you make her some decent

"Well, I'm not just what you call expert, but I could beat Kate Comstock all to pieces. I know that skirts

should be pleated to the band instead of gathered, and full enough to sit in, and short enough to walk in. I

Margaret built a fire, made coffee, and fried ham and eggs. She set out pie and cake and had enough for a

hungry man by the time the carriage was at the door, but she had no appetite. She dressed while Wesley ate,

put away the food while he dressed, and then they drove toward the city through the beautiful September

evening, and as they went they planned for Elnora. The trouble was, not whether they were generous enough

to buy what she needed, but whether she would accept their purchases, and what her mother would say.

They went to a drygoods store and when a clerk asked what they wanted to see neither of them knew, so they

"Blest if I know!" exclaimed Wesley. "I thought you would manage that. I know about some things I'm going

At that instant several high school girls came into the store and approached them.

"There!" exclaimed Wesley breathlessly. "There, Maggie! Like them! That's what she needs! Buy like they

Margaret stared. What did they wear? They were rapidly passing; they seemed to have so much, and she

CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED 12

"It's your clothes," explained Mrs. Sinton. "You look just beautiful to me. You look exactly as I should have

wanted to see my girls. They both died of diphtheria when they were little, but they had yellow hair, dark

eyes and pink cheeks, and everybody thought they were lovely. If they had lived, they'd been near your age

"Of course you are," said Margaret. "Everybody always has been. And because I can't ever have the joy of a

mother in thinking for my girls and buying pretty things for them, there is nothing left for me, but to do what

I can for some one who has no mother to care for her. I know a girl, who would be just as pretty as any of

you, if she had the clothes, but her mother does not think about her, so I mother her some myself."

"Oh, she loves me," said Margaret, "and I love her. I want her to look just like you do. Please tell me about

your clothes. Are these the dresses and hats you wear to school? What kind of goods are they, and where do

The girls began to laugh and cluster around Margaret. Wesley strode down the store with his head high

through pride in her, but his heart was sore over the memory of two little faces under Brushwood sod. He

"Why, every one of us have on gingham or linen dresses," they said, "and they are our school clothes."

For a few moments there was a babel of laughing voices explaining to the delighted Margaret that school

dresses should be bright and pretty, but simple and plain, and until cold weather they should wash.

"I'll tell you," said Ellen Brownlee, "my father owns this store, I know all the clerks. I'll take you to Miss

Hartley. You tell her just how much you want to spend, and what you want to buy, and she will know how to

get the most for your money. I've heard papa say she was the best clerk in the store for people who didn't

"That's the very thing," agreed Margaret. "But before you go, tell me about your hair. Elnora's hair is bright

Four girls stood silent and thought fast. Had there been a strange girl among them, and had she been

overlooked and passed by with indifference, because she was so very shabby? If she had appeared as much

CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED 13

better than they, as she had looked worse, would her reception have been the same?

"There was a strange girl from the country in the Freshman class today," said Ellen Brownlee, "and her

"No, not poor at all, come to think of it," answered Margaret. "It's a peculiar case. Mrs. Comstock had a great

trouble and she let it change her whole life and make a different woman of her. She used to be lovely; now

she is forever saving and scared to death for fear they will go to the poorhouse; but there is a big farm,

covered with lots of good timber. The taxes are high for women who can't manage to clear and work the land.

There ought to be enough to keep two of them in good shape all their lives, if they only knew how to do it.

But no one ever told Kate Comstock anything, and never will, for she won't listen. All she does is droop all

day, and walk the edge of the swamp half the night, and neglect Elnora. If you girls would make life just a

So they took her to a toilet counter, and she bought the proper hair soap, also a nail file, and cold cream, for

use after windy days. Then they left her with the experienced clerk, and when at last Wesley found her she

was loaded with bundles and the light of other days was in her beautiful eyes. Wesley also carried some

"No, I didn't," she said. "I was so interested in dresses and hair ribbons and aa hat" she hesitated and

glanced at Wesley. "Of course, a hat!" prompted Wesley. "That I forgot all about those horrible shoes. She's

"Sure!" said Wesley. "She's got decent shoes. But the man said some brown stockings ought to go with them.

Wesley opened a box and displayed a pair of thick soled, beautifully shaped brown walking shoes of low

"Well, that's about as near as I could come. If they don't fit when she tries them, we will drive straight in and

All the way they discussed how they should give Elnora their purchases and what Mrs. Comstock would say.

CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED 14

"She'll just rip!" replied Wesley graphically. "But if she wants to leave the raising of her girl to the

neighbours, she needn't get fractious if they take some pride in doing a good job. From now on I calculate

Elnora shall go to school; and she shall have all the clothes and books she needs, if I go around on the back of

Kate Comstock's land and cut a tree, or drive off a calf to pay for them. Why I know one tree she owns that

would put Elnora in heaven for a year. Just think of it, Margaret! It's not fair. Onethird of what is there

belongs to Elnora by law, and if Kate Comstock raises a row I'll tell her so, and see that the girl gets it. You

go to see Kate in the morning, and I'll go with you. Tell her you want Elnora's pattern, that you are going to

make her a dress, for helping us. And sort of hint at a few more things. If Kate balks, I'll take a hand and

settle her. I'll go to law for Elnora's share of that land and sell enough to educate her."

"I'm not! Did you ever stop to think that such cases are so frequent there have been laws made to provide for

them? I can bring it up in court and force Kate to educate Elnora, and board and clothe her till she's of age,

"She's crazy now. The idea of any mother living with as sweet a girl as Elnora. and letting her suffer till I find

her crying like a funeral. It makes me fighting mad. All uncalled for. Not a grain of sense in it. I've offered

and offered to oversee clearing her land and working her fields. Let her sell a good tree, or a few acres.

Something is going to be done, right now. Elnora's been fairly happy up to this, but to spoil the school life

she's planned, is to ruin all her life. I won't have it! If Elnora won't take these things, so help me, I'll tell her

what she is worth, and loan her the money and she can pay me back when she comes of age. I am going to

have it out with Kate Comstock in the morning. Here we are! You open up what you got while I put away the

When Wesley came from the barn Margaret had four pieces of crisp gingham, a pale blue, a pink, a gray with

green stripes and a rich brown and blue plaid. On each of them lay a yard and a half of wide ribbon to match.

There were handkerchiefs and a brown leather belt. In her hands she held a widebrimmed tan straw hat,

having a high crown banded with velvet strips each of which fastened with a tiny gold buckle.

"Yes, I did. The price was two and a half for the hat, and those things were a dollar and a half apiece. I

"It does seem considerable," admitted Wesley, "but will it look right without them?"

"No, it won't!" said Margaret. "It's going to have quills on it. Do you remember those beautiful peacock wing

feathers that Phoebe Simms gave me? Three of them go on just where those came off, and nobody will ever

know the difference. They match the hat to a moral, and they are just a little longer and richer than the ones

that I had taken off. I was wondering whether I better sew them on tonight while I remember how they set,

"Don't risk it!" exclaimed Wesley anxiously. "Don't you risk it! Sew them on right now!"

CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED 15

Wesley unwrapped the shoes. Margaret took them up and pinched the leather and stroked them.

Wesley picked up one and slowly turned it in his big hands. He glanced at his foot and back to the shoe.

"It's a little bit of a thing, Margaret," he said softly. "Like as not I'll have to take it back. It seems as if it

"It seems as if it didn't dare do anything else," said Margaret. "That's a happy little shoe to get the chance to

"Why," he said, "you know there's going to be rainy days, and those things she has now ain't fit for anything

"Well, she ought to have them! The man said he would make them cheaper if I took both pairs at once."

Margaret laughed aloud. "Those will do her past Christmas," she exulted. "What else did you buy?"

"Well sir," said Wesley, "I saw something today. You told me about Kate getting that tin pail for Elnora to

carry to high school and you said you told her it was a shame. I guess Elnora was ashamed all right, for

tonight she stopped at the old case Duncan gave her, and took out that pail, where it had been all day, and

put a napkin inside it. Coming home she confessed she was half starved because she hid her dinner under a

culvert, and a tramp took it. She hadn't had a bite to eat the whole day. But she never complained at all, she

was pleased that she hadn't lost the napkin. So I just inquired around till I found this, and I think it's about the

Wesley opened the package and laid a brown leather lunch box on the table. "Might be a couple of books, or

drawing tools or most anything that's neat and genteel. You see, it opens this way."

It did open, and inside was a space for sandwiches, a little porcelain box for cold meat or fried chicken,

another for salad, a glass with a lid which screwed on, held by a ring in a corner, for custard or jelly, a flask

for tea or milk, a beautiful little knife, fork, and spoon fastened in holders, and a place for a napkin.

"Do it the first time, just to show Kate Comstock what love is!" said Wesley. "Get up early in the morning

and make one of those dresses tomorrow. Can't you make a plain gingham dress in a day? I'll pick a

chicken, and you fry it and fix a little custard for the cup, and do it up brown. Go on, Maggie, you do it!"

"I never can," said Margaret. "I am slow as the itch about sewing, and these are not going to be plain dresses

when it comes to making them. There are going to be edgings of plain green, pink, and brown to the bias

strips, and tucks and pleats around the hips, fancy belts and collars, and all of it takes time."

CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED 16

"Then Kate Comstock's got to help," said Wesley. "Can the two of you make one, and get that lunch

"You see if she doesn't!" said Wesley. "You get up and cut it out, and soon as Elnora is gone I'll go after Kate

myself. She'll take what I'll say better alone. But she'll come, and she'll help make the dress. These other

things are our Christmas gifts to Elnora. She'll no doubt need them more now than she will then, and we can

give them just as well. That's yours, and this is mine, or whichever way you choose."

Wesley untied a good brown umbrella and shook out the folds of a long, brown raincoat. Margaret dropped

the hat, arose and took the coat. She tried it on, felt it, cooed over it and matched it with the umbrella.

"Did it look anything like rain tonight?" she inquired so anxiously that Wesley laughed.

"And this last bundle?" she said, dropping back in her chair, the coat still over her shoulders.

"I couldn't buy this much stuff for any other woman and nothing for my own," said Wesley. "It's Christmas

for you, too, Margaret!" He shook out fold after fold of soft gray satiny goods that would look lovely against

But she soon dried her eyes, raked together the coals in the cooking stove and boiled one of the dress patterns

in salt water for half an hour. Wesley held the lamp while she hung the goods on the line to dry. Then she set

Four o'clock the following morning Elnora was shelling beans. At six she fed the chickens and pigs, swept

two of the rooms of the cabin, built a fire, and put on the kettle for breakfast. Then she climbed the narrow

stairs to the attic she had occupied since a very small child, and dressed in the hated shoes and brown calico,

plastered down her crisp curls, ate what breakfast she could, and pinning on her hat started for town.

"I must try to discover some way to earn those books," replied Elnora. "I am perfectly positive I shall not find

She went toward the city as on yesterday. Her perplexity as to where tuition and books were to come from

was worse but she did not feel quite so badly. She never again would have to face all of it for the first time.

There had been times yesterday when she had prayed to be hidden, or to drop dead, and neither had

happened. "I believe the best way to get an answer to prayer is to work for it," muttered Elnora grimly.

Again she followed the trail to the swamp, rearranged her hair and left the tin pail. This time she folded a

couple of sandwiches in the napkin, and tied them in a neat light paper parcel which she carried in her hand.

Then she hurried along the road to Onabasha and found a bookstore. There she asked the prices of the list of

books that she needed, and learned that six dollars would not quite supply them. She anxiously inquired for

secondhand books, but was told that the only way to secure them was from the last year's Freshmen. Just

then Elnora felt that she positively could not approach any of those she supposed to be Sophomores and ask

to buy their old books. The only balm the girl could see for the humiliation of yesterday was to appear that

"Do you wish these?" asked the clerk hurriedly, for the store was rapidly filling with school children wanting

"Yes," gasped Elnora, "Oh, yes! But I cannot pay for them just now. Please let me take them, and I will pay

for them on Friday, or return them as perfect as they are. Please trust me for them a few days."

"I'll ask the proprietor," he said. When he came back Elnora knew the answer before he spoke.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but Mr. Hann doesn't recognize your name. You are not a customer of ours, and he feels

Elnora clumped out of the store, the thump of her heavy, shoes beating as a hammer on her brain. She tried

two other dealers with the same result, and then in sick despair came into the street. What could she do? She

was too frightened to think. Should she stay from school that day and canvass the homes appearing to belong

to the wealthy, and try to sell beds of wild ferns, as she had suggested to Wesley Sinton? What would she

dare ask for bringing in and planting a clump of ferns? How could she carry them? Would people buy them?

She slowly moved past the hotel and then glanced around to see if there were a clock anywhere, for she felt

Elnora caught the wicket at the cashier's desk with both hands to brace herself against disappointment.

"Well, you had better see her," said the cashier. "Do you know where she lives?"

She had nine minutes to reach the auditorium or be late. Should she go to school, or to the Bird Woman?

Several girls passed her walking swiftly and she remembered their faces. They were hurrying to school.

Elnora caught the infection. She would see the Bird Woman at noon. Algebra came first, and that professor

was kind. Perhaps she could slip to the superintendent and ask him for a book for the next lesson, and at

noon"Oh, dear Lord make it come true," prayed Elnora, at noon possibly she could sell some of those

wonderful shiningwinged things she had been collecting all her life around the outskirts of the Limberlost.

As she went down the long hall she noticed the professor of mathematics standing in the door of his recitation

"At teachers' meeting last evening, one of the professors mentioned that a pupil had betrayed in class that she

had expected her books to be furnished by the city. I thought possibly it was you. Was it?"

"That being the case," said Professor Henley, "it just occurred to me as you had expected that, you might

require a little time to secure them, and you are too fine a mathematician to fall behind for want of supplies.

So I telephoned one of our Sophomores to bring her last year's books this morning. I am sorry to say they are

somewhat abused, but the text is all here. You can have them for two dollars, and pay when you are ready.

Elnora sat suddenly, because she could not stand another instant. She reached both hands for the books, and

said never a word. The professor was silent also. At last Eleanor arose, hugging those books to her heart as a

"One thing more," said the professor. "You may pay your tuition quarterly. You need not bother about the

It seemed as if Elnora's gasp of relief must have reached the soles of her brogans.

As the professor was lank, towhaired and so near sighted, that he peered at his pupils through spectacles,

"No," said Professor Henley, "I've waited some time for that; for which reason I shall appreciate it all the

So Elnora entered the auditorium a second time. Her face was like the brightest dawn that ever broke over the

Limberlost. No matter about the lumbering shoes and skimpy dress. No matter about anything, she had the

books. She could take them home. In her garret she could commit them to memory, if need be. She could

prove that clothes were not all. If the Bird Woman did not want any of the many different kinds of specimens

she had collected, she was quite sure now she could sell ferns, nuts, and a great many things. Then, too, a girl

made a place for her that morning, and several smiled and bowed. Elnora forgot everything save her books,

and that she was where she could use them intelligentlyeverything except one little thing away back in her

head. Her mother had known about the books and the tuition, and had not told her when she agreed to her

At noon Elnora took her little parcel of lunch and started to the home of the Bird Woman. She must know

about the specimens first and then she would walk to the suburbs somewhere and eat a few bites. She

dropped the heavy iron knocker on the door of a big red log cabin, and her heart thumped at the resounding

"Please ask her if she will see a girl from the Limberlost about some moths?" inquired Elnora.

"I never need ask, if it's moths," laughed the girl. "Orders are to bring any one with specimens right in. Come

Elnora followed down the hall and entered a long room with high panelled wainscoting, old English fireplace

with an overmantel and closets of peculiar china filling the corners. At a bare table of oak, yellow as gold, sat

a woman Elnora often had watched and followed covertly around the Limberlost. The Bird Woman was

I heard!" she laughed. "A little pasteboard box, or just the mere word `specimen,' passes you at my door. If it

is moths I hope you have hundreds. I've been very busy all summer and unable to collect, and I need so many.

Sit down and lunch with me, while we talk it over. From the Limberlost, did you say?"

"I live near the swamp," replied Elnora. "Since it's so cleared I dare go around the edge in daytime, though

"What have you collected?" asked the Bird Woman, as she helped Elnora to sandwiches unlike any she ever

before had tasted, salad that seemed to be made of many familiar things, and a cup of hot chocolate that

"I am afraid I am bothering you for nothing, and imposing on you," she said. "That 'collected' frightens me.

I've only gathered. I always loved everything outdoors, so I made friends and playmates of them. When I

learned that the moths die so soon, I saved them especially, because there seemed no wickedness in it."

"I have thought the same thing," said the Bird Woman encouragingly. Then because the girl could not eat

until she learned about the moths, the Bird Woman asked Elnora if she knew what kinds she had.

"Not all of them," answered Elnora. "Before Mr. Duncan moved away he often saw me near the edge of the

swamp and he showed me the box he had fixed for Freckles, and gave me the key. There were some books

and things, so from that time on I studied and tried to take moths right, but I am afraid they are not what you

"Yes," said Elnora. "Big gray ones with reddish markings, pale bluegreen, yellow with lavender, and red

"What do you mean by `red and yellow?'" asked the Bird Woman so quickly that the girl almost jumped

"Not exactly red," explained Elnora, with tremulous voice. "A reddish, yellowish brown, with

"I had over two hundred eggs," said Elnora, "but some of them didn't hatch, and some of the caterpillars died,

"I mean whole wings, no down gone, and all their legs and antennae," faltered Elnora.

"Young woman, that's the rarest moth in America," said the Bird Woman solemnly. "If you have a hundred of

them, they are worth a hundred dollars according to my list. I can use all that are not damaged."

"If they are perfect, that does not make the slightest difference. I know how to soften them so that I can put

"They are in Freckles's old case in the Limberlost," said Elnora. "I couldn't carry many for fear of breaking

"You come here at four," said the Bird Woman, "and we will drive out with some specimen boxes, and a

price list, and see what you have to sell. Are they your very own? Are you free to part with them?"

"They are mine," said Elnora. "No one but God knows I have them. Mr. Duncan gave me the books and the

box. He told Freckles about me, and Freckles told him to give me all he left. He said for me to stick to the

swamp and be brave, and my hour would come, and it has! I know most of them are all right, and oh, I do

"You see the swamp and all the fields around it are so full," explained Elnora. "Every day I felt smaller and

smaller, and I wanted to know more and more, and pretty soon I grew desperate, just as Freckles did. But I

am better off than he was, for I have his books, and I have a mother; even if she doesn't care for me as other

The Bird Woman's glance fell, for the girl was not conscious of how much she was revealing. Her eyes were

fixed on a black pitcher filled with goldenrod in the centre of the table and she was saying what she thought.

"As long as I could go to the Brushwood school I was happy, but I couldn't go further just when things were

the most interesting, so I was determined I'd come to high school and mother wouldn't consent. You see

there's plenty of land, but father was drowned when I was a baby, and mother and I can't make money as men

do. The taxes are higher every year, and she said it was too expensive. I wouldn't give her any rest, until at

"Do you live in that beautiful cabin at the northwest end of the swamp?" asked the Bird Woman.

"I remember the place and a story about it, now. You entered the high school yesterday?"

"You can't tell me anything about that," she said. "I once entered a city school straight from the country. My

"They did!" said the Bird Woman. "All of it. I am sure they did not miss one least little thing."

Then she wiped away some tears that began coursing her cheeks, and laughed at the same time.

"They are widely scattered, but none of them have attained heights out of range. Some of the rich are poor,

and some of the poor are rich. Some of the brightest died insane, and some of the dullest worked out high

positions; some of the very worst to bear have gone out, and I frequently hear from others. Now I am here,

able to remember it, and mingle laughter with what used to be all tears; for every day I have my beautiful

work, and almost every day God sends some one like you to help me. What is your name, my girl?"

"Elnora Comstock," answered Elnora. "Yesterday on the board it changed to Cornstock, and for a minute I

The Bird Woman arose and kissed her. "Finish your lunch," she said, "and I will bring my price lists, and

make a memorandum of what you think you have, so I will know how many boxes to prepare. And remember

this: What you are lies with you. If you are lazy, and accept your lot, you may live in it. If you are willing to

work, you can write your name anywhere you choose, among the only ones who live beyond the grave in this

world, the people who write books that help, make exquisite music, carve statues, paint pictures, and work for

others. Never mind the calico dress, and the coarse shoes. Work at your books, and before long you will hear

yesterday's tormentors boasting that they were once classmates of yours. `I could a tale unfold'!"

She laughingly left the room and Elnora sat thinking, until she remembered how hungry she was, so she ate

Then the Bird Woman came back and showed Elnora a long printed slip giving a list of graduated prices for

"Oh, do you want them!" exulted Elnora. "I have a few and I can get more by the thousand, with every colour

"Yes," said the Bird Woman, "I will buy them, also the big moth caterpillars that are creeping everywhere

now, and the cocoons that they will spin just about this time. I have a sneaking impression that the mystery,

wonder, and the urge of their pure beauty, are going to force me to picture and paint our moths and put them

into a book for all the world to see and know. We Limberlost people must not be selfish with the wonders

God has given to us. We must share with those poor coopedup city people the best we can. To send them a

"Yes, oh yes!" cried Elnora. "And please God they find a way to earn the money to buy the books, as I have

"I will pay good prices for all the moths you can find," said the Bird Woman, "because you see I exchange

them with foreign collectors. I want a complete series of the moths of America to trade with a German

scientist, another with a man in India, and another in Brazil. Others I can exchange with home collectors for

those of California and Canada, so you see I can use all you can raise, or find. The banker will buy stone

axes, arrow points, and Indian pipes. There was a teacher from the city grade schools here today for

specimens. There is a fund to supply the ward buildings. I'll help you get in touch with that. They want leaves

of different trees, flowers, grasses, moths, insects, birds' nests and anything about birds."

Elnora's eyes were blazing. "Had I better go back to school or open a bank account and begin being a

millionaire? Uncle Wesley and I have a bushel of arrow points gathered, a stack of axes, pipes, skindressing

"You must go, or you will be late," said the Bird Woman. "I will be ready at four."

After school closed Elnora, seated beside the Bird Woman, drove to Freckles's room in the Limberlost. One

at a time the beautiful big moths were taken from the interior of the old black case. Not a fourth of them

could be moved that night and it was almost dark when the last box was closed, the list figured, and into

Elnora's trembling fingers were paid fiftynine dollars and sixteen cents. Elnora clasped the money closely.

"Oh you beautiful stuff!" she cried. "You are going to buy the books, pay the tuition, and take me to high

Then because she was a woman, she sat on a log and looked at her shoes. Long after the Bird Woman drove

away Elnora remained. She had her problem, and it was a big one. If she told her mother, would she take the

money to pay the taxes? If she did not tell her, how could she account for the books, and things for which she

would spend it. At last she counted out what she needed for the next day, placed the remainder in the farthest

corner of the case, and locked the door. She then filled the front of her skirt from a heap of arrow points

With the first streak of red above the Limberlost Margaret Sinton was busy with the gingham and the intricate

paper pattern she had purchased. Wesley cooked the breakfast and worked until he thought Elnora would be

"Now you be mighty careful," cautioned Margaret. "I don't know how she will take it."

"I don't either," said Wesley philosophically, "but she's got to take it some way. That dress has to be finished

Wesley had not slept well that night. He had been so busy framing diplomatic speeches to make to Mrs.

Comstock that sleep had little chance with him. Every step nearer to her he approached his position seemed

less enviable. By the time he reached the front gate and started down the walk between the rows of asters and

lady slippers he was perspiring, and every plausible and convincing speech had fled his brain. Mrs. Comstock

"Yes," said Wesley. "She's got a job that's too big for her, and she wants you to help."

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 23

"Of course I will," said Mrs. Comstock. It was no one's affair how lonely the previous day had been, or how

the endless hours of the present would drag. "What is she doing in such a rush?"

"She's making a dress for Elnora," answered, Wesley. He saw Mrs. Comstock's form straighten, and her face

harden, so he continued hastily. "You see Elnora has been helping us at harvest time, butchering, and with

unexpected visitors for years. We've made out that she's saved us a considerable sum, and as she wouldn't

ever touch any pay for anything, we just went to town and got a few clothes we thought would fix her up a

little for the high school. We want to get a dress done today mighty bad, but Margaret is slow about sewing,

"And it's such a simple little matter, so dead easy; and all so between old friends like, that you can't look

above your boots while you explain it," sneered Mrs. Comstock. "Wesley Sinton, what put the idea into your

head that Elnora would take things bought with money, when she wouldn't take the money?

"Finding her on the trail last night sobbing as hard as I ever saw any one at a funeral. She wasn't complaining

at all, but she's come to me all her life with her little hurts, and she couldn't hide how she'd been laughed at,

twitted, and run face to face against the fact that there were books and tuition, unexpected, and nothing will

"If any doubts are troubling you on that subject, sure I knew it! She was so anxious to try the world, I thought

"As if she'd ever taken anything but knocks all her life!" cried Wesley Sinton. "Kate Comstock, you are a

heartless, selfish woman. You've never shown Elnora any real love in her life. If ever she finds out that thing

"She knows it now," said Mrs. Comstock icily, "and she'll be home tonight just as usual."

"Well, you are a brave woman if you dared put a girl of Elnora's make through what she suffered yesterday,

and will suffer again today, and let her know you did it on purpose. I admire your nerve. But I've watched

this since Elnora was born, and I got enough. Things have come to a pass where they go better for her, or I

"As if you'd ever done anything but interfere all her life! Think I haven't watched you? Think I, with my heart

raw in my breast, and too numb to resent it openly, haven't seen you and Mag Sinton trying to turn Elnora

against me day after day? When did you ever tell her what her father meant to me? When did you ever try to

make her see the wreck of my life, and what I've suffered? No indeed! Always it's been poor little abused

Elnora, and cakes, kissing, extra clothes, and encouraging her to run to you with a pitiful mouth every time I

"Kate Comstock, that's unjust," cried Sinton. "Only last night I tried to show her the picture I saw the day she

was born. I begged her to come to you and tell you pleasant what she needed, and ask you for what I happen

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 24

"Then get so you can!" said Wesley Sinton. "Any day you say the word you can sell six thousand worth of

rare timber off this place easy. I'll see to clearing and working the fields cheap as dirt, for Elnora's sake. I'll

buy you more cattle to fatten. All you've got to do is sign a lease, to pull thousands from the ground in oil, as

"Cut down Robert's trees!" shrieked Mrs. Comstock. "Tear up his land! Cover everything with horrid, greasy

"You mean you'll let Elnora go like a beggar, and hurt and mortify her past bearing. I've got to the place

where I tell you plain what I am going to do. Maggie and I went to town last night, and we bought what

things Elnora needs most urgent to make her look a little like the rest of the high school girls. Now here it is

in plain English. You can help get these things ready, and let us give them to her as we want"

"Then I will tell Elnora just what you are worth, what you can afford, and how much of this she owns. I'll

loan her the money to buy books and decent clothes, and when she is of age she can sell her share and pay

"And," Sinton continued, "if she is so much like you that she won't do that, I'll go to the county seat and lay

complaint against you as her guardian before the judge. I'll swear to what you are worth, and how you are

raising her, and have you discharged, or have the judge appoint some man who will see that she is

"I won't need to, Kate!" said Sinton, his heart softening the instant the hard words were said. "You won't

show it, but you do love Elnora! You can't help it! You must see how she needs things; come help us fix

them, and be friends. Maggie and I couldn't live without her, and you couldn't either. You've got to love such

"You can hardly expect me to love her," said Mrs. Comstock coldly. "But for her a man would stand back of

me now, who would beat the breath out of your sneaking body for the cowardly thing with which you

threaten me. After all I've suffered you'd drag me to court and compel me to tear up Robert's property. If I

ever go they carry me. If they touch one tree, or put down one greasy old oil well, it will be over all I can

For answer Mrs. Comstock looked around swiftly for some object on which to lay her hands. Knowing her

temper, Wesley Sinton left with all the haste consistent with dignity. But he did not go home. He crossed a

field, and in an hour brought another neighbour who was skilful with her needle. With sinking heart Margaret

"Kate is too busy to help today, she can't sew before tomorrow," said Wesley cheerfully as they entered.

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 25

That quieted Margaret's apprehension a little, though she had some doubts. Wesley prepared the lunch, and

by four o'clock the dress was finished as far as it possibly could be until it was fitted on Elnora. If that did not

Then Margaret packed their purchases into the big market basket. Wesley took the hat, umbrella, and

raincoat, and they went to Mrs. Comstock's. As they reached the step, Margaret spoke pleasantly to Mrs.

Comstock, who sat reading just inside the door, but she did not answer and deliberately turned a leaf without

"Kate," he said, "you needn't take out your mad over our little racket on Maggie. I ain't told her a word I said

to you, or you said to me. She's not so very strong, and she's sewed since four o'clock this morning to get this

"I want to make you a proposition," said Wesley. "Wait till Elnora comes. Then we'll show her the things and

"How would it do to see what she says without bribing her," sneered Mrs. Comstock.

"If she can stand what she did yesterday, and will to day, she can bear 'most anything," said Wesley. "Put

"Well, you don't take this waist I'm working on," said Margaret, "for I have to baste in the sleeves and set the

Mrs. Comstock picked up the basket and bundles, placed them inside her room and closed the door.

Margaret threaded her needle and began to sew. Mrs. Comstock returned to her book, while Wesley fidgeted

and raged inwardly. He could see that Margaret was nervous and almost in tears, but the lines in Mrs.

Comstock's impassive face were set and cold. So they sat while the clock ticked off the timeone hour, two,

dusk, and no Elnora. Just when Margaret and Wesley were discussing whether he had not better go to town to

meet Elnora, they heard her coming up the walk. Wesley dropped his tilted chair and squared himself.

Margaret gripped her sewing, and turned pleading eyes toward the door. Mrs. Comstock closed her book and

Mrs. Comstock arose, and swung back the screen. Elnora stepped in beside her, bent half double, the whole

front of her dress gathered into a sort of bag filled with a heavy load, and one arm stacked high with books. In

"Please hand me the empty bucket in the kitchen, mother," she said. "I just had to bring these arrow points

home, but I'm scared for fear I've spoiled my dress and will have to wash it. I'm to clean them, and take them

to the banker in the morning, and oh, mother, I've sold enough stuff to pay for my books, my tuition, and

maybe a dress and some lighter shoes besides. Oh, mother I'm so happy! Take the books and bring the

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 26

Then she saw Margaret and Wesley. "Oh, glory!" she exulted. "I was just wondering how I'd ever wait to tell

"Well sir," said Elnora, doubling down on the floor and spreading out her skirt, "set the bucket here, mother.

These points are brittle, and should be put in one at a time. If they are chipped I can't sell them. Well sir! I've

had a time! You know I just had to have books. I tried three stores, and they wouldn't trust me, not even three

days, I didn't know what in this world I could do quickly enough. Just when I was almost frantic I saw a sign

in a bank window asking for caterpillars, cocoons, butterflies, arrow points, and everything. I went in, and it

was this Bird Woman who wants the insects, and the banker wants the stones. I had to go to school then, but,

if you'll believe it"Elnora beamed on all of them in turn as she talked and slipped the arrow points from her

dress to the pail"if you'll believe itbut you won't, hardly, until you look at the booksthere was the

mathematics teacher, waiting at his door, and he had a set of books for me that he had telephoned a

"It was a fool mistake I made yesterday in thinking books were just handed out to one. There was a teachers'

meeting last night and the history teacher told about that. Professor Henley thought of me. You know I told

you what he said about my algebra, mother. Ain't I glad I studied out some of it myself this summer! So he

telephoned and a girl brought the books. Because they are marked and abused some I get the whole outfit for

two dollars. I can erase most of the marks, paste down the covers, and fix them so they look better. But I must

hurry to the joy part. I didn't stop to eat, at noon, I just ran to the Bird Woman's, and I had lunch with her. It

was salad, hot chocolate, and lovely things, and she wants to buy most every old scrap I ever gathered. She

wants dragonflies, moths, butterflies, and hethe banker, I meanwants everything Indian. This very night

she came to the swamp with me and took away enough stuff to pay for the books and tuition, and tomorrow

Elnora laid the last arrow point in the pail and arose, shaking leaves and bits of baked earth from her dress.

She reached into her pocket, produced her money and waved it before their wondering eyes.

"And that's the joy part!" she exulted. "Put it up in the clock till morning, mother. That pays for the books and

tuition and" Elnora hesitated, for she saw the nervous grasp with which her mother's fingers closed on the

"What I get tomorrow pays for more books and tuition, and maybe a few, just a few, things to wear. These

shoes are so dreadfully heavy and hot, and they make such a noise on the floor. There isn't another calico

dress in the whole building, not among hundreds of us. Why, what is that? Aunt Margaret, what are you

She snatched the waist and shook it out, and her face was beaming. "Have you taken to waists all fancy and

"I bet you so too," said Margaret Sinton. "You undress right away and try it on, and if it fits, it will be done

Elnora began to dance. "Oh, you dear people!" she cried. "I can pay for them tomorrow night! Isn't it too

splendid! I was just thinking on the way home that I certainly would be compelled to have cooler shoes until

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 27

"I meant to get you some heavy dress skirts and a coat then," said Mrs. Comstock.

"I know you said so!" cried Elnora. "But you needn't, now! I can buy every single stitch I need myself. Next

summer I can gather up a lot more stuff, and all winter on the way to school. I am sure I can sell ferns, I know

I can nuts, and the Bird Woman says the grade rooms want leaves, grasses, birds' nests, and cocoons. Oh, isn't

Elnora waved the waist and started for the bedroom. When she opened the door she gave a little cry.

"What have you people been doing?" she demanded. "I never saw so many interesting bundles in all my life.

I'm `skeered' to death for fear I can't pay for them, and will have to give up something."

"Wouldn't you take them, if you could not pay for them, Elnora?" asked her mother instantly.

"Why, not unless you did," answered Elnora. "People have no right to wear things they can't afford, have

"But from such old friends as Maggie and Wesley!" Mrs. Comstock's voice was oily with triumph.

"From them least of all," cried Elnora stoutly. "From a stranger sooner than from them, to whom I owe so

"Well, you don't have to," said Mrs. Comstock. "Maggie just selected these things, because she is more in

touch with the world, and has got such good taste. You can pay as long as your money holds out, and if

there's more necessary, maybe I can sell the butcher a calf, or if things are too costly for us, of course, they

can take them back. Put on the waist now, and then you can look over the rest and see if they are suitable, and

Elnora stepped into the adjoining room and closed the door. Mrs. Comstock picked up the bucket and started

"Yes. The Bird Woman says they sell better if they are clean, so it can be seen that there are no defects in

"Of course," said Mrs. Comstock. "Some of them seem quite baked. Shall I put them to soak? Do you want to

Mrs. Comstock left the room. Wesley Sinton sat with his back to the window in the west end of the cabin

which overlooked the well. A suppressed sound behind him caused him to turn quickly. Then he arose and

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 28

"Oh no, you are not!" retorted Margaret. "You are missing the point. The point is not how you look, or feel. It

is to get these things in Elnora's possession past dispute. You go now, and tomorrow Elnora will wear

calico, and Kate Comstock will return these goods. Right here I stay until everything we bought is Elnora's."

Then she arose and peered from the window. At the well curb stood Katharine Comstock. The strain of the

day was finding reaction. Her chin was in the air, she was heaving, shaking and strangling to suppress any

sound. The word that slipped between Margaret Sinton's lips shocked Wesley until he dropped on his chair,

and recalled her to her senses. She was fairly composed as she turned to Elnora, and began the fitting. When

she had pinched, pulled, and patted she called, "Come see if you think this fits, Kate."

Mrs. Comstock had gone around to the back door and answered from the kitchen. "You know more about it

than I do. Go ahead! I'm getting supper. Don't forget to allow for what it will shrink in washing!"

"I set the colours and washed the goods last night; it can be made to fit right now," answered Margaret.

When she could find nothing more to alter she told Elnora to heat some water. After she had done that the girl

"Mother!" cried Elnora. "Mother, of course, you have seen this, but you haven't seen it on me. I must try it

"Don't you dare put that on your head until your hair is washed and properly combed," said Margaret.

"Oh!" cried Elnora. "Is that water to wash my hair? I thought it was to set the colour in another dress."

"Well, you thought wrong," said Margaret simply. "Your hair is going to be washed and brushed until it

shines like copper. While it dries you can eat your supper, and this dress will be finished. Then you can put

on your new ribbon, and your hat. You can try your shoes now, and if they don't fit, you and Wesley can

drive to town and change them. That little round bundle on the top of the basket is your stockings."

Margaret sat down and began sewing swiftly, and a little later opened the machine, and ran several long

Elnora returned in a few minutes holding up her skirts and stepping daintily in the new shoes.

"They seem just a trifle large, maybe," said Elnora dubiously, and Wesley knelt to feel. He and Margaret

thought them a fit, and then Elnora appealed to her mother. Mrs. Comstock appeared wiping her hands on her

"They seem to fit," she said, "but they are away too fine to walk country roads."

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 29

"I think so, too," said Elnora instantly. "We had better take these back and get a cheaper pair."

"Oh, let them go for this time," said Mrs. Comstock. "They are so pretty, I hate to part with them. You can

When Wesley went to do the feeding. Elnora set the table. When the water was hot, Margaret pinned a big

towel around Elnora's shoulders and washed and dried the lovely hair according to the instructions she had

been given the previous night. As the hair began to dry it billowed out in a sparkling sheen that caught the

"Now, the idea is to let it stand naturally, just as the curl will make it. Don't you do any of that nasty, untidy

snarling, Elnora," cautioned Margaret. "Wash it this way every two weeks while you are in school, shake it

out, and dry it. Then part it in the middle and turn a front quarter on each side from your face. You tie the

back at your neck with a stringso, and the ribbon goes in a big, loose bow. I'll show you." One after

another Margaret Sinton tied the ribbons, creasing each of them so they could not be returned, as she

explained that she was trying to find the colour most becoming. Then she produced the raincoat which carried

Mrs. Comstock objected. "That won't be warm enough for cold weather, and you can't afford it and a coat,

"I'll tell you what I thought," said Elnora. "I was planning on the way home. These coats are fine because

they keep you dry. I thought I would get one, and a warm sweater to wear under it cold days. Then I always

would be dry, and warm. The sweater only costs three dollars, so I could get it and the raincoat both for half

"You are right about that," said Mrs. Comstock. "You can change more with the weather, too. Keep the

"Wear it until you try the hat," said Margaret. "It will have to do until the dress is finished."

Elnora picked up the hat dubiously. "Mother, may I wear my hair as it is now?" she asked.

Heaven only knows what she saw. To Wesley and to Margaret the bright young face of Elnora, with its pink

tints, its heavy dark brows, its bright bluegray eyes, and its frame of curling reddishbrown hair was the

"So long as it's your own hair, and combed back as plain as it will go, I don't suppose it cuts much ice

whether it's tied a little tighter or looser," conceded Mrs. Comstock. "If you stop right there, you may let it go

Elnora set the hat on her head. It was only a wide tan straw with three exquisite peacock quills at one side.

Margaret Sinton cried out, Wesley slapped his knee and sighed deeply while Mrs. Comstock stood speechless

"I wish you had asked the price before you put that on," she said impatiently. "We never can afford it."

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 30

"It's not so much as you think," said Margaret. "Don't you see what I did? I had them take off the quills, and

put on some of those Phoebe Simms gave me from her peacocks. The hat will only cost you a dollar and a

She avoided Wesley's eyes, and looked straight at Mrs. Comstock. Elnora removed the hat to examine it.

"Why, they are those reddishtan quills of yours!" she cried. "Mother, look how beautifully they are set on!

"So would I," said Mrs. Comstock. "If Margaret wants to spare them, that will make you a beautiful hat; dirt

cheap, too! You must go past Mrs. Simms and show her. She would be pleased to see them."

Elnora sank into a chair and contemplated her toe. "Landy, ain't I a queen?" she murmured. "What else have I

"Just a belt, some handkerchiefs, and a pair of top shoes for rainy days and colder weather," said Margaret.

"About those high shoes, that was my idea," said Wesley. "Soon as it rains, low shoes won't do, and by taking

two pairs at once I could get them some cheaper. The low ones are two and the high ones two fifty, together

"That's a real bargain," said Mrs. Comstock, "if they are good shoes, and they look it."

"This" said Wesley, producing the last package, "is your Christmas present from your Aunt Maggie. I got

He handed Margaret the umbrella, and she passed it over to Elnora who opened it and sat laughing under its

shelter. Then she kissed both of them. She brought a pencil and a slip of paper to set down the prices they

gave her of everything they had brought except the umbrella, added the sum, and said laughingly: "Will you

"Elnora, hustle here a minute!" called Mrs. Comstock from the kitchen. "I need you!"

"One second, mother," answered Elnora, throwing off the coat and hat, and closing the umbrella as she ran.

There were several errands to do in a hurry, and then supper. Elnora chattered incessantly, Wesley and

Margaret talked all they could, while Mrs. Comstock said a word now and then, which was all she ever did.

But Wesley Sinton was watching her, and time and again he saw a peculiar little twist around her mouth. He

knew that for the first time in sixteen years she really was laughing over something. She had all she could do

After supper the dress was finished, the pattern for the next one discussed, and then the Sintons went home.

Elnora gathered her treasures. When she started upstairs she stopped. "May I kiss you goodnight, mother?"

"Never mind any slobbering," said Mrs. Comstock. "I should think you'd lived with me long enough to know

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 31

"I wonder what for?" said Mrs. Comstock. "Mag Sinton chose that stuff and brought it here and you pay for

"Yes, but you seemed willing for me to have it, and you said you would help me if I couldn't pay all."

"Maybe I did," said Mrs. Comstock. "Maybe I did. I meant to get you some heavy dress skirts about

Thanksgiving, and I still can get them. Go to bed, and for any sake don't begin mooning before a mirror, and

Mrs. Comstock picked up several papers and blew out the kitchen light. She stood in the middle of the

sitting room floor for a time and then went into her room and closed the door. Sitting on the edge of the bed

she thought for a few minutes and then suddenly buried her face in the pillow and again heaved with laughter.

Down the road plodded Margaret and Wesley Sinton. Neither of them had words to utter their united thought.

"Done!" hissed Wesley at last. "Done brown! Did you ever feel like a bloomin', confounded donkey? How

"She didn't do it!" gulped Margaret through her tears. "She didn't do anything. She trusted to Elnora's great

big soul to bring her out right, and really she was right, and so it had to bring her. She's a darling, Wesley!

But she's got a time before her. Did you see Kate Comstock grab that money? Before six months she'll be out

combing the Limberlost for bugs and arrow points to help pay the tax. I know her."

"Well, I don't!" exclaimed Sinton, "she's too many for me. But there is a laugh left in her yet! I didn't s'pose

there was. Bet you a dollar, if we could see her this minute, she'd be chuckling over the way we got left."

"There's Elnora's light in her room," said Margaret. "The poor child will feel those clothes, and pore over her

books till morning, but she'll look decent to go to school, anyway. Nothing is too big a price to pay for that."

"Yes, if Kate lets her wear them. Ten to one, she makes her finish the week with that old stuff!"

"No, she won't," said Margaret. "She'll hardly dare. Kate made some concessions, all right; big ones for

her if she did get her way in the main. She bent some, and if Elnora proves that she can walk out

barehanded in the morning and come back with that much money in her pocket, an armful of books, and buy

a turnout like that, she proves that she is of some consideration, and Kate's smart enough. She'll think twice

before she'll do that. Elnora won't wear a calico dress to high school again. You watch and see if she does.

She may have the best clothes she'll get for a time, for the least money, but she won't know it until she tries to

buy goods herself at the same rates. Wesley, what about those prices? Didn't they shrink considerable?"

"You began it," said Wesley. "Those prices were all right. We didn't say what the goods cost us, we said what

they would cost her. Surely, she's mistaken about being able to pay all that. Can she pick up stuff of that

value around the Limberlost? Didn't the Bird Woman see her trouble, and just give her the money?"

"I don't think so," said Margaret. "Seems to me I've heard of her paying, or offering to pay those who would

take the money, for bugs and butterflies, and I've known people who sold that banker Indian stuff. Once I

heard that his pipe collection beat that of the Government at the Philadelphia Centennial. Those things have

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 32

"Well, there's about a bushel of that kind of valuables piled up in the woodshed, that belongs to Elnora. At

least, I picked them up because she said she wanted them. Ain't it queer that she'd take to stones, bugs, and

butterflies, and save them. Now they are going to bring her the very thing she wants the worst. Lord, but this

is a funny world when you get to studying! Looks like things didn't all come by accident. Looks as if there

was a plan back of it, and somebody driving that knows the road, and how to handle the lines. Anyhow,

Elnora's in the wagon, and when I get out in the night and the dark closes around me, and I see the stars, I

"You will keep on harping, Wesley. I told you she didn't do it. Elnora did it! She walked in and took things

right out of our hands. All Kate had to do was to enjoy having it go her way, and she was cute enough to put

in a few questions that sort of guided Elnora. But I don't know, Wesley. This thing makes me think, too.

S'pose we'd taken Elnora when she was a baby, and we'd heaped on her all the love we can't on our own, and

we'd coddled, petted, and shielded her, would she have made the woman that living alone, learning to think

for herself, and taking all the knocks Kate Comstock could give, have made of her?"

"You bet your life!" cried Wesley, warmly. "Loving anybody don't hurt them. We wouldn't have done

anything but love her. You can't hurt a child loving it. She'd have learned to work, to study, and grown into a

"But you don't see the point, Wesley. She would have grown into a fine woman with us; but as we would

have raised her, would her heart ever have known the world as it does now? Where's the anguish, Wesley,

that child can't comprehend? Seeing what she's seen of her mother hasn't hardened her. She can understand

any mother's sorrow. Living life from the rough side has only broadened her. Where's the girl or boy burning

with shame, or struggling to find a way, that will cross Elnora's path and not get a lift from her? She's had the

knocks, but there'll never be any of the thing you call `false pride' in her. I guess we better keep out. Maybe

Kate Comstock knows what she's doing. Sure as you live, Elnora has grown bigger on knocks than she would

"I don't s'pose there ever was a very fine point to anything but I missed it," said Wesley, "because I am blunt,

rough, and have no book learning to speak of. Since you put it into words I see what you mean, but it's dinged

hard on Elnora, just the same. And I don't keep out. I keep watching closer than ever. I got my slap in the

face, but if I don't miss my guess, Kate Comstock learned her lesson, same as I did. She learned that I was in

earnest, that I would haul her to court if she didn't loosen up a bit, and she'll loosen. You see if she doesn't. It

may come hard, and the hinges creak, but she'll fix Elnora decent after this, if Elnora doesn't prove that she

can fix herself. As for me, I found out that what I was doing was as much for myself as for Elnora. I wanted

her to take those things from us, and love us for giving them. It didn't work, and but for you, I'd messed the

whole thing and stuck like a pig in crossing a bridge. But you helped me out; Elnora's got the clothes, and by

morning, maybe I won't grudge Kate the only laugh she's had in sixteen years. You been showing me the way

In her attic Elnora lighted two candles, set them on her little table, stacked the books, and put away the

precious clothes. How lovingly she hung the hat and umbrella, folded the raincoat, and spread the new dress

over a chair. She fingered the ribbons, and tried to smooth the creases from them. She put away the hose

neatly folded, touched the handkerchiefs, and tried the belt. Then she slipped into her white nightdress, shook

down her hair that it might become thoroughly dry, set a chair before the table, and reverently opened one of

the books. A stiff draught swept the attic, for it stretched the length of the cabin, and had a window in each

end. Elnora arose and going to the east window closed it. She stood for a minute looking at the stars, the sky,

and the dark outline of the straggling trees of the rapidly dismantling Limberlost. In the region of her case a

tiny point of light flashed and disappeared. Elnora straightened and wondered. Was it wise to leave her

precious money there? The light flashed once more, wavered a few seconds, and died out. The girl waited.

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 33

"The Bird Woman was at Freckles's room this evening," he muttered. "Wonder what for?"

He left the trail, entered the enclosure still distinctly outlined, and approached the case. The first point of light

flashed from the tiny electric lamp on his vest. He took a duplicate key from his pocket, felt for the padlock

and opened it. The door swung wide. The light flashed the second time. Swiftly his glance swept the interior.

"'Bout a fourth of her moths gone. Elnora must have been with the Bird Woman and given them to her." Then

he stood tense. His keen eyes discovered the roll of bills hastily thrust back in the bottom of the case. He

snatched them up, shut off the light, relocked the case by touch, and swiftly went down the trail. Every few

seconds he paused and listened intently. Just as he reached the road, a second figure approached him.

"I was coming down to take a peep, when I saw your flash," he said. "I heard the Bird Woman had been at the

"Not a thing," said Pete. "She just took away about a fourth of the moths. Probably had the Comstock girl

getting them for her. Heard they were together. Likely she'll get the rest tomorrow. Ain't picking gettin' bare

"Well, I should say so," said the second man, turning back in disgust. "Coming home, now?"

"No, I am going down this way," answered Pete, for his eyes caught the gleam from the window of the

Comstock cabin, and he had a desire to learn why Elnora's attic was lighted at that hour.

He slouched down the road, occasionally feeling the size of the roll he had not taken time to count.

The attic was too long, the light too near the other end, and the cabin stood much too far back from the road.

He could see nothing although he climbed the fence and walked back opposite the window. He knew Mrs.

Comstock was probably awake, and that she sometimes went to the swamp behind her home at night. At

times a cry went up from that locality that paralyzed any one near, or sent them fleeing as if for life. He did

not care to cross behind the cabin. He returned to the road, passed, and again climbed the fence. Opposite the

west window he could see Elnora. She sat before a small table reading from a book between two candles. Her

hair fell in a bright sheen around her, and with one hand she lightly shook, and tossed it as she studied. The

For a long time a leaf turned at intervals and the hairdrying went on. The man drew nearer. The picture grew

more beautiful as he approached. He could not see so well as he desired, for the screen was of white mosquito

netting, and it angered him. He cautiously crept closer. The elevation shut off his view. Then he remembered

the large willow tree shading the well and branching across the window fit the west end of the cabin. From

childhood Elnora had stepped from the sill to a limb and slid down the slanting trunk of the tree. He reached

it and noiselessly swung himself up. Three steps out on the big limb the man shuddered. He was within a few

He could see the throb of her breast under its thin covering and smell the fragrance of the tossing hair. He

could see the narrow bed with its pieced calico cover, the whitewashed walls with gay lithographs, and every

crevice stuck full of twigs with dangling cocoons. There were pegs for the few clothes, the old chest, the little

CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH 34

table, the two chairs, the uneven floor covered with rag rugs and braided corn husk. But nothing was worth a

glance except the perfect face and form within reach by one spring through the rotten mosquito bar. He

gripped the limb above that on which he stood, licked his lips, and breathed through his throat to be sure he

was making no sound. Elnora closed the book and laid it aside. She picked up a towel, and turning the

gathered ends of her hair rubbed them across it, and dropping the towel on her lap, tossed the hair again. Then

she sat in deep thought. By and by words began to come softly. Near as he was the man could not hear at

"ever could be so happy," murmured the soft voice. "The dress is so pretty, such shoes, the coat, and

everything. I won't have to be ashamed again, not ever again, for the Limberlost is full of precious moths, and

I always can collect them. The Bird Woman will buy more tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. When

they are all gone, I can spend every minute gathering cocoons, and hunting other things I can sell. Oh, thank

God, for my precious, precious money. Why, I didn't pray in vain after all! I thought when I asked the Lord to

hide me, there in that big hall, that He wasn't doing it, because I wasn't covered from sight that instant. But

I'm hidden now, I feel that." Elnora lifted her eyes to the beams above her. "I don't know much about praying

properly," she muttered, "but I do thank you, Lord, for hiding me in your own time and way."

Her face was so bright that it shone with a white radiance. Two big tears welled from her eyes, and rolled

down her smiling cheeks. "Oh, I do feel that you have hidden me," she breathed. Then she blew out the lights,

Pete Corson dropped from the limb and found his way to the road. He stood still a long time, then started

back to the Limberlost. A tiny point of light flashed in the region of the case. He stopped with an oath.

"Another hound trying to steal from a girl," he exclaimed. "But it's likely he thinks if he gets anything it will

He entered a deep place at the northwest corner, sat on the ground and taking a pencil from his pocket, he tore

a leaf from a little notebook, and laboriously wrote a few lines by the light he carried. Then he went back to

the region of the case and waited. Before his eyes swept the vision of the slender white creature with tossing

hair. He smiled, and worshipped it, until a distant rooster faintly announced dawn.

Then he unlocked the case again, and replaced the money, laid the note upon it, and went back to

concealment, where he remained until Elnora came down the trail in the morning, appearing very lovely in

It would be difficult to describe how happy Elnora was that morning as she hurried through her work, bathed

and put on the neat, dainty gingham dress, and the tan shoes. She had a struggle with her hair. It crinkled,

billowed, and shone, and she could not avoid seeing the becoming frame it made around her face. But in

deference to her mother's feelings the girl set her teeth, and bound her hair closely to her head with a

That her mother was watching she was unaware. Just as she picked up the beautiful brown ribbon Mrs.

"You had better let me tie that. You can't reach behind yourself and do it right."

Elnora gave a little gasp. Her mother never before had proposed to do anything for the girl that by any

possibility she could do herself. Her heart quaked at the thought of how her mother would arrange that bow,

but Elnora dared not refuse. The offer was too precious. It might never be made again.

"You haven't got that like Mag Sinton had it last night," she announced. "You little idiot! You've tried to

plaster it down to suit me, and you missed it. I liked it away better as Mag fixed it, after I saw it. You didn't

"Hold still, will you?" cried Mrs. Comstock. "You'll be late, and I haven't packed your dinner yet."

She untied the string and shook out the hair. It rose with electricity and clung to her fingers and hands. Mrs.

Comstock jumped back as if bitten. She knew that touch. Her face grew white, and her eyes angry.

"Tie it yourself," she said shortly, "and then I'll put on the ribbon. But roll it back loose like Mag did. It

Almost fainting Elnora stood before the glass, divided off the front parts of her hair, and rolled them as Mrs.

Sinton had done; tied it at the nape of her neck, then sat while her mother arranged the ribbon.

"If I pull it down till it comes tight in these creases where she had it, it will be just right, won't it?" queried

When she looked in the glass the bow was perfectly tied, and how the gold tone of the brown did match the

lustre of the shining hair! "That's pretty," commented Mrs. Comstock's soul, but her stiff lips had said all that

"Good morning," he cried heartily. "Elnora, you look a picture! My, but you're sweet! If any of the city boys

get sassy you tell your Uncle Wesley, and he'll horsewhip them. Here's your Christmas present from me." He

handed Elnora the leather lunch box, with her name carved across the strap in artistic lettering.

"Your Aunt Maggie filled it for me for a starter," he said. "Now, if you are ready, I'm going to drive past your

way and you can ride almost to Onabasha with me, and save the new shoes that much."

Elnora was staring at the box. "Oh I hope it isn't impolite to open it before you," she said. "I just feel as if I

"Don't you stand on formality with the neighbours," laughed Sinton. "Look in your box if you want to!"

This disclosed the knife, fork, napkin, and spoon, the milk flask, and the interior packed with dainty

sandwiches wrapped in tissue paper, and the little compartments for meat, salad, and the custard cup.

"Oh mother!" cried Elnora. "Oh mother, isn't it fine? What made you think of it, Uncle Wesley? How will I

ever thank you? No one will have a finer lunch box than I. Oh I do thank you! That's the nicest gift I ever

"It's a mighty handy thing," assented Mrs. Comstock, taking in every detail with sharp eyes. "I guess you are

"Deedy, yes," laughed Elnora, "and I'm going again first time they have a big day if I stay from school to do

"You'll do no such thing!" said the delighted Sinton. "Come now, if you're going!"

"If I ride, can you spare me time to run into the swamp to my box a minute?" asked Elnora.

"Sure," said Wesley largely. So they drove away and left a whitefaced woman watching them from the door,

"I'd give a pretty to hear what he'll say to her!" she commented bitterly. "Always sticking in, always doing

things I can't ever afford. Where on earth did he get that thing and what did it cost?"

Then she entered the cabin and began the day's work, but mingled with the brooding bitterness of her soul

was the vision of a sweet young face, glad with a gladness never before seen on it, and over and over she

What he said was that she looked as fresh and sweet as a posy, and to be careful not to step in the mud or

Elnora found her key and opened the door. Not where she had placed it, but conspicuously in front lay her

little heap of bills, and a crude scrawl of writing beside it. Elnora picked up the note in astonishment.

the lord amighty is hiding you all right done you ever dout it this money of yourn was took for some time las

nite but it is returned with intres for god sake done ever come to the swamp at nite or late evnin or mornin or

Elnora began to tremble. She hastily glanced around. The damp earth before the case had been trodden by

large, roughly shod feet. She caught up the money and the note, thrust them into her guimpe, locked the case,

"Tut, tut, child!" said Wesley Sinton. "Nothing in the world to be afraid of. What happened?"

"Uncle Wesley," said Elnora, "I had more money than I brought home last night, and I put it in my case.

"No," answered Elnora. "Read the note, and oh Uncle Wesley, tell me what it means!"

Sinton's face was a study. "I don't know what it means," he said. "Only one thing is clear. It means some

beast who doesn't really want to harm you has got his eye on you, and he is telling you plain as he can, not to

give him a chance. You got to keep along the roads, in the open, and not let the biggest moth that ever flew

toll you out of hearing of us, or your mother. It means that, plain and distinct."

"Just when I can sell them! Just when everything is so lovely on account of them! I can't! I can't stay away

from the swamp. The Limberlost is going to buy the books, the clothes, pay the tuition, and even start a

"You've got to," said Sinton. "This is plain enough. You go far in the swamp at your own risk, even in

"Uncle Wesley," said the girl, "last night before I went to bed, I was so happy I tried to pray, and I thanked

God for hiding me `under the shadow of His wing.' But how in the world could any one know it?"

Wesley Sinton's heart leaped in his breast. His face was whiter than the girl's now.

"I might have said words," answered Elnora. "I know I do sometimes. I've never had any one to talk with, and

I've played with and talked to myself all my life. You've caught me at it often, but it always makes mother

angry when she does. She says it's silly. I forget and do it, when I'm alone. But Uncle Wesley, if I said

anything last night, you know it was the merest whisper, because I'd have been so afraid of waking mother.

Sinton was steadying himself "I'll stop and examine the case as I come back," he said. "Maybe I can find

some clue. That otherthat was just accidental. It's a common expression. All the preachers use it. If I tried

"No, I didn't," said Elnora. "It's dreadful not to, but I was afraid. You see they are clearing the swamp so fast.

Every year it grows more difficult to find things, and Indian stuff becomes scarcer. I want to graduate, and

that's four years unless I can double on the course. That means twenty dollars tuition each year, and new

books, and clothes. There won't ever be so much at one time again, that I know. I just got to hang to my

money. I was afraid to tell her, for fear she would want it for taxes, and she really must sell a tree or some

"On your life, she must!" said Wesley. "You put your little wad in the bank all safe, and never mention it to a

living soul. It doesn't seem right, but your case is peculiar. Every word you say is a true word. Each year you

will find less in the swamp, and things everywhere will be scarcer. If you ever get a few dollars ahead, that

"Of course I am," said Elnora. "I settled that as soon as I knew what a college was. I will put all my money in

"But they are not. Half of them were nicked, and this little box held all the good ones. It's so surprising how

"Ten cents for any common perfect one, fifty for revolvers, a dollar for obsidian, and whatever is right for

"Well, that sounds fair," said Sinton. "You can come down Saturday and wash the stuff at our house, and I'll

Elnora jumped from the carriage. She soon found that with her books, her lunch box, and the points she had a

heavy load. She had almost reached the bridge crossing the culvert when she heard distressed screams of a

child. Across an orchard of the suburbs came a small boy, after him a big dog, urged by a man in the

background. Elnora's heart was with the small fleeing figure in any event whatever. She dropped her load on

the bridge, and with practised hand flung a stone at the dog. The beast curled double with a howl. The boy

reached the fence, and Elnora was there to help him over. As he touched the top she swung him to the

ground, but he clung to her, clasping her tightly, sobbing with fear. Elnora helped him to the bridge, and sat

with him in her arms. For a time his replies to her questions were indistinct, but at last he became quieter and

He was a mite of a boy, nothing but skincovered bones, his burned, freckled face in a mortar of tears and

dust, his clothing unspeakably dirty, one great toe in a festering mass from a broken nail, and sores all over

"You wouldn't set a dog on a boy for just taking a few old apples when you fed 'em to pigs with a shovel

"You'd give a boy all the apples he wanted, if he hadn't any breakfast, and was so hungry he was all twisty

"If you had anything to eat you would give me something right now, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," said Elnora. "There's nothing but just stones in the package. But my dinner is in that case. I'll gladly

She opened the box. The famished child gave a little cry and reached both hands. Elnora caught them back.

"He's spent all the money to get drunk, too," said the boy, "and Jimmy and Belle are both crying for

breakfast. I'd a got out all right with an apple for myself, but I tried to get some for them and the dog got too

"Yes," admitted Elnora. She poured half the milk into the cup. "Drink this," she said, holding it to him.

The boy gulped the milk and swore joyously, gripping the cup with shaking fingers.

Elnora saw that the child was older than she had thought. He might have been forty judging by his hard,

"No, I want to be like you. Couldn't a angel be prettier 'an you. Can I have more milk?"

Elnora emptied the flask. The boy drained the cup. He drew a breath of satisfaction as he gazed into her face.

"Yes, my mother went off and left me, and left Jimmy and Belle, too," said the boy. "You wouldn't leave

The boy looked eagerly at the box. Elnora lifted a sandwich and uncovered the fried chicken. The boy gasped

"Say, I could eat the stuff in the glass and the other box and carry the bread and the chicken to Jimmy and

Elnora silently uncovered the custard with preserved cherries on top and handed it and the spoon to the child.

Never did food disappear faster. The salad went next, and a sandwich and half a chicken breast followed.

"I better leave the rest for Jimmy and Belle," he said, "they're 'ist fightin' hungry."

Elnora gave him the remainder of the carefully prepared lunch. The boy clutched it and ran with a sidewise

hop like a wild thing. She covered the dishes and cup, polished the spoon, replaced it, and closed the case.

"If Aunt Margaret knew that, she'd never forgive me," she said. "It seems as if secrecy is literally forced upon

me, and I hate it. What shall I do for lunch? I'll have to sell my arrows and keep enough money for a

So she walked hurriedly into town, sold her points at a good price, deposited her funds, and went away with a

neat little bank book and the note from the Limberlost carefully folded inside. Elnora passed down the hall

that morning, and no one paid the slightest attention to her. The truth was she looked so like every one else

that she was perfectly inconspicuous. But in the coat room there were members of her class. Surely no one

Elnora turned on them. "I beg your pardon," she said unsteadily, "I couldn't help hearing that! No one gave

Elnora felt driven. "Aunt Margaret selected them, and she meant to give them to me," she explained, "but I

Elnora stepped before the girl who had spoken. "You have made this your affair," she said, "because you told

a thing which was not true. No one gave me what I am wearing. I paid for my clothes myself with money I

earned selling moths to the Bird Woman. I just came from the bank where I deposited what I did not use.

Here is my credit." Elnora drew out and offered the little red book. "Surely you will believe that," she said.

"Why of course," said the girl who first had spoken. "We met such a lovely woman in Brownlee's store, and

she said she wanted our help to buy some things for a girl, and that's how we came to know."

"Dear Aunt Margaret," said Elnora, "it was like her to ask you. Isn't she splendid?"

"She is indeed," chorused the girls. Elnora set down her lunch box and books, unpinned her hat, hanging it

beside the others, and taking up the books she reached to set the box in its place and dropped it. With a little

cry she snatched at it and caught the strap on top. That pulled from the fastening, the cover unrolled, the box

fell away as far as it could, two porcelain lids rattled on the floor, and the one sandwich rolled like a

cartwheel across the room. Elnora lifted a ghastly face. For once no one laughed. She stood an instant staring.

"It seems to be my luck to be crucified at every point of the compass," she said at last. "First two days you

thought I was a pauper, now you will think I'm a fraud. All of you will believe I bought an expensive box,

and then was too poor to put anything but a restaurant sandwich in it. You must stop till I prove to you that

"I had milk in that bottle, see! And custard in the cup. There was salad in the little box, fried chicken in the

large one, and nut sandwiches in the tray. You can see the crumbs of all of them. A man set a dog on a child

who was so starved he was stealing apples. I talked with him, and I thought I could bear hunger better, he was

such a little boy, so I gave him my lunch, and got the sandwich at the restaurant."

Elnora held out the box. The girls were laughing by that time. "You goose," said one, "why didn't you give

"He was such a little fellow, and he really was hungry," said Elnora. "I often go without anything to eat at

She closed the box and set it beside the lunches of other country pupils. While her back was turned, into the

room came the girl of her encounter on the first day, walked to the rack, and with an exclamation of approval

"Just the thing I have been wanting!" she said. "I never saw such beautiful quills in all my life. They match

my new broadcloth to perfection. I've got to have that kind of quills for my hat. I never saw the like! Whose

No one said a word, for Elnora's question, the reply, and her answer, had been repeated. Every one knew that

the Limberlost girl had come out ahead and Sadie Reed had not been amiable, when the little flourish had

been added to Elnora's name in the algebra class. Elnora's swift glance was pathetic, but no one helped her.

"Why, this is the Freshman section, whose hat is it?" she asked again, this time impatiently.

The response was genuine. Every one shouted. Sadie Reed blushed, but she laughed also.

"Well, it's beautiful," she said, "especially the quills. They are exactly what I want. I know I don't deserve any

kindness from you, but I do wish you would tell me at whose store you found those quills."

"Gladly!" said Elnora. You can't buy quills like those at a store. They are from a living bird. Phoebe Simms

gathers them in her orchard as her peacocks shed them. They are wing quills from the males."

Then there was perfect silence. How was Elnora to know that not a girl there would have told that?

"I haven't a doubt but I can get you some," she offered. "She gave Aunt Margaret a large bunch, and those are

Sadie Reed laughed shortly. "You needn't trouble," she said, "I was fooled. I thought they were expensive

quills. I wanted them for a twentydollar velvet toque to match my new suit. If they are gathered from the

"Only in spots!" said Elnora. "They don't just cover the earth. Phoebe Simms's peacocks are the only ones

within miles of Onabasha, and they moult but once a year. If your hat cost only twenty dollars, it's scarcely

good enough for those quills. You see, the Almighty made and coloured those Himself; and He puts the same

kind on Phoebe Simms's peacocks that He put on the head of the family in the forests of Ceylon, away back

in the beginning. Any old manufactured quill from New York or Chicago will do for your little twentydollar

hat. You should have something infinitely better than that to be worthy of quills that are made by the

How those girls did laugh! One of them walked with Elnora to the auditorium, sat beside her during

exercises, and tried to talk whenever she dared, to keep Elnora from seeing the curious and admiring looks

For the browneyed boy whistled, and there was pantomime of all sorts going on behind Elnora's back that

day. Happy with her books, no one knew how much she saw, and from her absorption in her studies it was

After school she went again to the home of the Bird Woman, and together they visited the swamp and carried

away more specimens. This time Elnora asked the Bird Woman to keep the money until noon of the next day,

when she would call for it and have it added to her bank account. She slowly walked home, for the visit to the

swamp had brought back full force the experience of the morning. Again and again she examined the crude

little note, for she did not know what it meant, yet it bred vague fear. The only thing of which Elnora knew

herself afraid was her mother; when with wild eyes and ears deaf to childish pleading, she sometimes lost

control of herself in the night and visited the pool where her husband had sunk before her, calling his name in

It was Wesley Sinton who really wrestled with Elnora's problem while he drove about his business. He was

not forced to ask himself what it meant; he knew. The old Corson gang was still holding together. Elder

members who had escaped the law had been joined by a younger brother of Jack's, and they met in the

thickest of the few remaining fast places of the swamp to drink, gamble, and loaf. Then suddenly, there

would be a robbery in some country house where a farmer that day had sold his wheat or corn and not paid a

The home of Mrs. Comstock and Elnora adjoined the swamp. Sinton's land lay next, and not another

residence or man easy to reach in case of trouble. Whoever wrote that note had some human kindness in his

breast, but the fact stood revealed that he feared his strength if Elnora were delivered into his hands. Where

had he been the previous night when he heard that prayer? Was that the first time he had been in such

proximity? Sinton drove fast, for he wished to reach the swamp before Elnora and the Bird Woman would go

At almost four he came to the case, and dropping on his knees studied the ground, every sense alert. He found

two or three little heel prints. Those were made by Elnora or the Bird Woman. What Sinton wanted to learn

was whether all the remainder were the footprints of one man. It was easily seen, they were not. There were

deep, even tracks made by fairly new shoes, and others where a wellworn heel cut deeper on the inside of

the print than at the outer edge. Undoubtedly some of Corson's old gang were watching the case, and the

visits of the women to it. There was no danger that any one would attack the Bird Woman. She never went to

the swamp at night, and on her trips in the daytime, every one knew that she carried a revolver, understood

Elnora, prowling around the swamp and lured into the interior by the flight of moths and butterflies; Elnora,

without father, money, or friends save himself, to defend herElnora was a different proposition. For this to

happen just when the Limberlost was bringing the very desire of her heart to the girl, it was too bad.

Sinton was afraid for her, yet he did not want to add the burden of fear to Katharine Comstock's trouble, or to

disturb the joy of Elnora in her work. He stopped at the cabin and slowly went up the walk. Mrs. Comstock

was sitting on the front steps with some sewing. The work seemed to Sinton as if she might be engaged in

putting a tuck in a petticoat. He thought of how Margaret had shortened Elnora's dress to the accepted length

She dropped her work on her lap, laid her hands on it and looked into his face with a sneer.

"Good gracious, Kate!" cried Sinton. "Is that what you have been thinking all day? I told you before I left

yesterday that I would not need do that. And I won't! We can't afford to quarrel over Elnora. She's all we've

got. Now that she has proved that if you don't do just what I think you ought by way of clothes and schooling,

she can take care of herself, I put that out of my head. What I came to see you about is a kind of scare I've

had today. I want to ask you if you ever see anything about the swamp that makes you think the old Corson

"Can't say that I do," said Mrs. Comstock. "There's kind of dancing lights there sometimes, but I supposed it

was just people passing along the road with lanterns. Folks hereabout are none too fond of the swamp. I hate

it like death. I've never stayed here a night in my life without Robert's revolver, clean and loaded, under my

pillow, and the shotgun, same condition, by the bed. I can't say that I'm afraid here at home. I'm not. I can

"Well, I'm glad you are not afraid, Kate, because I must tell you something. Elnora stopped at the case this

"No. Used a duplicate key. Today I heard there was a man here last night. I want to nose around a little."

Sinton went to the east end of the cabin and looked up at the window. There was no way any one could have

reached it without a ladder, for the logs were hewed and mortar filled the cracks even. Then he went to the

west end, the willow faced him as he turned the corner. He examined the trunk carefully. There was no

mistake about small particles of black swamp muck adhering to the sides of the tree. He reached the low

branches and climbed the willow. There was earth on the large limb crossing Elnora's window. He stood on

it, holding the branch as had been done the night before, and looked into the room. He could see very little,

but he knew that if it had been dark outside and sufficiently light for Elnora to study inside he could have

seen vividly. He brought his face close to the netting, and he could see the bed with its head to the east, at its

foot the table with the candles and the chair before it, and then he knew where the man had been who had

Mrs. Comstock had followed around the corner and stood watching him. "Do you think some slinking hulk

"There is muck on the trunk, and plenty on the limb," said Sinton. "Hadn't you better get a saw and let me

"No, I hadn't," said Mrs. Comstock. "First place, Elnora's climbed from that window on that limb all her life,

and it's hers. Second place, no one gets ahead of me after I've had warning. Any crow that perches on that

roost again will get its feathers somewhat scattered. Look along the fence, there, and see if you can find

The place was easy to find as was a trail leading for some distance west of the cabin.

"You just go home, and don't fret yourself," said Mrs. Comstock. "I'll take care of this. If you should hear the

dinner bell at any time in the night you come down. But I wouldn't say anything to Elnora. She better keep

When the work was finished that night Elnora took her books and went to her room to prepare some lessons,

but every few minutes she looked toward the swamp to see if there were lights near the case. Mrs. Comstock

raked together the coals in the cooking stove, got out the lunch box, and sitting down she studied it grimly. At

She went to her room, knelt before a big blackwalnut chest and hunted through its contents until she found

an oldfashioned cook book. She tended the fire as she read and presently was in action. She first sawed an

end from a fragrant, juicy, sugarcured ham and put it to cook. Then she set a couple of eggs boiling, and

after long hesitation began creaming butter and sugar in a crock. An hour later the odour of the ham, mingled

with some of the richest spices of "happy Araby," in a combination that could mean nothing save spice cake,

crept up to Elnora so strongly that she lifted her head and sniffed amazedly. She would have given all her

precious money to have gone down and thrown her arms around her mother's neck, but she did not dare

Mrs. Comstock was up early, and without a word handed Elnora the case as she left the next morning.

She walked down the road looking straight ahead until she came to the corner, where she usually entered the

swamp. She paused, glanced that way and smiled. Then she turned and looked back. There was no one

coming in any direction. She followed the road until well around the corner, then she stopped and sat on a

grassy spot, laid her books beside her and opened the lunch box. Last night's odours had in a measure

prepared her for what she would see, but not quite. She scarcely could believe her senses. Half the bread

compartment was filled with dainty sandwiches of bread and butter sprinkled with the yolk of egg and the

remainder with three large slices of the most fragrant spice cake imaginable. The meat dish contained shaved

cold ham, of which she knew the quality, the salad was tomatoes and celery, and the cup held preserved pear,

clear as amber. There was milk in the bottle, two tissuewrapped cucumber pickles in the folding

drinkingcup, and a fresh napkin in the ring. No lunch was ever daintier or more palatable; of that Elnora was

perfectly sure. And her mother had prepared it for her! "She does love me!" cried the happy girl. "Sure as

She touched the papers daintily, and smiled at the box as if it were a living thing. As she began closing it a

breath of air swept by, lifting the covering of the cake. It was like an invitation, and breakfast was several

hours away. Elnora picked up a piece and ate it. That cake tasted even better than it looked. Then she tried a

sandwich. How did her mother come to think of making them that way. They never had any at home. She

slipped out the fork, sampled the salad, and onequarter of pear. Then she closed the box and started down

the road nibbling one of the pickles and trying to decide exactly how happy she was, but she could find no

She was to go to the Bird Woman's after school for the last load from the case. Saturday she would take the

arrow points and specimens to the bank. That would exhaust her present supplies and give her enough money

ahead to pay for books, tuition, and clothes for at least two years. She would work early and late gathering

nuts. In October she would sell all the ferns she could find. She must collect specimens of all tree leaves

before they fell, gather nests and cocoons later, and keep her eyes wide open for anything the grades could

use. She would see the superintendent that night about selling specimens to the ward buildings. She must be

ahead of any one else if she wanted to furnish these things. So she approached the bridge.

That it was occupied could be seen from a distance. As she came up she found the small boy of yesterday

"We brought you something!" he announced without greeting. "This is Jimmy and Belleand we brought

"Why, how lovely of you!" said Elnora. "I supposed you had forgotten me when you ran away so fast

"Naw, I didn't forget you," said the boy. "I wouldn't forget you, not ever! Why, I was ist ahurrying to take

Elnora glanced at the children. They sat on the edge of the bridge, obviously clad in a garment each, very

dirty and unkept, a little boy and a girl of about seven and nine. Elnora's heart began to ache.

"I thought it wasn't polite to look before people," answered Elnora. "Of course, I will, if you would like to

Elnora opened the package. She had been presented with a quarter of a stale loaf of baker's bread, and a big

"Gosh, no! I mean ist no," said the boy. "We always have it. We got stacks this morning. Pa's come out of it

now, and he's so sorry he got more 'an ever we can eat. Have you had any before?"

"We thought maybe you hadn't," said the boy. "First you ever have, you like it real well; but when you don't

have anything else for a long time, years an' years, you git so tired." He hitched at the string which held his

"I don't s'pose you'd trade what you got in that box for ist old bread and bologna now, would you? Mebby

you'd like it! And I know, I ist know, what you got would taste like heaven to Jimmy and Belle. They never

had nothing like that! Not even Belle, and she's most ten! No, siree, they never tasted things like you got!"

It was in Elnora's heart to be thankful for even a taste in time, as she knelt on the bridge, opened the box and

divided her lunch into three equal parts, the smaller boy getting most of the milk. Then she told them it was

When the box was arranged to the children's satisfaction all of them accompanied Elnora to the corner where

"Billy," said Elnora, "I would like you much better if you were cleaner. Surely, you have water! Can't you

children get some soap and wash yourselves? Gentlemen are never dirty. You want to be a gentleman, don't

"No," said Elnora. "You must not say bad words, and you must be kind and polite to your sister."

Elnora could say nothing more just then, and she bade them goodbye and started them home.

"The poor little souls!" she mused. "I think the Almighty put them in my way to show me real trouble. I won't

be likely to spend much time pitying myself while I can see them." She glanced at the lunchbox. "What on

earth do I carry this for? I never had anything that was so strictly ornamental! One sure thing! I can't take this

stuff to the high school. You never seem to know exactly what is going to happen to you while you are

As if to provide a way out of her difficulty a big dog arose from a lawn, and came toward the gate wagging

his tail. "If those children ate the stuff, it can't possibly kill him!" thought Elnora, so she offered the bologna.

The dog accepted it graciously, and being a beast of pedigree he trotted around to a side porch and laid the

bologna before his mistress. The woman snatched it, screaming: "Come, quick! Some one is trying to poison

Pedro!" Her daughter came running from the house. "Go see who is on the street. Hurry!" cried the excited

Ellen Brownlee ran and looked. Elnora was half a block away, and no one nearer. Ellen called loudly, and

"I gave it a piece of bologna myself," she said. "It was fit to eat. It wouldn't hurt the dog."

Ellen stood and looked at her. "Of course, I didn't know it was your dog," explained Elnora. "I had something

"Then I will have you arrested for trying to poison our dog," laughed the girl as she took the box.

"One chunk of stale bread, one half mile of antique bologna contributed for dog feed; the remains of cake,

salad and preserves in an otherwise empty lunch box. One ham sandwich yesterday. I think it's lovely you

Elnora waited. That morning she walked down the hall and into the auditorium beside one of the very nicest

girls in Onabasha, and it was the fourth day. But the surprise came at noon when Ellen insisted upon Elnora

lunching at the Brownlee home, and convulsed her parents and family, and overwhelmed Elnora with a

"Gee! but it's a box, daddy!" cried the laughing girl. "It's carved leather and fastens with a strap that has her

name on it. Inside are trays for things all complete, and it bears evidence of having enclosed delicious food,

but Elnora never gets any. She's carried it two days now, and both times it has been empty before she reached

"It is, Ellen, in more ways than one. No girl is going to eat breakfast at six o'clock, walk three miles, and do

good work without her lunch. You can't tell me anything about that box. I sold it last Monday night to Wesley

Sinton, one of my good country customers. He told me it was a present for a girl who was worthy of it, and I

"He's so good to me," said Elnora. "Sometimes I look at him and wonder if a neighbour can be so kind to one,

"You have cause," said Ellen Brownlee. "A father is the very dearest person in the whole round world, except

a mother, who is just a dear." The girl, starting to pay tribute to her father, saw that she must include her

mother, and said the thing before she remembered what Mrs. Sinton had told the girls in the store. She

Mr. Brownlee lingered at the table after the girls had excused themselves and returned to school.

"There's a girl Ellen can't see too much of, in my opinion," he said. "She is every inch a lady, and not a

foolish notion or action about her. I can't understand just what combination of circumstances produced her in

"It has been an unusual case of repression, for one thing. She waits on her elders and thinks before she

"She's mighty pretty. She looks so sound and wholesome, and she's neatly dressed."

"Ellen says she was a fright the first two days. Long brown calico dress almost touching the floor, and big,

lumbering shoes. Those Sinton people bought her clothes. Ellen was in the store, and the woman stopped her

crowd and asked them about their dresses. She said the girl was not poor, but her mother was selfish and

didn't care for her. But Elnora showed a bank book the next day, and declared that she paid for the things

herself, so the Sinton people must just have selected them. There's something peculiar about it, but nothing

"Yes, she lives out by the Limberlost. You know the Bird Woman works there a great deal, and probably

knows her that way. I think the girl gathers specimens for her. Ellen says she knows more than the teachers

about any nature question that comes up, and she is going to lead all of them in mathematics, and make them

When Elnora entered the coat room after having had luncheon with Ellen Brownlee there was such a

"Every one is so nice to me in them, it sets me to wondering if in time I could have made them be equally

Ellen looked at her introspectively. "I believe you could," she announced at last. "But it would have taken

time and heartache, and your mind would have been less free to work on your studies. No one is happy

That night the Bird Woman made the last trip to the swamp. Every specimen she possibly could use had been

purchased at a fair price, and three additions had been made to the bank book, carrying the total a little past

two hundred dollars. There remained the Indian relics to sell on Saturday, and Elnora had secured the order to

furnish material for nature work for the grades. Life suddenly grew very full. There was the most excitingly

interesting work for every hour, and that work was to pay high school expenses and start the college fund.

There was one little rift in her joy. All of it would have been so much better if she could have told her mother,

and given the money into her keeping; but the struggle to get a start had been so terrible, Elnora was afraid to

take the risk. When she reached home, she only told her mother that the last of the things had been sold that

"I think," said Mrs. Comstock, "that we will ask Wesley to move that box over here back of the garden for

you. There you are apt to get tolled farther into the swamp than you intend to go, and you might mire or

something. There ought to be just the same things in our woods, and along our swampy places, as there are in

"I can try," said Elnora. "I don't know what I can find until I do. Our woods are undisturbed, and there is a

possibility they might be even better hunting than the swamp. But I wouldn't have Freckles's case moved for

the world. He might come back some day, and not like it. I've tried to keep his room the best I could, and

taking out the box would make a big hole in one side of it. Store boxes don't cost much. I will have Uncle

Wesley buy me one, and set it up wherever hunting looks the best, early in the spring. I would feel safer at

"Let's do the work," said Elnora. "I can't say that I'm hungry now. Doesn't seem as if I ever could be hungry

again with such a lunch. I am quite sure no one carried more delicious things to eat than I."

Mrs. Comstock was pleased. "I put in a pretty good hunk of cake. Did you divide it with any one?"

This was becoming uncomfortable. "I ate the biggest piece myself," said Elnora, "and gave the rest to a

couple of boys named Jimmy and Billy and a girl named Belle. They said it was the very best cake they ever

Mrs. Comstock sat straight. "I used to be a master hand at spice cake," she boasted. "But I'm a little out of

practice. I must get to work again. With the very weeds growing higher than our heads, we should raise

plenty of good stuff to eat on this land, if we can't afford anything else but taxes."

Elnora laughed and hurried up stairs to change her dress. Margaret Sinton came that night bringing a

"Do you mean to say those dresses are to be washed every two days?" questioned Mrs. Comstock.

"They have to be, to look fresh," replied Margaret. "We want our girl sweet as a rose."

"Well, of all things!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "Every two days! Any girl who can't keep a dress clean longer

than that is a dirty girl. You'll wear the goods out and fade the colours with so much washing."

"Well, if you like the job you can have it," said Mrs. Comstock. "I don't mind the washing, but I'm so

Elnora sat late that night working over her lessons. The next morning she put on her blue dress and ribbon

and in those she was a picture. Mrs. Comstock caught her breath with a queer stirring around her heart, and

looked twice to be sure of what she saw. As Elnora gathered her books her mother silently gave her the lunch

"Feels heavy," said Elnora gaily. "And smelly! Like as not I'll be called upon to divide again."

"Then you divide!" said Mrs. Comstock. "Eating is the one thing we don't have to economize on, Elnora.

Spite of all I can do food goes to waste in this soil every day. If you can give some of those city children a

Elnora went down the road thinking of the city children with whom she probably would divide. Of course,

"I don't want to be selfish," murmured Elnora, "but it really seems as if I can't give away this lunch. If mother

did not put love into it, she's substituted something that's likely to fool me."

She almost felt her steps lagging as she approached the bridge. A very hungry dog had been added to the trio

of children. Elnora loved all dogs, and as usual, this one came to her in friendliness. The children said "Good

"All right!" cried the three, while the dog sniffed ravenously at the lunch box, and beat a perfect tattoo with

Dawn broke beautifully over Billy's streaked face. He caught the package and thrust it toward Elnora.

The dog leaped in glad apprehension of something, and Belle scrambled to her feet and took a step forward.

The look of famished greed in her eyes was more than Elnora could endure. It was not that she cared for the

food so much. Good things to eat had been in abundance all her life. She wanted with this lunch to try to

absorb what she felt must be an expression of some sort from her mother, and if it were not a manifestation of

love, she did not know what to think it. But it was her mother who had said "be generous." She knelt on the

She opened the box and divided the milk between Billy and the girl. She gave each a piece of cake leaving

one and a sandwich. Billy pressed forward eagerly, bitter disappointment on his face, and the elder boy forgot

"There is!" she said gladly. "There is a little pigeon bird. I want a teeny piece of the breast, for a sort of

Elnora drew the knife from its holder and cut off the wishbone. Then she held the bird toward the girl.

"You can divide it," she said. The dog made a bound and seizing the squab sprang from the bridge and ran for

life. The girl and boy hurried after him. With awful eyes Billy stared and swore tempestuously. Elnora caught

him and clapped her hand over the little mouth. A delivery wagon came tearing down the street, the horse

running full speed, passed the fleeing dog with the girl and boy in pursuit, and stopped at the bridge. High

It was Ellen Brownlee and her crowd, and every girl of them carried a big parcel. They took in the scene as

they approached. The fleeing dog with something in its mouth, the halfnaked girl and boy chasing it told the

"Thank goodness, I saved the wishbone!" said Elnora. "As usual, I can prove that there was a bird." She

turned toward the box. Billy had improved the time. He had the last piece of cake in one hand, and the last

"Let's have a sample ourselves," suggested one. She caught up the box and handed out the remaining

sandwich. Another girl divided it into bites each little over an inch square, and then she lifted the cup lid and

deposited a preserved strawberry on each bite. "One, two, three, altogether now!" she cried.

In an instant he was down in the road and handfuls of dust began to fly among them. The girls scattered

"Billy!" cried Elnora. "Billy! I'll never give you another bite, if you throw dust on any one!"

Then Billy dropped the dust, bored both fists into his eyes, and fled sobbing into Elnora's new blue skirt. She

stooped to meet him and consolation began. Those girls laughed on. They screamed and shouted until the

"Tomorrow might as well be a clear day," said Ellen, passing around and feeding the remaining berries to

the girls as they could compose themselves enough to take them. "Billy, I admire your taste more than your

Elnora looked up. "The little soul is nothing but skin and bones," she said. "I never was really hungry myself;

"Well, I should say so," cried a plump, rosy girl. "I'm famished right now. Let's have breakfast immediate!"

"We got to refill this box first!" said Ellen Brownlee. "Who's got the butter?" A girl advanced with a wooden

"Put it in the preserve cup, a little strawberry flavour won't hurt it. Next!" called Ellen.

A loaf of bread was produced and Ellen cut off a piece which filled the sandwich box.

"Next!" A bottle of olives was unwrapped. The grocer's boy who was waiting opened that, and Ellen filled

"I don't suppose this will make quite as good dog feed as a bird," laughed a girl holding open a bag of sliced

A box of candy was handed her and she stuffed every corner of the lunch box with chocolates and nougat.

Then it was closed and formally presented to Elnora. The girls each helped themselves to candy and olives,

and gave Billy the remainder of the food. Billy took one bite of ham, and approved. Belle and Jimmy had

given up chasing the dog, and angry and ashamed, stood waiting half a block away.

"Come back!" cried Billy. "You great big dunces, come back! They's a new kind of meat, and cake and

The boy delayed, but the girl joined Billy. Ellen wiped her fingers, stepped to the cement abutment and began

reciting "Horatio at the Bridge!" substituting Elnora wherever the hero appeared in the lines.

Elnora gathered up the sacks, and gave them to Belle, telling her to take the food home, cut and spread the

Then Elnora was taken into the wagon with the girls, and driven on the run to the high school. They sang a

as they went. Elnora did not know it, but that was her initiation. She belonged to "the crowd." She only knew

that she was happy, and vaguely wondered what her mother and Aunt Margaret would have said about the

Saturday morning Elnora helped her mother with the work. When she had finished Mrs. Comstock told her to

go to Sintons' and wash her Indian relics, so that she would be ready to accompany Wesley to town in the

afternoon. Elnora hurried down the road and was soon at the cistern with a tub busily washing arrow points,

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 53

Then she went home, dressed and was waiting when the carriage reached the gate. She stopped at the bank

with the box, and Sinton went to do his marketing and some shopping for his wife.

At the dry goods store Mr. Brownlee called to him, "Hello, Sinton! How do you like the fate of your lunch

"I always hate to see a man laughing alone," said Sinton. It looks so selfish! Tell me the fun, and let me help

Then the three days' history of the lunch box was repeated with particulars which included the dog.

"Blest if I see anything funny!" replied Wesley Sinton. "And if you had bought that box and furnished one of

those lunches yourself, you wouldn't either. I call such a work a shame! I'll have it stopped."

"Some one must see to that, all right. They are little leeches. Their father earns enough to support them, but

they have no mother, and they run wild. I suppose they are crazy for cooked food. But it is funny, and when

"About where would a body find that father?" inquired Wesley Sinton grimly. Mr. Brownlee told him and he

started, locating the house with little difficulty. House was the proper word, for of home there was no sign.

Just a small empty house with three unkept little children racing through and around it. The girl and the elder

boy hung back, but dirty little Billy greeted Sinton with: "What you want here?"

On a dirty mattress in a corner lay a man who appeared to be strong and well. Billy was right. You could not

"Your father is sick and needs help," he said. "You stay here, and I will send a man to see him."

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 54

"If you just let him 'lone, he'll sleep it off," volunteered Billy. "He's that way all the time, but he wakes up

and gets us something to eat after awhile. Only waitin' twists you up inside pretty bad."

Wesley Sinton looked intently at Billy. "Are you twisted up inside now?" he asked.

Billy laid a grimy hand on the region of his stomach and the filthy little waist sank close to the backbone.

"She went and told us to take it home," said Billy ruefully, "and 'cos she said to, we took it. Pa had come

back, he was drinking some more, and he ate a lot of it almost the whole thing, and it made him sick as a

dog, and he went and wasted all of it. Then he got drunk some more, and now he's asleep again. We didn't get

"You children sit on the steps until the man comes," said Sinton. "I'll send you some things to eat with him.

"Well, Billy, I guess you better come with me. I'll take care of him," Sinton promised the others. He reached a

"I ain't no baby, I'm a boy!" said Billy, as he shuffled along beside Sinton, taking a kick at every movable

Once they passed a Great Dane dog lolling after its master, and Billy ascended Sinton as if he were a tree, and

"I ain't afraid of that dog," scoffed Billy, as he was again placed on the walk, "but onc't he took me for a rat or

somepin' and his teeth cut into my back. If I'd a done right, I'd a took the law on him."

Sinton looked down into the indignant little face. The child was bright enough, he had a good head, but oh,

"I 'bout got enough of dogs," said Billy. "I used to like 'em, but I'm getting pretty tired. You ought to seen the

lickin' Jimmy and Belle and me give our dog when we caught him, for taking a little bird she gave us. We

waited 'till he was asleep 'nen laid a board on him and all of us jumped on it to onc't. You could a heard him

yell a mile. Belle said mebbe we could squeeze the bird out of him. But, squeeze nothing! He was holler as

us, and that bird was lost long 'fore it got to his stummick. It was ist a little one, anyway. Belle said it

wouldn't 'a' made a bite apiece for three of us nohow, and the dog got one good swaller. We didn't get much

of the meat, either. Pa took most of that. Seems like pas and dogs gets everything."

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 55

Billy laughed dolefully. Involuntarily Wesley Sinton reached his hand. They were coming into the business

part of Onabasha and the streets were crowded. Billy understood it to mean that he might lose his companion

and took a grip. That little hot hand clinging tight to his, the sore feet recklessly scouring the walk, the

hungry child panting for breath as he tried to keep even, the brave soul jesting in the face of hard luck, caught

"Say, son," he said. "How would you like to be washed clean, and have all the supper your skin could hold,

"Aw, gee!" said Billy. "I ain't dead yet! Them things is in heaven! Poor folks can't have them. Pa said so."

"Well, you can have them if you want to go with me and get them," promised Sinton.

"Your pa is in that kind of sleep now where he won't wake up, Billy," said Sinton. "I am pretty sure the law

"When people don't ever wake up they're dead," announced Billy. "Is my pa dead?"

"I can't adopt all three of you," said Sinton. "I'll take you, and see that they are well provided for. Will you

"All right," agreed Sinton. "Come into this restaurant." He lifted Billy to the lunch counter and ordered the

clerk to give him as many glasses of milk as he wanted, and a biscuit. "I think there's going to be fried

chicken when we get home, Billy," he said, "so you just take the edge off now, and fill up later."

While Billy lunched Sinton called up the different departments and notified the proper authorities ending

with the Women's Relief Association. He sent a basket of food to Belle and Jimmy, bought Billy a pair of

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 56

"Well, young woman," said Wesley Sinton, "Mr. Brownlee told me the history of your lunch box. It didn't

seem so funny to me as it does to the rest of them; so I went to look up the father of Billy's family, and make

him take care of them, or allow the law to do it for him. It will have to be the law."

"He's deader than anything!" broke in Billy. "He can't ever take all the meat any more."

"Never you mind!" said Sinton. "A child doesn't say such things about a father who loved and raised him

right. When it happens, the father alone is to blame. You won't hear Billy talk like that about me when I cross

"I'll soon need help," said Wesley. "Billy will come in just about right ten years from now, and if I raise him

"Well, she likes me, and I used to be a boy. Anyway, as I remember she has had her way about everything at

our house ever since we were married. I am going to please myself about Billy. Hasn't she always done just

"Honest!" replied Elnora. "You are beautiful to all of us, Uncle Wesley; but Aunt Margaret won't like Billy.

"God only knows," said Sinton. "Billy ain't so beautiful, and he ain't so smart, I guess it's because he's so

"So did mine," said Elnora. "I love him. I'd rather see him eat my lunch than have it myself any time."

"Why, I don't know," pondered Elnora. "He's so little, he needs so much, he's got such splendid grit, and he's

perfectly unselfish with his brother and sister. But we must wash him before Aunt Margaret sees him. I

"You needn't bother. I'm going to take him home the way he is," said Sinton. "I want Maggie to see the worst

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 57

"So am I," said Wesley, "but I won't give him up. He's taken a sort of grip on my heart. I've always been

"Don't let him be killed!" cried Elnora. During their talk Billy had wandered to the edge of the walk and

barely escaped the wheels of a passing automobile in an effort to catch a stray kitten that seemed in danger.

Wesley drew Billy back to the walk, and held his hand closely. "Are you ready, Elnora?"

"No, I bought this for mother. I've had such splendid luck selling my specimens, I didn't feel right about

keeping all the money for myself, so I saved enough from the Indian relics to get a few things I wanted. I

would have liked to have gotten her a dress, but I didn't dare, so I compromised on a book."

"Well," said she, "I have noticed mother always seemed interested in anything Mark Twain wrote in the

newspapers, and I thought it would cheer her up a little, so I just got his `Innocents Abroad.' I haven't read it

myself, but I've seen mention made of it all my life, and the critics say it's genuine fun."

"Good!" cried Sinton. "Good! You've made a splendid choice. It will take her mind off herself a lot. But she

"Of course," assented Elnora. "But, possibly she will read it, and feel better. I'm going to serve her a trick. I

am going to hide it until Monday, and set it on her little shelf of books the last thing before I go away. She

must have all of them by heart. When, she sees a new one she can't help being glad, for she loves to read, and

if she has all day to become interested, maybe she'll like it so she won't scold so much."

"We are both in for it, but I guess we are prepared. I don't know what Margaret will say, but I'm going to take

Elnora had doubts, but she did not say anything more. When they started home Billy sat on the front seat. He

drove with the hitching strap tied to the railing of the dashboard, flourished the whip, and yelled with

delight. At first Sinton laughed with him, but by the time he left Elnora with several packages at her gate, he

Margaret was at the door as they drove up the lane. Wesley left Billy in the carriage, hitched the horses and

went to explain to her. He had not reached her before she cried, "Look, Wesley, that child! You'll have a

Wesley looked and ran. Billy was standing in the carriage slashing the mettlesome horses with the whip.

He did make them go. They took the hitching post and a few fence palings, which scraped the paint from a

wheel. Sinton missed the lines at the first effort, but the dragging post impeded the horses, and he soon

caught them. He led them to the barn, and ordered Billy to remain in the carriage while he unhitched. Then

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 58

"You run play a few minutes, Billy," he said. "I want to talk to the nice lady."

"He is a young gentleman who has been stopping Elnora and eating her lunch every day, part of the time with

the assistance of his brother and sister, while our girl went hungry. Brownlee told me about it at the store. It's

happened three days running. The first time she went without anything, the second time Brownlee's girl took

her to lunch, and the third a crowd of high school girls bought a lot of stuff and met them at the bridge. The

youngsters seemed to think they could rob her every day, so I went to see their father about having it

"Hyena," corrected Wesley gravely, "and another boy and a girl, all equally dirty and hungry. The man was

dead. They thought he was in a drunken sleep, but he was stone dead. I brought the little boy with me, and

sent the officers and other help to the house. He's half starved. I want to wash him, and put clean clothes on

"Well, I don't know a better place to put it. Have you got any hot water? I'll use this tub at the cistern. Please

Instead Margaret pushed by him with a shriek. Billy had played by producing a cord from his pocket, and

having tied the tails of Margaret's white kittens together, he had climbed on a box and hung them across the

clothes line. Wild with fright the kittens were clawing each other to death, and the air was white with fur. The

string had twisted and the frightened creatures could not recognize friends. Margaret stepped back with

bleeding hands. Sinton cut the cord with his knife and the poor little cats raced under the house bleeding and

"You said I could have fried chicken for supper," he wailed. "You said she was a nice lady!"

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 59

Wesley lifted him and something in his manner of handling the child infuriated Margaret. His touch was so

gentle. She reached for Billy and gripped his shirt collar in the back. Wesley's hand closed over hers.

"Oh, they might be from bruises made by fists or boot toes, or they might be bad blood, from wrong eating,

Margaret compromised on pieces of old tablecloth. Wesley led Billy to the cistern, pumped cold water into

the tub, poured in a kettle of hot, and beginning at the head scoured him. The boy shut his little teeth, and said

never a word though he twisted occasionally when the soap struck a raw spot. Margaret watched the process

from the window in amazed and everincreasing anger. Where did Wesley learn it? How could his big hands

Margaret handed him the bottle. Wesley took a cup, weakened the drug and said to Billy: "Man, these sores

on you must be healed. Then you must eat the kind of food that's fit for little men. I am going to put some

medicine on you, and it is going to sting like fire. If it just runs off, I won't use any more. If it boils, there is

poison in these places, and they must be tied up, dosed every day, and you must be washed, and kept mighty

"I think the one on my leg is the worst," said the undaunted Billy, holding out a raw place. Sinton poured on

"Gee, look at it boil!" he cried. "I guess they's poison. You'll have to do it to all of them."

Wesley's teeth were set, as he watched the boy's face. He poured the drug, strong enough to do effective

work, on a dozen places over that little body and bandaged all he could. Billy's lips quivered at times, and his

chin jumped, but he did not shed a tear or utter a sound other than to take a deep interest in the boiling. As

Wesley put the small shirt on the boy, and fastened the trousers, he was ready to reset the hitching post and

"Yes, you are clean outside," said Wesley. "There is some dirty blood in your body, and some bad words in

your mouth, that we have to get out, but that takes time. If we put right things to eat into your stomach that

will do away with the sores, and if you know that I don't like bad words you won't say them any oftener than

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 60

"My, I'm purty goodlooking, ain't I?" bragged Billy. Then as Wesley stooped to set him on the floor Billy's

lips passed close to the big man's ear and hastily whispered a vehement "No!" as he ran for the door.

"Sure!" said Wesley. "That's what I brought him for. It's likely he never had a good square meal of decent

Margaret arose deliberately, removed the white cloth from the supper table and substituted an old red one she

used to wrap the bread. She put away the pretty dishes they commonly used and set the table with old plates

for pies and kitchen utensils. But she fried the chicken, and was generous with milk and honey, snowy bread,

Wesley repainted the scratched wheel. He mended the fence, with Billy holding the nails and handing the

pickets. Then he filled the old hole, digged a new one and set the hitching post.

Billy hopped on one foot at his task of holding the post steady as the earth was packed around it. There was

Sinton threw in stones and pounded the earth solid around the post. The sound of a gulping sob attracted him

to Billy. The tears were rolling down his cheeks. "If I'd a knowed you'd have to get down in a hole, and work

"Never you mind, Billy," said Wesley. "You will know next time, so you can think over it, and make up your

Wesley went to the barn to put away the tools. He thought Billy was at his heels, but the boy lagged on the

way. A big snowy turkey gobbler resented the small intruder in his especial preserves, and with spread tail

and dragging wings came toward him threateningly. If that turkey gobbler had known the sort of things with

which Billy was accustomed to holding his own, he never would have issued the challenge. Billy accepted

instantly. He danced around with stiff arms at his sides and imitated the gobbler. Then came his opportunity,

and he jumped on the big turkey's back. Wesley heard Margaret's scream in time to see the flying leap and

admire its dexterity. The turkey tucked its tail and scampered. Billy slid from its back and as he fell he

clutched wildly, caught the folded tail, and instinctively clung to it. The turkey gave one scream and relaxed

its muscles. Then it fled in disfigured defeat to the haystack. Billy scrambled to his feet holding the tail, while

"Why, the blasted old thing came off!" he said to Wesley, holding out the tail in amazed wonder.

The man, caught suddenly, forgot everything and roared. Seeing which, Billy thought a turkey tail of no

account and flung that one high above him shouting in wild childish laughter, when the feathers scattered and

Margaret, watching, began to cry. Wesley had gone mad. For the first time in her married life she wanted to

tell her mother. When Wesley had waited until he was so hungry he could wait no longer he invaded the

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 61

kitchen to find a cooked supper baking on the back of the stove, while Margaret with red eyes nursed a pair

"I supposed it would take you even longer than this to fix things decent again. As for my turkey, and my poor

"I am mighty sorry about them, Margaret, you know that. Billy is very bright, and he will soon learn"

"Soon learn!" cried Margaret. "Wesley Sinton, you don't mean to say that you think of keeping that creature

Margaret set the supper on the table. Seeing the old red cloth Wesley stared in amazement. Then he

"Ain't that pretty?" he exulted. "I wish Jimmy and Belle could see. We, why we ist eat out of our hands or off

a old dry goods box, and when we fix up a lot, we have newspaper. We ain't ever had a nice red cloth like

Wesley looked straight at Margaret, so intently that she turned away, her face flushing. He stacked the

dictionary and the geography of the world on a chair, and lifted Billy beside him. He heaped a plate

generously, cut the food, put a fork into Billy's little fist, and made him eat slowly and properly. Billy did his

best. Occasionally greed overcame him, and he used his left hand to pop a bite into his mouth with his

fingers. These lapses Wesley patiently overlooked, and went on with his general instructions. Luckily Billy

did not spill anything on his clothing or the cloth. After supper Wesley took him to the barn while he finished

the night work. Then he went and sat beside Margaret on the front porch. Billy appropriated the hammock,

and swung by pulling a rope tied around a tree. The very energy with which he went at the work of swinging

"Mercy, but he's an active little body," he said. "There isn't a lazy bone in him. See how he works to pay for

"There goes his foot through it!" cried Margaret. "Wesley, he shall not ruin my hammock."

Thereupon he explained to Billy that ladies wearing beautiful white dresses sat in hammocks, so little boys

must not put their dusty feet in them. Billy immediately sat, and allowed his feet to swing.

"Margaret," said Wesley after a long silence on the porch, "isn't it true that if Billy had been a halfstarved

sore cat, dog, or animal of any sort, that you would have pitied, and helped care for it, and been glad to see

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 62

"Billy is not a beast!" said Wesley hotly. "He is a very dear little boy. Margaret, you've always done the

churchgoing and Bible reading for this family. How do you reconcile that `Suffer little children to come

Margaret arose. "I haven't treated that child. I have only let him alone. I can barely hold myself. He needs the

"If you'd cared to look at his body, you'd know that you couldn't find a place to strike without cutting into a

raw spot," said Wesley. "Besides, Billy has not done a thing for which a child should be punished. He is only

full of life, no training, and with a boy's love of mischief. He did abuse your kittens, but an hour before I saw

him risk his life to save one from being run over. He minds what you tell him, and doesn't do anything he is

told not to. He thinks of his brother and sister right away when anything pleases him. He took that stinging

medicine with the grit of a bulldog. He is just a bully little chap, and I love him."

Sinton sat still. At last Billy tired of the swing, came to him and leaned his slight body against the big knee.

Billy swung his feet as he laid across Wesley's knee. "Come on," said Wesley, "I must clean you up for bed."

"You have to be just awful clean here," announced Billy. "I like to be clean, you feel so good, after the hurt is

Sinton registered that remark, and worked with especial tenderness as he redressed the ailing places and

"Oh, I can sleep ist any place," said Billy. "On the floor or anywhere. Home, I sleep on pa's coat on a store

box, and Jimmy and Belle they sleep on the storebox, too. "I sleep between them, so's I don't roll off and

Wesley arose and opened a folding lounge. Then he brought an armload of clean horse blankets from a closet.

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 63

"These don't look like the nice white bed a little boy should have, Billy," he said, "but we'll make them do.

Billy took a long leap for the lounge. When he found it bounced, he proceeded to bounce, until he was tired.

By that time the blankets had to be refolded. Wesley had Billy take one end and help, while both of them

seemed to enjoy the job. Then Billy lay down and curled up in his clothes like a small dog. But sleep would

Finally he sat up. He stared around restlessly. Then he arose, went to Wesley, and leaned against his knee. He

picked up the boy and folded his arms around him. Billy sighed in rapturous content.

"That bed feels so lost like," he said. "Jimmy always jabbed me on one side, and Belle on the other, and so I

"They are with kind people who gave them a fine supper, a clean bed, and will always take good care of

"I wisht I was" Billy hesitated and looked earnestly at Wesley. "I mean I wish they was here."

"My, but she made you nice!" said Billy. "I just love you. I wisht she'd take Jimmy and Belle and make them

"She isn't strong enough to do that, Billy. They will grow into a good boy and girl where they are."

Billy slid from Wesley's arms and walked toward Margaret until he reached the middle of the room. Then he

stopped, and at last sat on the floor. Finally he lay down and closed his eyes. "This feels more like my bed; if

only Jimmy and Belle was here to crowd up a little, so it wasn't so alone like."

Billy moved restlessly. "Seems likeseems like toward night as if a body got kind o' lonesome for a woman

Billy indicated Margaret and then closed his eyes so tight his small face wrinkled.

Soon he was up again. "Wisht I had Snap," he said. "Oh, I ist wisht I had Snap!"

"We did!" cried Billy"oh, you ought to heard him squeal!" Billy laughed loudly, then his face clouded.

"But I want Snap to lay beside me so bad nowthat if he was here I'd give him a piece of my chicken, 'for, I

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 64

"Would she?" Billy indicated Margaret. And then he answered his own question. "But of course, she

wouldn't, cos she likes cats, and dogs chases cats. Oh, dear, I thought for a minute maybe Snap could come

"Sometimes it does. It did not hurt your father, Billy. It came softly while he was asleep."

"I kind o' wisht he wasn't dead!" said Billy. "'Course I like to stay with you, and the fried chicken, and the

nice soft bed, andand everything, and I like to be clean, but he took us to the show, and he got us gum, and

Billy drew a deep breath, and tightly closed his eyes. But very soon they opened. Then he sat up. He looked

at Wesley pitifully, and then he glanced at Margaret. "You don't like boys, do you?" he questioned.

Billy was at her knee instantly. "Well say, I'm a good boy!" he announced joyously.

"I do not think boys who hurt helpless kittens and pull out turkeys' tails are good boys."

"Yes, but I didn't hurt the kittens," explained Billy. "They got mad 'bout ist a little fun and scratched each

other. I didn't s'pose they'd act like that. And I didn't pull the turkey's tail. I ist held on to the first thing I

grabbed, and the turkey pulled. Honest, it was the turkey pulled." He turned to Wesley. "You tell her! Didn't

Billy stared into Margaret's cold face. "Sometimes at night, Belle sits on the floor, and I lay my head in her

lap. I could pull up a chair and lay my head in your lap. Like this, I mean." Billy pulled up a chair, climbed

on it and laid his head on Margaret's lap. Then he shut his eyes again. Margaret could have looked little more

"My, but your lap is hard," he said. "And you are a good deal fatter 'an Belle, too!" He slid from the chair and

"Oh but I wisht he wasn't dead!" he cried. The flood broke and Billy screamed in desperation.

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 65

Out of the night a soft, warm young figure flashed through the door and with a swoop caught him in her arms.

She dropped into a chair, nestled him closely, drooped her fragrant brown head over his little bulleteyed red

"Billy, boy, where have you been? Oh, I have been to seek a wife, She's the joy of my life, But then she's a

Billy clung to her frantically. Elnora wiped his eyes, kissed his face, swayed and sang.

"I don't know," said Billy. "I tried. I tried awful hard cos I thought he wanted me to, but it ist wouldn't come.

"Maybe he can't sleep in his clothes," suggested Elnora. "Haven't you an old dressing sacque? I could roll the

Margaret got an old sacque, and Elnora put it on Billy. Then she brought a basin of water and bathed his face

Billy was wide awake again. "It didn't hurt my pa," he boasted; "he ist died while he was asleep. He didn't

"I am glad of that," said Elnora, pressing the small head against her breast again.

Billy escaped her hand and sat up. "I guess I won't go to sleep," he said. "It might `come softly' and get me."

"It won't get you, Billy," said Elnora, rocking and singing between sentences. "It doesn't get little boys. It just

"Yes," said Elnora. "He had a dreadful sickness inside him that burned, and made him drink things. That was

why he would forget his little boys and girl. If he had been well, he would have gotten you good things to eat,

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 66

"Yes, I would," said Elnora, gripping him closer until Billy almost squealed with the embrace.

"Yes, bushels and bushels," said Elnora. "Better than any little boy in the whole world."

Billy looked at Margaret. "She don't!" he said. "She'd be glad if it would get me `softly,' right now. She don't

"Every single day you will give me your dinner for the bologna, won't you," said Billy.

"Yes, I will," replied Elnora. "But you will have as good lunch as I do after this. You will have milk, eggs,

Billy shook his head. "I am going back home soon as it is light," he said, "she don't want me. She thinks I'm a

bad boy. She's going to whip meif he lets her. She said so. I heard her. Oh, I wish he hadn't died! I want to

Mrs. Comstock had started to walk slowly to meet Elnora. The girl had been so late that her mother reached

the Sinton gate and followed the path until the picture inside became visible. Elnora had told her about

Wesley taking Billy home. Mrs. Comstock had some curiosity to see how Margaret bore the unexpected

addition to her family. Billy's voice, raised with excitement, was plainly audible. She could see Elnora

holding him, and hear his excited wail. Wesley's face was drawn and haggard, and Margaret's set and defiant.

"Hoity, toity!" she said as she suddenly appeared in the door. "Blest if I ever heard a man making sounds like

Billy ceased suddenly. Mrs. Comstock was tall, angular, and her hair was prematurely white. She was only

thirtysix, although she appeared fifty. But there was an expression on her usually cold face that was

"Have I stayed too late, mother?" asked Elnora anxiously. "I truly intended to come straight back, but I

thought I could rock Billy to sleep first. Everything is strange, and he's so nervous."

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 67

"My mother didn't love me," said Billy. "She went away and left me, and never came back. She don't care

what happens to me. You wouldn't go away and leave your little girl, would you?" questioned Billy.

"If there is anything I love it is a boy," said Mrs. Comstock assuringly. Billy was on the floor.

"Yes. Almost as well as boys. I am going to buy a dog as soon as I can find a good one."

"Sure I would," triumphed Mrs. Comstock. "Any one would like to have you. You are just a real boy, Billy."

"Mother!" breathed Elnora imploringly. "Don't! Oh, don't! He thinks you mean it!"

"And so I do mean it," said Mrs. Comstock. "I'll take him in a jiffy. I throw away enough to feed a little tyke

like him every day. His chatter would be great company while you are gone. Blood soon can be purified with

right food and baths, and as for Snap, I meant to buy a bulldog, but possibly Snap will serve just as well. All I

ask of a dog is to bark at the right time. I'll do the rest. Would you like to come and be my boy, Billy?"

Billy leaned against Mrs. Comstock, reached his arms around her neck and gripped her with all his puny

Mrs. Comstock held him closely and her hard face was softening; of that there could be no doubt.

"Now, why would any one whip a nice little boy like you?" she asked wonderingly.

"She"Billy from his refuge waved toward Margaret "she was going to whip me 'cause her cats fought,

when I tied their tails together and hung them over the line to dry. How did I know her old cats would fight?"

Mrs. Comstock began to laugh suddenly, and try as she would she could not stop so soon as she desired. Billy

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 68

"Yes, flocks of them," said Mrs. Comstock, vainly struggling to suppress her mirth, and settle her face in its

"Hers ain't!" said Billy with the wave toward Margaret that was becoming familiar. "Her turkey pulled, and

its tail comed right off. She's going to whip me if he lets her. I didn't know the turkey would pull. I didn't

"Of course, you won't," said Mrs. Comstock. "And what's more, I don't care if you do! I'd rather have a fine

little man like you than all the turkeys in the country. Let them lose their old tails if they want to, and let the

cats fight. Cats and turkeys don't compare with boys, who are going to be fine big men some of these days."

Then Billy and Mrs. Comstock hugged each other rapturously, while their audience stared in silent

"You like boys!" exulted Billy, and his head dropped against Mrs. Comstock in unspeakable content.

"Yes, and if I don't have to carry you the whole way home, we must start right now," said Mrs. Comstock.

"All right, we must start. Come, Elnora! Goodnight, folks!" Mrs. Comstock set Billy on the floor, and arose

gripping his hand. "You take the other side, Elnora, and we will help him as much as we can," she said.

Elnora stared piteously at Margaret, then at Wesley, and arose in whitefaced bewilderment.

"Billy, are you going to leave without even saying good bye to me?" asked Wesley, with a gulp.

Mrs. Comstock started toward the door, dragging at Billy while Elnora pulled back, but Mrs. Sinton was

"I ain't in the lunatic asylum, where you belong, anyway,"said Mrs. Comstock. "I am smart enough to tell a

dandy boy when I see him, and I'm good and glad to get him. I'll love to have him!"

"Well, you won't have him!" exclaimed Margaret Sinton. "That boy is Wesley's! He found him, and brought

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 69

"Not much, I won't!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "Leave the poor sick little soul here for you to beat, because he

didn't know just how to handle things! Of course, he'll make mistakes. He must have a lot of teaching, but not

"Why? Do you want to whip him, before he can go to sleep?" jeered Mrs. Comstock.

"No, I don't!" said Margaret. "He's Wesley's, and nobody shall touch him. Wesley!"

Wesley Sinton appeared behind Margaret in the doorway, and she turned to him. "Make Kate Comstock let

"Billy, she wants you now," said Wesley Sinton. "She won't whip you, and she won't let any one else. You

can have stacks of good things to eat, ride in the carriage, and have a great time. Won't you stay with us?"

He faced Margaret, his eyes shrewd with unchildish wisdom. Necessity had taught him to strike the hot iron,

Out in the night Elnora and her mother went down the road in the moonlight; every few rods Mrs. Comstock

"Well, maybe when you have gone to high school longer you will," said Mrs. Comstock. "Anyway, you saw

"Yes, I did," answered Elnora, "but I thought you were in earnest. So did Billy, and Uncle Wesley, and Aunt

CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE 70

Elnora took her candle and went to bed. Mrs. Comstock was feeling too good to sleep. Twice of late she

really had enjoyed herself for the first in sixteen years, and greediness for more of the same feeling crept into

her blood like intoxication. As she sat brooding alone she knew the truth. She would have loved to have taken

Billy. She would not have minded his mischief, his chatter, or his dog. He would have meant a distraction

from herself that she greatly needed; she was even sincere about the dog. She had intended to tell Wesley to

buy her one at the very first opportunity. Her last thought was of Billy. She chuckled softly, for she was not

saintly, and now she knew how she could even a long score with Margaret and Wesley in a manner that

Immediately after dinner on Sunday Wesley Sinton stopped at the Comstock gate to ask if Elnora wanted to

go to town with them. Billy sat beside him and he did not appear as if he were on his way to a funeral. Elnora

said she had to study and could not go, but she suggested that her mother take her place. Mrs. Comstock put

on her hat and went at once, which surprised Elnora. She did not know that her mother was anxious for an

opportunity to speak with Sinton alone. Elnora knew why she was repeatedly cautioned not to leave their

She studied two hours and was several lessons ahead of her classes. There was no use to go further. She

would take a walk and see if she could gather any caterpillars or find any freshly spun cocoons. She searched

the bushes and low trees behind the garden and all around the edge of the woods on their land, and having

little success, at last came to the road. Almost the first thorn bush she examined yielded a Polyphemus

cocoon. Elnora lifted her head with the instinct of a hunter on the chase, and began work. She reached the

swamp before she knew it, carrying five fine cocoons of different species as her reward. She pushed back her

hair and gazed around longingly. A few rods inside she thought she saw cocoons on a bush, to which she

went, and found several. Sense of caution was rapidly vanishing; she was in a fair way to forget everything

and plunge into the swamp when she thought she heard footsteps coming down the trail. She went back, and

That ended her difficulty. She had known him since childhood. When she sat on the front bench of the

Brushwood schoolhouse, Pete had been one of the big boys at the back of the room. He had been rough and

wild, but she never had been afraid of him, and often he had given her pretty things from the swamp.

"What luck!" she cried. "I promised mother I would not go inside the swamp alone, and will you look at the

cocoons I've found! There are more just screaming for me to come get them, because the leaves will fall with

the first frost, and then the jays and crows will begin to tear them open. I haven't much time, since I'm going

"They are the cases these big caterpillars spin for winter, and in the spring they come out great night moths,

and I can sell them. Oh, Pete, I can sell them for enough to take me through high school and dress me so like

the others that I don't look different, and if I have very good luck I can save some for college. Pete, please go

CHAPTER VIII. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST TEMPTS ELNORA, AND BILLY BURIES HIS FATHER 71

"Well, the truth is, I had a little scare," said Elnora. "I never did mean to go alone; sometimes I sort of

wandered inside farther than I intended, chasing things. You know Duncan gave me Freckles's books, and I

have been gathering moths like he did. Lately I found I could sell them. If I can make a complete collection, I

can get three hundred dollars for it. Three such collections would take me almost through college, and I've

"No, not all of them, but when I get more than I need of one kind, I can trade them with collectors farther

north and west, so I can complete sets. It's the only way I see to earn the money. Look what I have already.

Big gray Cecropias come from this kind; brown Polyphemus from that, and green Lunas from these. You

The man looked at her narrowly. She was young, wholesome, and beautiful. She was innocent, intensely in

"Oh, I thought I did! Why you know I had Freckles's box packed full of moths and specimens, and one

evening I sold some to the Bird Woman. Next morning I found a note telling me it wasn't safe to go inside the

swamp. That sort of scared me. I think I'll go alone, rather than miss the chance, but I'd be so happy if you

would take care of me. Then I could go anywhere I chose, because if I mired you could pull me out. You will

"Goody!" said Elnora. "Let's start quick! And Pete, you look at these closely, and when you are hunting or

going along the road, if one dangles under your nose, you cut off the little twig and save it for me, will you?"

"Yes, I'll save you all I see," promised Pete. He pushed back his hat and followed Elnora. She plunged

fearlessly among bushes, over underbrush, and across dead logs. One minute she was crying wildly, that here

was a big one, the next she was reaching for a limb above her head or on her knees overturning dead leaves

under a hickory or oak tree, or working aside black muck with her bare hands as she searched for buried

pupae cases. For the first hour Pete bent back bushes and followed, carrying what Elnora discovered. Then he

"Is this the kind of thing you are looking for?" he asked bashfully, as he presented a wild cherry twig.

"Almost black wings," said Elnora, "with claycoloured edges, and the most wonderful winecoloured flush

over the under side if it's a male, and stronger wine above and below if it's a female. Oh, aren't I happy!"

"How would it do to make what you have into a bunch that we could leave here, and come back for them?"

CHAPTER VIII. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST TEMPTS ELNORA, AND BILLY BURIES HIS FATHER 72

Relieved of his load Pete began work. First, he narrowly examined the cocoons Elnora had found. He

questioned her as to what other kinds would be like. He began to use the eyes of a trained woodman and

hunter in her behalf. He saw several so easily, and moved through the forest so softly, that Elnora forgot the

moths in watching him. Presently she was carrying the specimens, and he was making the trips of

investigation to see which was a cocoon and which a curled leaf, or he was on his knees digging around

stumps. As he worked he kept asking questions. What kind of logs were best to look beside, what trees were

pupae cases most likely to be under; on what bushes did caterpillars spin most frequently? Time passed, as it

When the Sintons took Mrs. Comstock home, they stopped to see Elnora. She was not there. Mrs. Comstock

called at the edge of her woods and received no reply. Then Wesley turned and drove back to the Limberlost.

He left Margaret and Mrs. Comstock holding the team and entertaining Billy, while he entered the swamp.

Elnora and Pete had made a wide trail behind them. Before Sinton had thought of calling, he heard voices and

approached with some caution. Soon he saw Elnora, her flushed face beaming as she bent with an armload of

"Now go cautiously!" she was saying. "I am just sure we will find an Imperialis here. It's their very kind of a

place. There! What did I tell you! Isn't that splendid? Oh, I am so glad you came with me!"

Wesley stood staring in speechless astonishment, for the man had arisen, brushed the dirt from his hands, and

held out to Elnora a small shining dark pupa case. As his face came into view Sinton almost cried out, for he

was the one man of all others Wesley knew with whom he most feared for Elnora's safety. She had him on his

"Oh, Uncle Wesley!" cried the girl. "See what luck we've had! I know we have a dozen and a half cocoons

and we have three pupae cases. It's much harder to get the cases because you have to dig for them, and you

can't see where to look. But Pete is fine at it! He's found three, and he says he will keep watch beside the

roads, and through the woods while he hunts. Isn't that splendid of him? Uncle Wesley, there is a college over

there on the western edge of the swamp. Look closely, and you can see the great dome up among the clouds."

"I should say you have had luck," said Wesley, striving to make his voice natural. "But I thought you were

"Well, I wasn't," said Elnora, "but I couldn't find many anywhere else, honest, I couldn't, and just as soon as I

came to the edge I began to see them here. I kept my promise. I didn't come in alone. Pete came with me.

He's so strong, he isn't afraid of anything, and he's perfectly splendid to locate cocoons! He's found half of

They started toward the trail, Pete carrying the cocoons. He left them at the case, while Elnora and Wesley

"It's all right, one of the neighbours was with her, and she got several dollars' worth of stuff," interposed

"You oughter seen my pa," shouted Billy. "He was ist all whited out, and he laid as still as anything. They put

CHAPTER VIII. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST TEMPTS ELNORA, AND BILLY BURIES HIS FATHER 73

"Jimmy and Belle are going to be together in a nice place. They are coming to see me, and Snap is right down

here by the wheel. Here, Snap! My, but he'll be tickled to get something to eat! He's 'most twisted as me.

They get new clothes, and all they want to eat, too, but they'll miss me. They couldn't have got along without

me. I took care of them. I had a lot of things give to me 'cause I was the littlest, and I always divided with

When she left the carriage Mrs. Comstock gravely shook hands with Billy. "Remember," she said to him, "I

love boys, and I love dogs. Whenever you don't have a good time up there, take your dog and come right

down and be my little boy. We will just have loads of fun. You should hear the whistles I can make. If you

"How could I, missy? You better ask how couldn't I? I just couldn't! Not for enough to pay, my road tax! Not

"Aunt Margaret always has been lovely to me, and I don't think it's fair to worry her."

"I choose to be lovely to Billy, and let her sweat out her own worries just as she has me, these sixteen years.

There is nothing in all this world so good for people as taking a dose of their own medicine. The difference is

that I am honest. I just say in plain English, `if they don't treat you right, come to me.' They have only said it

in actions and inferences. I want to teach Mag Sinton how her own doses taste, but she begins to sputter

"Well, thank goodness, I don't owe her anything, and so I'm perfectly free to do what I choose. Come on, and

Margaret Sinton rocked slowly back and forth in her chair. On her breast lay Billy's red head, one hand

"You mustn't begin that, Margaret," said Sinton. "He's too heavy. And it's bad for him. He's better off to lie

"He's very light, Wesley. He jumps and quivers so. He has to be stronger than he is now, before he will sleep

Elnora missed the little figure at the bridge the following morning. She slowly walked up the street and

turned in at the wide entrance to the school grounds. She scarcely could comprehend that only a week ago she

had gone there friendless, alone, and so sick at heart that she was physically ill. Today she had decent

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 74

As she approached home that night the girl paused in amazement. Her mother had company, and she was

laughing. Elnora entered the kitchen softly and peeped into the sittingroom. Mrs. Comstock sat in her chair

holding a book and every few seconds a soft chuckle broke into a real laugh. Mark Twain was doing his

work; while Mrs. Comstock was not lacking in a sense of humour. Elnora entered the room before her mother

"I paid for it out of my Indian money, mother," said Elnora. "I couldn't bear to spend so much on myself and

nothing at all on you. I was afraid to buy the dress I should have liked to, and I thought the book would be

"Good! It's the biggest piece of foolishness I have read in all my life. I've laughed all day, ever since I found

it. I had a notion to go out and read some of it to the cows and see if they wouldn't laugh."

"Wise!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "You can stake your life it's a wise book. It takes the smartest man there is to

Elnora, highly satisfied with her purchase, went to her room and put on her working clothes. Thereafter she

made a point of bringing a book that she thought would interest her mother, from the library every week, and

leaving it on the sittingroom table. Each night she carried home at least two school books and studied until

she had mastered the points of her lessons. She did her share of the work faithfully, and every available

minute she was in the fields searching for cocoons, for the moths promised to become her largest source of

She gathered baskets of nests, flowers, mosses, insects, and all sorts of natural history specimens and sold

them to the grade teachers. At first she tried to tell these instructors what to teach their pupils about the

specimens; but recognizing how much more she knew than they, one after another begged her to study at

home, and use her spare hours in school to exhibit and explain nature subjects to their pupils. Elnora loved

the work, and she needed the money, for every few days some matter of expense arose that she had not

From the first week she had been received and invited with the crowd of girls in her class, and it was their

custom in passing through the business part of the city to stop at the confectioners' and take turns in treating

to expensive candies, ice cream sodas, hot chocolate, or whatever they fancied. When first Elnora was asked

she accepted without understanding. The second time she went because she seldom had tasted these things,

and they were so delicious she could not resist. After that she went because she knew all about it, and had

She had spent half an hour on the log beside the trail in deep thought and had arrived at her conclusions. She

worked harder than usual for the next week, but she seemed to thrive on work. It was October and the red

leaves were falling when her first time came to treat. As the crowd flocked down the broad walk that night

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 75

She led the way through the city to the grocery they patronized when they had a small spread, and entering

came out with a basket, which she carried to the bridge on her home road. There she arranged the girls in two

rows on the cement abutments and opening her basket she gravely offered each girl an exquisite little basket

of bark, lined with red leaves, in one end of which nestled a juicy big red apple and in the other a spicy

Another time she offered big balls of popped corn stuck together with maple sugar, and liberally sprinkled

with beechnut kernels. Again it was hickorynut kernels glazed with sugar, another time maple candy, and

once a basket of warm pumpkin pies. She never made any apology, or offered any excuse. She simply gave

what she could afford, and the change was as welcome to those city girls accustomed to sodas and French

candy, as were these same things to Elnora surfeited on popcorn and pie. In her room was a little slip

containing a record of the number of weeks in the school year, the times it would be her turn to treat and the

dates on which such occasions would fall, with a number of suggestions beside each. Once the girls almost

fought over a basket lined with yellow leaves, and filled with fat, very ripe red haws. In late October there

was a riot over one which was lined with red leaves and contained big fragrant pawpaws frostbitten to a

perfect degree. Then hazel nuts were ripe, and once they served. One day Elnora at her wits' end, explained to

her mother that the girls had given her things and she wanted to treat them. Mrs. Comstock, with

characteristic stubbornness, had said she would leave a basket at the grocery for her, but firmly declined to

say what would be in it. All day Elnora struggled to keep her mind on her books. For hours she wavered in

tense uncertainty. What would her mother do? Should she take the girls to the confectioner's that night or risk

As they left the building Elnora made a final rapid mental calculation. She could not see her way clear to a

decent treat for ten people for less than two dollars and if the basket proved to be nice, then the money would

be wasted. She decided to risk it. As they went to the bridge the girls were betting on what the treat would be,

and crowding near Elnora like spoiled small children. Elnora set down the basket.

"Girls," she said, "I don't know what this is myself, so all of us are going to be surprised. Here goes!"

She lifted the cover and perfumes from the land of spices rolled up. In one end of the basket lay ten enormous

sugar cakes the tops of which had been liberally dotted with circles cut from stick candy. The candy had

melted in baking and made small transparent wells of waxy sweetness and in the centre of each cake was a fat

turtle made from a raisin with cloves for head and feet. The remainder of the basket was filled with big spiced

pears that could be held by their stems while they were eaten. The girls shrieked and attacked the cookies,

and of all the treats Elnora offered perhaps none was quite so long remembered as that.

When Elnora took her basket, placed her books in it, and started home, all the girls went with her as far as the

fence where she crossed the field to the swamp. At parting they kissed her goodbye. Elnora was a happy girl

as she hurried home to thank her mother. She was happy over her books that night, and happy all the way to

When the music swelled from the orchestra her heart almost broke with throbbing joy. For music always had

affected her strangely, and since she had been comfortable enough in her surroundings to notice things, she

had listened to every note to find what it was that literally hurt her heart, and at last she knew. It was the

talking of the violins. They were human voices, and they spoke a language Elnora understood. It seemed to

her that she must climb up on the stage, take the instruments from the fingers of the players and make them

That night she said to her mother, "I am perfectly crazy for a violin. I am sure I could play one, sure as I live.

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 76

"Hush!" thundered Mrs. Comstock. "Be quiet! Never mention those things before me againnever as long

as you live! I loathe them! They are a snare of the very devil himself! They were made to lure men and

women from their homes and their honour. If ever I see you with one in your fingers I will smash it in

Naturally Elnora hushed, but she thought of nothing else after she had finished her lessons. At last there came

a day when for some reason the leader of the orchestra left his violin on the grand piano. That morning Elnora

made her first mistake in algebra. At noon, as soon as the building was empty, she slipped into the

auditorium, found the side door which led to the stage, and going through the musicians' entrance she took

the violin. She carried it back into the little side room where the orchestra assembled, closed all the doors,

She laid it on her breast, dropped her chin on it and drew the bow softly across the strings. One after another

she tested the open notes. Gradually her stroke ceased to tremble and she drew the bow firmly. Then her

fingers began to fall and softly, slowly she searched up and down those strings for sounds she knew. Standing

in the middle of the floor, she tried over and over. It seemed scarcely a minute before the hall was filled with

the sound of hurrying feet, and she was forced to put away the violin and go to her classes. The next day she

prayed that the violin would be left again, but her petition was not answered. That night when she returned

from the school she made an excuse to go down to see Billy. He was engaged in hulling walnuts by driving

them through holes in a board. His hands were protected by a pair of Margaret's old gloves, but he had

"Me an' the squirrels are laying up our winter stores," he shouted. "Cos the cold is coming, an' the snow an' if

we have any nuts we have to fix 'em now. But I'm ahead, cos Uncle Wesley made me this board, and I can

"Yes, and so's Snap," answered Billy. "You ought to see him make the dirt fly when he gets after a chipmunk.

"Well, me and Snap don't want him up, and I bet you Jimmy and Belle don't, either. I ain't been twisty inside

once since I been here, and I don't want to go away, and Snap don't, either. He told me so."

"Anyway, it's the best Snap can talk, and you get up and do things he wants done. Chipmunks can talk too.

"Billy! When you want a cooky for supper and I don't give it to you it is because you said a wrong word."

"Well, for" Billy clapped his hand over his mouth and stained his face in swipes. "Well, foranything!

Did I go an' forget again! The cookies will get all hard, won't they? I bet you ten dollars I don't say that any

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 77

He espied Wesley and ran to show him a walnut too big to go through the holes, and Elnora and Margaret

They talked of many things for a time and then Elnora said suddenly: "Aunt Margaret, I like music."

"If dogs can't talk, I can make a violin talk," announced Elnora, and then in amazement watched the face of

"They fairly seemed to speak to me in the orchestra. One day the conductor left his in the auditorium, and I

took it, and Aunt Margaret, I can make it do the wind in the swamp, the birds, and the animals. I can make

any sound I ever heard on it. If I had a chance to practise a little, I could make it do the orchestra music, too. I

"Yes, and she seems prejudiced against them. But oh, Aunt Margaret, I never felt so about anything, not even

going to school. I just feel as if I'd die if I didn't have one. I could keep it at school, and practise at noon a

whole hour. Soon they'd ask me to play in the orchestra. I could keep it in the case and practise in the woods

in summer. You'd let me play over here Sunday. Oh, Aunt Margaret, what does one cost? Would it be wicked

for me to take of my money, and buy a very cheap one? I could play on the least expensive one made."

"Oh, no you couldn't! A cheap machine makes cheap music. You got to have a fine fiddle to make it sing. But

there's no sense in your buying one. There isn't a decent reason on earth why you shouldn't have your

"My father's!" cried Elnora. She caught Margaret Sinton by the arm. "My father had a violin! He played it.

"I've never seen a picture of my father. I've never heard his name mentioned. I've never had a scrap that

belonged to him. Was he my father, or am I a charity child like Billy, and so she hates me?"

"She has good pictures of him. Seems she just can't bear to hear him talked about. Of course, he was your

father. They lived right there when you were born. She doesn't dislike you; she merely tries to make herself

think she does. There's no sense in the world in you not having his violin. I've a great notion"

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 78

"I can't tell you, but I will see if they have it yet, and get it if I can. But if your mother finds it out she will

"His hair was red and curled more than yours, and his eyes were blue. He was tall, slim, and the very imp of

mischief. He joked and teased all day until he picked up that violin. Then his head bent over it, and his eyes

got big and earnest. He seemed to listen as if he first heard the notes, and then copied them. Sometimes he

drew the bow trembly, like he wasn't sure it was right, and he might have to try again. He could almost drive

you crazy when he wanted to, and no man that ever lived could make you dance as he could. He made it all

up as he went. He seemed to listen for his dancing music, too. It appeared to come to him; he'd begin to play

and you had to keep time. You couldn't be still; he loved to sweep a crowd around with that bow of his. I

think it was the thing you call inspiration. I can see him now, his handsome head bent, his cheeks red, his

eyes snapping, and that bow going across the strings, and driving us like sheep. He always kept his body

swinging, and he loved to play. He often slighted his work shamefully, and sometimes her a little; that is why

The tears were rolling down Elnora's cheeks. "Oh, Aunt Margaret," she sobbed. "Why haven't you told me

about him sooner? I feel as if you had given my father to me living, so that I could touch him. I can see him,

"I can't, Elnora! I'm scared silly. I never meant to say anything. If I hadn't promised her not to talk of him to

"Maybe it was that unjust feeling that took possession of her when she couldn't help him from the swamp.

She had to blame some one, or go crazy, so she took it out on you. At times, those first ten years, if I had

talked to you, and you had repeated anything to her, she might have struck you too hard. She was not master

of herself. You must be patient with her, Elnora. God only knows what she has gone through, but I think she

"So do I," said Elnora. "She seems more interested in my clothes, and she fixes me such delicious lunches

that the girls bring fine candies and cake and beg to trade. I gave half my lunch for a box of candy one day,

brought it home to her, and told her. Since, she has wanted me to carry a market basket and treat the crowd

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 79

every day, she was so pleased. Life has been too monotonous for her. I think she enjoys even the little change

made by my going and coming. She sits up half the night to read the library books I bring, but she is so

stubborn she won't even admit that she touches them. Tell me more about my father."

So Elnora went home in suspense, and that night she added to her prayers: "Dear Lord, be merciful to my

Wesley and Billy came in to supper tired and hungry. Billy ate heartily, but his eyes often rested on a plate of

tempting cookies, and when Wesley offered them to the boy he reached for one. Margaret was compelled to

"What!" said Wesley. "Wrong words been coming again. Oh Billy, I do wish you could remember! I can't sit

and eat cookies before a little boy who has none. I'll have to put mine back, too." Billy's face twisted in

"He can't, Billy," said Margaret. "I know how he feels. You see, I can't myself."

Then Billy slid from his chair, ran to the couch, buried his face in the pillow and cried heartbrokenly.

Wesley hurried to the barn, and Margaret to the kitchen. When the dishes were washed Billy slipped from the

Wesley piling hay into the mangers heard a sound behind him and inquired, "That you, Billy?"

Sinton had shared bites of apple and nuts for weeks, for Billy had not learned how to eat anything without

dividing with Jimmy and Belle. Since he had been separated from them, he shared with Wesley and

Margaret. So he bent over the boy and received an instalment of cooky that almost choked him.

"Now you can eat it!" shouted Billy in delight. "It's all dark! I can't see what you're doing at all!"

Wesley picked up the small figure and set the boy on the back of a horse to bring his face level so that they

could talk as men. He never towered from his height above Billy, but always lifted the little soul when

"No. She ain't had hers yet. But I got one for her. Ist as soon as you eat yours, I am going to take hers, and

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 80

"But Billy, where did you get the cookies? You know Aunt Margaret said you were not to have any."

"I ist took them," said Billy, "I didn't take them for me. I ist took them for you and her."

Wesley thought fast. In the warm darkness of the barn the horses crunched their corn, a rat gnawed at a

corner of the granary, and among the rafters the white pigeon cooed a soft sleepy note to his dusky mate.

"No!" he said vehemently. "That is too big a word. You made a mistake. You were trying to be a fine little

man, but you went at it the wrong way. You only made a mistake. All of us do that, Billy. The world grows

that way. When we make mistakes we can see them; that teaches us to be more careful the next time, and so

"If you had told Aunt Margaret what you wanted to do, and asked her for the cookies she would have given

"Lift me down," said Billy, after a silence, "I got to put this in the jar, and tell her."

Wesley set the boy on the floor, but as he did so he paused one second and strained him close to his breast.

Margaret sat in her chair sewing; Billy slipped in and crept beside her. The little face was lined with tragedy.

"Why Billy, whatever is the matter?" she cried as she dropped her sewing and held out her arms. Billy stood

back. He gripped his little fists tight and squared his shoulders. "I got to be shut up in the closet," he said.

"I stold!" gulped Billy. "He said it was ist a mistake, but it was worser 'an that. I took something you told me

"It was for him and you," sobbed Billy. "He said he couldn't eat it 'fore me, but out in the barn it's all dark and

I couldn't see. I thought maybe he could there. Then we might put out the light and you could have yours. He

CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET 81

said I only made it worse, cos I mustn't take things, so I got to go in the closet. Will you hold me tight a little

Margaret opened her arms and Billy rushed in and clung to her a few seconds, with all the force of his being,

then he slipped to the floor and marched to the closet. Margaret opened the door. Billy gave one glance at the

light, clinched his fists and, walking inside, climbed on a box. Margaret closed the door.

Then she sat and listened. Was the air pure enough? Possibly he might smother. She had read something

once. Was it very dark? What if there should be a mouse in the closet and it should run across his foot and

frighten him into spasms. Somewhere she had heard Margaret leaned forward with tense face and listened.

Something dreadful might happen. She could bear it no longer. She arose hurriedly and opened the door.

Billy was drawn up on the box in a little heap, and he lifted a disapproving face to her.

The following night Elnora hurried to Sintons'. She threw open the back door and with anxious eyes searched

"You got it!" panted Elnora. "You got it! I can see by your face that you did. Oh, give it to me!"

"Yes, I got it, honey, I got it all right, but don't be so fast. It had been kept in such a damp place it needed

glueing, it had to have strings, and a key was gone. I knew how much you wanted it, so I sent Wesley right to

town with it. They said they could fix it good as new, but it should be varnished, and that it would take

"Yes, it was just where I thought, and it's the same violin I've seen him play hundreds of times. It's all right,

"It does seem a long time, but how could I help it? You couldn't do anything with it as it was. You see, it had

been hidden away in a garret, and it needed cleaning and drying to make it fit to play again. You can have it

Saturday sure. But Elnora, you've got to promise me that you will leave it here, or in town, and not let your

"Uncle Wesley can bring it here until Monday. Then I will take it to school so that I can practise at noon. Oh,

I don't know how to thank you. And there's more than the violin for which to be thankful. You've given me

"I know I was dreaming, but I saw him. I saw him so closely that a tiny white scar at the corner of his

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 82

"No one ever did in all my life. I saw it last night as he went down. And oh, Aunt Margaret! I saw what she

did, and I heard his cries! No matter what she does, I don't believe I ever can be angry with her again. Her

heart is broken, and she can't help it. Oh, it was terrible, but I am glad I saw it. Now, I will always

"I don't know what to make of that," said Margaret. I don't believe in such stuff at all, but you couldn't make

"I only know that I played the violin last night, as he played it, and while I played he came through the woods

from the direction of Carneys'. It was summer and all the flowers were in bloom. He wore gray trousers and a

blue shirt, his head was bare, and his face was beautiful. I could almost touch him when he sank."

Margaret stood perplexed. "I don't know what to think of that!" she ejaculated. "I was next to the last person

who saw him before he was drowned. It was late on a June afternoon, and he was dressed as you describe. He

was bareheaded because he had found a quail's nest before the bird began to brood, and he gathered the eggs

in his hat and left it in a fence corner to get on his way home; they found it afterward."

"He was on that side of the quagmire. Why he ever skirted it so close as to get caught is a mystery you will

"Because if he had been, he might have cut close the swamp so he couldn't be seen from the garden. You

know, the whole path straight to the pool where he sank can be seen from our back door. It's firm on our side.

The danger is on the north and east. If he didn't want mother to know, he might have tried to pass on either of

"Yes, he was," said Margaret. "He had been away longer than he expected, and he almost ran when he started

"And he'd left his violin somewhere that you knew, and you went and got it. I'll wager he was going to play,

"It wouldn't make any difference to you if you knew every little thing, so quit thinking about it, and just be

glad you are to have what he loved best of anything." "That's true. Now I must hurry home. I am dreadfully

Elnora sprang up and ran down the road, but when she approached the cabin she climbed the fence, crossed

the open woods pasture diagonally and entered at the back garden gate. As she often came that way when she

Elnora lived by the minute until Saturday, when, contrary to his usual custom, Wesley went to town in the

forenoon, taking her along to buy some groceries. Wesley drove straight to the music store, and asked for the

In its new coat of varnish, with new keys and strings, it seemed much like any other violin to Sinton, but to

Elnora it was the most beautiful instrument ever made, and a priceless treasure. She held it in her arms,

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 83

touched the strings softly and then she drew the bow across them in whispering measure. She had no time to

think what a remarkably good bow it was for sixteen years' disuse. The tan leather case might have impressed

her as being in fine condition also, had she been in a state to question anything. She did remember to ask for

the bill and she was gravely presented with a slip calling for four strings, one key, and a coat of varnish, total,

one dollar fifty. It seemed to Elnora she never could put the precious instrument in the case and start home.

Wesley left her in the music store where the proprietor showed her all he could about tuning, and gave her

several beginners' sheets of notes and scales. She carried the violin in her arms as far as the crossroads at the

As soon as her work was done she ran down to Sintons' and began to play, and on Monday the violin went to

school with her. She made arrangements with the superintendent to leave it in his office and scarcely took

time for her food at noon, she was so eager to practise. Often one of the girls asked her to stay in town all

night for some lecture or entertainment. She could take the violin with her, practise, and secure help. Her skill

was so great that the leader of the orchestra offered to give her lessons if she would play to pay for them, so

her progress was rapid in technical work. But from the first day the instrument became hers, with perfect faith

that she could play as her father did, she spent half her practice time in imitating the sounds of all outdoors

So the first year went, and the second and third were a repetition; but the fourth was different, for that was the

close of the course, ending with graduation and all its attendant ceremonies and expenses. To Elnora these

appeared mountain high. She had hoarded every cent, thinking twice before she parted with a penny, but

teaching natural history in the grades had taken time from her studies in school which must be made up

outside. She was a conscientious student, ranking first in most of her classes, and standing high in all

branches. Her interest in her violin had grown with the years. She went to school early and practised half an

hour in the little room adjoining the stage, while the orchestra gathered. She put in a full hour at noon, and

remained another half hour at night. She carried the violin to Sintons' on Saturday and practised all the time

she could there, while Margaret watched the road to see that Mrs. Comstock was not coming. She had

become so skilful that it was a delight to hear her play music of any composer, but when she played her own,

that was joy inexpressible, for then the wind blew, the water rippled, the Limberlost sang her songs of

Since her dream Elnora had regarded her mother with peculiar tenderness. The girl realized, in a measure,

what had happened. She avoided anything that possibly could stir bitter memories or draw deeper a line on

the hard, white face. This cost many sacrifices, much work, and sometimes delayed progress, but the horror

of that awful dream remained with Elnora. She worked her way cheerfully, doing all she could to interest her

mother in things that happened in school, in the city, and by carrying books that were entertaining from the

Three years had changed Elnora from the girl of sixteen to the very verge of womanhood. She had grown tall,

round, and her face had the loveliness of perfect complexion, beautiful eyes and hair and an added touch from

within that might have been called comprehension. It was a compound of selfreliance, hard knocks, heart

hunger, unceasing work, and generosity. There was no form of suffering with which the girl could not

sympathize, no work she was afraid to attempt, no subject she had investigated she did not understand. These

things combined to produce a breadth and depth of character altogether unusual. She was so absorbed in her

classes and her music that she had not been able to gather many specimens. When she realized this and

hunted assiduously, she soon found that changing natural conditions had affected such work. Men all around

were clearing available land. The trees fell wherever corn would grow. The swamp was broken by several

gravel roads, dotted in places around the edge with little frame houses, and the machinery of oil wells; one

especially low place around the region of Freckles's room was nearly all that remained of the original.

Wherever the trees fell the moisture dried, the creeks ceased to flow, the river ran low, and at times the bed

was dry. With unbroken sweep the winds of the west came, gathering force with every mile and howled and

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 84

raved; threatening to tear the shingles from the roof, blowing the surface from the soil in clouds of fine dust

and rapidly changing everything. From coming in with two or three dozen rare moths in a day, in three years'

time Elnora had grown to be delighted with finding two or three. Big pursy caterpillars could not be picked

from their favourite bushes, when there were no bushes. Dragonflies would not hover over dry places, and

butterflies became scarce in proportion to the flowers, while no land yields over three crops of Indian relics.

All the time the expense of books, clothing and incidentals had continued. Elnora added to her bank account

whenever she could, and drew out when she was compelled, but she omitted the important feature of calling

for a balance. So, one early spring morning in the last quarter of the fourth year, she almost fainted when she

learned that her funds were gone. Commencement with its extra expense was coming, she had no money, and

very few cocoons to open in June, which would be too late. She had one collection for the Bird Woman

complete to a pair of Imperialis moths, and that was her only asset. On the day she added these big Yellow

Emperors she had been promised a check for three hundred dollars, but she would not get it until these

specimens were secured. She remembered that she never had found an Emperor before June.

Moreover, that sum was for her first year in college. Then she would be of age, and she meant to sell enough

of her share of her father's land to finish. She knew her mother would oppose her bitterly in that, for Mrs.

Comstock had clung to every acre and tree that belonged to her husband. Her land was almost complete forest

where her neighbours owned cleared farms, dotted with wells that every hour sucked oil from beneath her

holdings, but she was too absorbed in the grief she nursed to know or care. The Brushwood road and the

redredging of the big Limberlost ditch had been more than she could pay from her income, and she had

trembled before the wicket as she asked the banker if she had funds to pay it, and wondered why he laughed

when he assured her she had. For Mrs. Comstock had spent no time on compounding interest, and never

added the sums she had been depositing through nearly twenty years. Now she thought her funds were almost

gone, and every day she worried over expenses. She could see no reason in going through the forms of

graduation when pupils had all in their heads that was required to graduate. Elnora knew she had to have her

diploma in order to enter the college she wanted to attend, but she did not dare utter the word, until high

school was finished, for, instead of softening as she hoped her mother had begun to do, she seemed to remain

When the girl reached the swamp she sat on a log and thought over the expense she was compelled to meet.

Every member of her particular set was having a large photograph taken to exchange with the others. Elnora

loved these girls and boys, and to say she could not have their pictures to keep was more than she could

endure. Each one would give to all the others a handsome graduation present. She knew they would prepare

gifts for her whether she could make a present in return or not. Then it was the custom for each graduating

class to give a great entertainment and use the funds to present the school with a statue for the entrance hall.

Elnora had been cast for and was practising a part in that performance. She was expected to furnish her dress

and personal necessities. She had been told that she must have a green gauze dress, and where was it to come

Every girl of the class would have three beautiful new frocks for Commencement: one for the baccalaureate

sermon, another, which could be plain, for graduation exercises, and a handsome one for the banquet and

ball. Elnora faced the past three years and wondered how she could have spent so much money and not kept

account of it. She did not realize where it had gone. She did not know what she could do now. She thought

over the photographs, and at last settled that question to her satisfaction. She studied longer over the gifts, ten

handsome ones there must be, and at last decided she could arrange for them. The green dress came first. The

lights would be dim in the scene, and the setting deep woods. She could manage that. She simply could not

have three dresses. She would have to get a very simple one for the sermon and do the best she could for

graduation. Whatever she got for that must be made with a guimpe that could be taken out to make it a little

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 85

The only hope she could see was to break into the collection of the man from India, sell some moths, and try

to replace them in June. But in her soul she knew that never would do. No June ever brought just the things

she hoped it would. If she spent the college money she knew she could not replace it. If she did not, the only

way was to secure a room in the grades and teach a year. Her work there had been so appreciated that Elnora

felt with the recommendation she knew she could get from the superintendent and teachers she could secure a

position. She was sure she could pass the examinations easily. She had once gone on Saturday, taken them

She wanted to start to college when the other girls were going. If she could make the first year alone, she

could manage the remainder. But make that first year herself, she must. Instead of selling any of her

collection, she must hunt as she never before had hunted and find a Yellow Emperor. She had to have it, that

was all. Also, she had to have those dresses. She thought of Wesley and dismissed it. She thought of the Bird

Woman, and knew she could not tell her. She thought of every way in which she ever had hoped to earn

money and realized that with the play, committee meetings, practising, and final examinations she scarcely

had time to live, much less to do more than the work required for her pictures and gifts. Again Elnora was in

"Then keep it to yourself!" said Mrs. Comstock. "I think I have enough to bear without a great girl like you

"Well, did you think it would last forever? It's been a marvel to me that it's held out as well as it has, the way

"I don't think I've spent any that I was not compelled to," said Elnora. "I've dressed on just as little as I

possibly could to keep going. I am heartsick. I thought I had over fifty dollars to put me through

"Fifty dollars! To put you through Commencement! What on earth are you proposing to do?"

Elnora omitted the photographs, the gifts and the play. She told only of the sermon, graduation exercises, and

"Well, I wouldn't trouble myself over that," sniffed Mrs. Comstock. "If you want to go to a sermon, put on

the dress you always use for meeting. If you need white for the exercises wear the new dress you got last

spring. As for the ball, the best thing for you to do is to stay a mile away from such folly. In my opinion you'd

best bring home your books, and quit right now. You can't be fixed like the rest of them, don't be so foolish as

to run into it. Just stay here and let these last few days go. You can't learn enough more to be of any account."

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 86

"Oh, yes, I do!" said Mrs. Comstock. "I understand perfectly. So long as the money lasted, you held up your

head, and went sailing without even explaining how you got it from the stuff you gathered. Goodness knows I

couldn't see. But now it's gone, you come whining to me. What have I got? Have you forgot that the ditch and

the road completely strapped me? I haven't any money. There's nothing for you to do but get out of it."

"I can't!" said Elnora desperately. "I've gone on too long. It would make a break in everything. They wouldn't

"What's the difference? You've got the stuff in your head. I wouldn't give a rap for a scrap of paper. That

"But I've worked four years for it, and I can't enter I ought to have it to help me get a school, when I want

to teach. If I don't have my grades to show, people will think I quit because I couldn't pass my examinations. I

"But I can't, unless I have things enough like the class, that I don't look as I did that first day."

"Well, please remember I didn't get you into this, and I can't get you out. You are set on having your own

Elnora went upstairs and did not come down again that night, which her mother called pouting.

"I've thought all night," said the girl at breakfast, "and I can't see any way but to borrow the money of Uncle

Wesley and pay it back from some that the Bird Woman will owe me, when I get one more specimen. But

that means that I can't go tothat I will have to teach this winter, if I can get a city grade or a country

"Just you dare go dinging after Wesley Sinton for money," cried Mrs. Comstock. "You won't do any such a

"Maybe I can borrow some at the bank. Then you can return it when the Bird Woman pays you."

"All right," said Elnora. "I don't need expensive things. Just some kind of a pretty cheap white dress for the

sermon, and a white one a little better than I had last summer, for Commencement and the ball. I can use the

white gloves and shoes I got myself for last year, and you can get my dress made at the same place you did

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 87

that one. They have my measurements, and do perfect work. Don't get expensive things. It will be warm so I

Then she started to school, but was so tired and discouraged she scarcely could walk. Four years' plans going

in one day! For she felt that if she did not start to college that fall she never would. Instead of feeling relieved

at her mother's offer, she was almost too ill to go on. For the thousandth time she groaned: "Oh, why didn't I

After that the days passed so swiftly she scarcely had time to think, but several trips her mother made to

town, and the assurance that everything was all right, satisfied Elnora. She worked very hard to pass good

final examinations and perfect herself for the play. For two days she had remained in town with the Bird

Often Margaret had asked about her dresses for graduation, and Elnora had replied that they were with a

woman in the city who had made her a white dress for last year's Commencement when she was a junior

usher, and they would be all right. So Margaret, Wesley, and Billy concerned themselves over what they

would give her for a present. Margaret suggested a beautiful dress. Wesley said that would look to every one

as if she needed dresses. The thing was to get a handsome gift like all the others would have. Billy wanted to

present her a fivedollar gold piece to buy music for her violin. He was positive Elnora would like that best

It was toward the close of the term when they drove to town one evening to try to settle this important

question. They knew Mrs. Comstock had been alone several days, so they asked her to accompany them. She

had been more lonely than she would admit, filled with unusual unrest besides, and so she was glad to go.

But before they had driven a mile Billy had told that they were going to buy Elnora a graduation present, and

Mrs. Comstock devoutly wished that she had remained at home. She was prepared when Billy asked: "Aunt

"Plenty to eat, a good bed to sleep in, and do all the work while she trollops," answered Mrs. Comstock dryly.

Billy reflected. "I guess all of them have that," he said. "I mean a present you buy at the store, like

"It is only rich folks who buy presents at stores," replied Mrs.Comstock. "I can't afford it."

"Well, we ain't rich," he said, "but we are going to buy Elnora something as fine as the rest of them have if

"A fool and his land are soon parted," said Mrs. Comstock tersely. Wesley and Billy laughed, but Margaret

While they were searching the stores for something on which all of them could decide, and Margaret was

holding Billy to keep him from saying anything before Mrs. Comstock about the music on which he was

"I guess you don't allow any girl to surpass Elnora," said Mr. Brownlee. "She comes home with Ellen often,

and my wife and I love her. Ellen says she is great in her part tonight. Best thing in the whole play! Of

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 88

course, you are in to see it! If you haven't reserved seats, you'd better start pretty soon, for the high school

auditorium only seats a thousand. It's always jammed at these home talent plays. All of us want to see how

"Why yes, of course," said the bewildered Wesley. Then he hurried to Margaret. "Say," he said, "there is

going to be a play at the high school tonight; and Elnora is in it. Why hasn't she told us?"

"Me too!" said Wesley, "unless you think for some reason she doesn't want us. Looks like she would have

"Yes, that's what's she's been staying in town for," said Mrs. Comstock. "It's some sort of a swindle to raise

money for her class to buy some silly thing to stick up in the school house hall to remember them by. I don't

know whether it's now or next week, but there's something of the kind to be done."

"Well, it's tonight," said Wesley, "and we are going. It's my treat, and we've got to hurry or we won't get in.

There are reserved seats, and we have none, so it's the gallery for us, but I don't care so I get to take one good

"Well, she's been doing it three years in the orchestra, and working like a slave at it."

"Oh, well that's different. She's in the play tonight. Brownlee told me so. Come on, quick! We'll drive and

When they reached the building Wesley tied the team to a railing and Billy sprang out to help Margaret. Mrs.

"I'm not going anywhere," said Mrs. Comstock, settling comfortably back against the cushions.

All of them begged and pleaded, but it was no use. Not an inch would Mrs. Comstock budge. The night was

warm and the carriage comfortable, the horses were securely hitched. She did not care to see what idiotic

thing a pack of school children were doing, she would wait until the Sintons returned. Wesley told her it

might be two hours, and she said she did not care if it were four, so they left her.

"Such blamed stubbornness in all your life?" demanded Wesley. "Won't come to see as fine a girl as Elnora in

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 89

"I think it's a blessing she didn't," said Margaret placidly. "I begged unusually hard so she wouldn't. I'm

They found seats near the door where they could see fairly well. Billy stood at the back of the hall and had a

good view. By and by, a great volume of sound welled from the orchestra, but Elnora was not playing.

"Told you so!" said Sinton. "Got a notion to go out and see if Kate won't come now. She can take my seat,

So Wesley remained in his seat. The play opened and progressed very much as all high school plays have

Out in the warm summer night a sour, grim woman nursed an aching heart and tried to justify herself. The

effort irritated her intensely. She felt that she could not afford the things that were being done. The old fear of

losing the land that she and Robert Comstock had purchased and started clearing was strong upon her. She

was thinking of him, how she needed him, when the orchestra music poured from the open windows near her.

Mrs. Comstock endured it as long as she could, and then slipped from the carriage and fled down the street.

She did not know how far she went or how long she stayed, but everything was still, save an occasional

raised voice when she wandered back. She stood looking at the building. Slowly she entered the wide gates

and followed up the walk. Elnora had been coming here for almost four years. When Mrs. Comstock reached

the door she looked inside. The wide hall was lighted with electricity, and the statuary and the decorations of

the walls did not seem like pieces of foolishness. The marble appeared pure, white, and the big pictures most

interesting. She walked the length of the hall and slowly read the titles of the statues and the names of the

pupils who had donated them. She speculated on where the piece Elnora's class would buy could be placed to

Then she wondered if they were having a large enough audience to buy marble. She liked it better than the

bronze, but it looked as if it cost more. How white the broad stairway was! Elnora had been climbing those

stairs for years and never told her they were marble. Of course, she thought they were wood. Probably the

upper hall was even grander than this. She went over to the fountain, took a drink, climbed to the first landing

and looked around her, and then without thought to the second. There she came opposite the wideopen

doors and the entrance to the auditorium packed with people and a crowd standing outside. When they

noticed a tall woman with white face and hair and black dress, one by one they stepped a little aside, so that

Mrs. Comstock could see the stage. It was covered with curtains, and no one was doing anything. Just as she

turned to go a sound so faint that every one leaned forward and listened, drifted down the auditorium. It was

difficult to tell just what it was; after one instant half the audience looked toward the windows, for it seemed

only a breath of wind rustling freshly opened leaves; merely a hint of stirring air.

Then the curtains were swept aside swiftly. The stage had been transformed into a lovely little corner of

creation, where trees and flowers grew and moss carpeted the earth. A soft wind blew and it was the gray of

dawn. Suddenly a robin began to sing, then a song sparrow joined him, and then several orioles began talking

at once. The light grew stronger, the dew drops trembled, flower perfume began to creep out to the audience;

the air moved the branches gently and a rooster crowed. Then all the scene was shaken with a babel of bird

notes in which you could hear a cardinal whistling, and a blue finch piping. Back somewhere among the high

branches a dove cooed and then a horse neighed shrilly. That set a blackbird crying, "T'check," and a whole

flock answered it. The crows began to caw and a lamb bleated. Then the grosbeaks, chats, and vireos had

something to say, and the sun rose higher, the light grew stronger and the breeze rustled the treetops loudly; a

cow bawled and the whole barnyard answered. The guineas were clucking, the turkey gobbler strutting, the

CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST 90

hens calling, the chickens cheeping, the light streamed down straight overhead and the bees began to hum.

The air stirred strongly, and away in an unseen field a reaper clacked and rattled through ripening wheat

while the driver whistled. An uneasy mare whickered to her colt, the colt answered, and the light began to

decline. Miles away a rooster crowed for twilight, and dusk was coming down. Then a catbird and a brown

thrush sang against a grosbeak and a hermit thrush. The air was tremulous with heavenly notes, the lights

went out in the hall, dusk swept across the stage, a cricket sang and a katydid answered, and a wood pewee

wrung the heart with its lonesome cry. Then a night hawk screamed, a whip poorwill complained, a

belated killdeer swept the sky, and the night wind sang a louder song. A little screech owl tuned up in the

distance, a barn owl replied, and a great horned owl drowned both their voices. The moon shone and the

scene was warm with mellow light. The bird voices died and soft exquisite melody began to swell and roll. In

the centre of the stage, piece by piece the grasses, mosses and leaves dropped from an embankment, the

foliage softly blew away, while plainer and plainer came the outlines of a lovely girl figure draped in soft

clinging green. In her shower of bright hair a few green leaves and white blossoms clung, and they fell over

her robe down to her feet. Her white throat and arms were bare, she leaned forward a little and swayed with

the melody, her eyes fast on the clouds above her, her lips parted, a pink tinge of exercise in her cheeks as she

drew her bow. She played as only a peculiar chain of circumstances puts it in the power of a very few to play.

All nature had grown still, the violin sobbed, sang, danced and quavered on alone, no voice in particular; the

At the doorway, a whitefaced woman endured it as long as she could and then fell senseless. The men

nearest carried her down the hall to the fountain, revived her, and then placed her in the carriage to which she

directed them. The girl played on and never knew. When she finished, the uproar of applause sounded a block

down the street, but the halfsenseless woman scarcely realized what it meant. Then the girl came to the front

of the stage, bowed, and lifting the violin she played her conception of an invitation to dance. Every living

soul within sound of her notes strained their nerves to sit still and let only their hearts dance with her. When

that began the woman ran toward the country. She never stopped until the carriage overtook her halfway to

her cabin. She said she had grown tired of sitting, and walked on ahead. That night she asked Billy to remain

with her and sleep on Elnora's bed. Then she pitched headlong upon her own, and suffered agony of soul such

as she never before had known. The swamp had sent back the soul of her loved dead and put it into the body

of the daughter she resented, and it was almost more than she could endure and live.

That was Friday night. Elnora came home Saturday morning and began work. Mrs. Comstock asked no

questions, and the girl only told her that the audience had been large enough to more than pay for the piece of

statuary the class had selected for the hall. Then she inquired about her dresses and was told they would be

ready for her. She had been invited to go to the Bird Woman's to prepare for both the sermon and

Commencement exercises. Since there was so much practising to do, it had been arranged that she should

remain there from the night of the sermon until after she was graduated. If Mrs. Comstock decided to attend

she was to drive in with the Sintons. When Elnora begged her to come she said she cared nothing about such

It was almost time for Wesley to come to take Elnora to the city, when fresh from her bath, and dressed to her

outer garment, she stood with expectant face before her mother and cried: "Now my dress, mother!"

Elnora opened the door and stepped into her mother's room with never a misgiving. Since the night Margaret

and Wesley had brought her clothing, when she first started to school, her mother had selected all of her

dresses, with Mrs. Sinton's help made most of them, and Elnora had paid the bills. The white dress of the

previous spring was the first made at a dressmaker's. She had worn that as junior usher at Commencement;

but her mother had selected the material, had it made, and it had fitted perfectly and had been suitable in

every way. So with her heart at rest on that point, Elnora hurried to the bed to find only her last summer's

white dress, freshly washed and ironed. For an instant she stared at it, then she picked up the garment, looked

It was unfamiliar. Perhaps this was the third time she had been in it since she was a very small child. Her eyes

ranged over the beautiful walnut dresser, the tall bureau, the big chest, inside which she never had seen, and

the row of masculine attire hanging above it. Somewhere a dainty lawn or mull dress simply must be

hanging: but it was not. Elnora dropped on the chest because she felt too weak to stand. In less than two hours

she must be in the church, at Onabasha. She could not wear a last year's washed dress. She had nothing else.

She leaned against the wall and her father's overcoat brushed her face. She caught the folds and clung to it

"Oh father! Father!" she moaned. "I need you! I don't believe you would have done this!" At last she opened

"It's a good dress. There isn't a hole in it! There's no reason on earth why you shouldn't wear it."

"Except that I will not," said Elnora. "Didn't you provide any dress for Commencement, either?"

She ran upstairs and in an incredibly short time came down wearing one of her gingham school dresses. Her

face cold and hard, she passed her mother and went into the night. Half an hour later Margaret and Billy

stopped for Mrs. Comstock with the carriage. She had determined fully that she would not go before they

called. With the sound of their voices a sort of horror of being left seized her, so she put on her hat, locked

"I do hope her dresses are as pretty as the others," said Margaret. "None of them will have prettier faces or

Wesley was waiting before the big church to take care of the team. As they stood watching the people enter

the building, Mrs. Comstock felt herself growing ill. When they went inside among the lights, saw the

flowerdecked stage, and the masses of finely dressed people, she grew no better. She could hear Margaret

"That first chair in the very front row is Elnora's," exulted Billy, "cos she's got the highest grades, and so she

"The first chair!" "Lead the procession!" Mrs. Comstock was dumbfounded. The notes of the pipe organ

began to fill the building in a slow rolling march. Would Elnora lead the procession in a gingham dress? Or

would she be absent and her chair vacant on this great occasion? For now, Mrs. Comstock could see that it

was a great occasion. Every one would remember how Elnora had played a few nights before, and they would

miss her and pity her. Pity? Because she had no one to care for her. Because she was worse off than if she had

no mother. For the first time in her life, Mrs. Comstock began to study herself as she would appear to others.

Every time a junior girl came fluttering down the aisle, leading some one to a seat, and Mrs. Comstock saw a

beautiful white dress pass, a wave of positive illness swept over her. What had she done? What would

As Elnora rode to the city, she answered Wesley's questions in monosyllables so that he thought she was

nervous or rehearsing her speech and did not care to talk. Several times the girl tried to tell him and realized

that if she said the first word it would bring uncontrollable tears. The Bird Woman opened the screen and

"No. I thought I would telephone Ellen that there had been an accident and I could not come. I don't know yet

how to explain. I'm too sick to think. Oh, do you suppose I can get something made by Tuesday, so that I can

"Yes; and you'll get something on you tonight, so that you can lead your class, as you have done for four

years. Go to my room and take off that gingham, quickly. Anna, drop everything, and come help me."

"Elnora has had an accident. She will be a little late," she said. "You have got to make them wait. Have them

Then she turned to the maid. "Tell Benson to have the carriage at the gate, just as soon as he can get it there.

Then come to my room. Bring the thread box from the sewingroom, that roll of wide white ribbon on the

cutting table, and gather all the white pins from every dresser in the house. But first come with me a minute."

"I want that trunk with the Swamp Angel's stuff in it, from the cedar closet," she panted as they reached the

They hurried down the hall together and dragged the big trunk to the Bird Woman's room. She opened it and

"How lucky that she left these things!" she cried. "Here are white shoes, gloves, stockings, fans, everything!"

She snatched up a creamy lace yoke with long sleeves that recently had been made for her and held it out.

Elnora slipped into it, and the Bird Woman began smoothing out wrinkles and sewing in pins. It fitted very

well with a little lapping in the back. Next, from among the Angel's clothing she caught up a white silk waist

with low neck and elbow sleeves, and Elnora put it on. It was large enough, but distressingly short in the

waist, for the Angel had worn it at a party when she was sixteen. The Bird Woman loosened the sleeves and

pushed them to a puff on the shoulders, catching them in places with pins. She began on the wide draping of

the yoke, fastening it front, back and at each shoulder. She pulled down the waist and pinned it. Next came a

soft white dress skirt of her own. By pinning her waist band quite four inches above Elnora's, the Bird

Woman could secure a perfect Empire sweep, with the clinging silk. Then she began with the wide white

ribbon that was to trim a new frock for herself, bound it three times around the high waist effect she had

managed, tied the ends in a knot and let them fall to the floor in a beautiful sash.

"Elnora," she said, "forgive me, but tell me truly. Is your mother so poor as to make this necessary?"

"No," answered Elnora. "Next year I am heir to my share of over three hundred acres of land covered with

almost as valuable timber as was in the Limberlost. We adjoin it. There could be thirty oil wells drilled that

would yield to us the thousands our neighbours are draining from under us, and the bare land is worth over

one hundred dollars an acre for farming. She is not poor, she isI don't know what she is. A great trouble

soured and warped her. It made her peculiar. She does not in the least understand, but it is because she doesn't

Anna came with the roses. The Bird Woman set one on the front of the draped yoke, one on each shoulder

and the last among the bright masses of brown hair. Then she turned the girl facing the tall mirror.

"Oh!" panted Elnora. "You are a genius! Why, I will look as well as any of them."

"Thank goodness for that!" cried the Bird Woman. "If it wouldn't do, I should have been ill. You are lovely;

altogether lovely! Ordinarily I shouldn't say that; but when I think of how you are carpentered, I'm admiring

The organ began rolling out the march as they came in sight. Elnora took her place at the head of the

procession, while every one wondered. Secretly they had hoped that she would be dressed well enough, that

she would not appear poor and neglected. What this radiant young creature, gowned in the most recent style,

her smooth skin flushed with excitement, and a roseset coronet of red gold on her head, had to do with the

girl they knew was difficult to decide. The signal was given and Elnora began the slow march across the

vestry and down the aisle. The music welled softly, and Margaret began to sob without knowing why.

Mrs. Comstock gripped her hands together and shut her eyes. It seemed an eternity to the suffering woman

before Margaret caught her arm and whispered, "Oh, Kate! For any sake look at her! Here! The aisle across!"

Mrs. Comstock opened her eyes and directing them where she was told, gazed intently, and slid down in her

seat close to collapse. She was saved by Margaret's tense clasp and her command: "Here! Idiot! Stop that!"

In the blaze of light Elnora climbed the steps to the palmembowered platform, crossed it and took her place.

Sixty young men and women, each of them dressed the best possible, followed her. There were manly, fine

looking men in that class which Elnora led. There were girls of beauty and grace, but not one of them was

Billy thought the time never would come when Elnora would see him, but at last she met his eye, then

Margaret and Wesley had faint signs of recognition in turn, but there was no softening of the girl's face and

Heartsick, Katharine Comstock tried to prove to herself that she was justified in what she had done, but she

could not. She tried to blame Elnora for not saying that she was to lead a procession and sit on a platform in

the sight of hundreds of people; but that was impossible, for she realized that she would have scoffed and not

understood if she had been told. Her heart pained until she suffered with every breath.

When at last the exercises were over she climbed into the carriage and rode home without a word. She did not

hear what Margaret and Billy were saying. She scarcely heard Wesley, who drove behind, when he told her

that Elnora would not be home until Wednesday. Early the next morning Mrs. Comstock was on her way to

Onabasha. She was waiting when the Brownlee store opened. She examined readymade white dresses, but

they had only one of the right size, and it was marked forty dollars. Mrs. Comstock did not hesitate over the

price, but whether the dress would be suitable. She would have to ask Elnora. She inquired her way to the

"Yes, but she is still in bed. I was told to let her sleep as long as she would."

"Maybe I could sit here and wait," said Mrs. Comstock. "I want to see about getting her a dress for

"Then you don't need wait or worry," said the girl cheerfully. "There are two women up in the sewingroom

at work on a dress for her right now. It will be done in time, and it will be a beauty."

Mrs. Comstock turned and trudged back to the Limberlost. The bitterness in her soul became a physical

actuality, which water would not wash from her lips. She was too late! She was not needed. Another woman

was mothering her girl. Another woman would prepare a beautiful dress such as Elnora had worn the

previous night. The girl's love and gratitude would go to her. Mrs. Comstock tried the old process of blaming

some one else, but she felt no better. She nursed her grief as closely as ever in the long days of the girl's

absence. She brooded over Elnora's possession of the forbidden violin and her ability to play it until the

performance could not have been told from her father's. She tried every refuge her mind could conjure, to

quiet her heart and remove the fear that the girl never would come home again, but it persisted. Mrs.

Comstock could neither eat nor sleep. She wandered around the cabin and garden. She kept far from the pool

where Robert Comstock had sunk from sight for she felt that it would entomb her also if Elnora did not come

home Wednesday morning. The mother told herself that she would wait, but the waiting was as bitter as

When Elnora awoke Monday another dress was in the hands of a seamstress and was soon fitted. It had

belonged to the Angel, and was a soft white thing that with a little alteration would serve admirably for

Commencement and the ball. All that day Elnora worked, helping prepare the auditorium for the exercises,

rehearsing the march and the speech she was to make in behalf of the class. The following day was even

busier. But her mind was at rest, for the dress was a soft delicate lace easy to change, and the marks of

The Bird Woman had telephoned to Grand Rapids, explained the situation and asked the Angel if she might

use it. The reply had been to give the girl the contents of the chest. When the Bird Woman told Elnora, tears

"I will write at once and thank her," she said. "With all her beautiful gowns she does not need them, and I do.

They will serve for me often, and be much finer than anything I could afford. It is lovely of her to give me the

The Bird Woman laughed. "I feel religious today," she said. "You know the first and greatest rock of my

salvation is `Do unto others.' I'm only doing to you what there was no one to do for me when I was a girl very

like you. Anna tells me your mother was here early this morning and that she came to see about getting you a

"She is too late!" said Elnora coldly. "She had over a month to prepare my dresses, and I was to pay for them,

"Nevertheless, she is your mother," said the Bird Woman, softly. "I think almost any kind of a mother must

"She loved my father and he died," said Elnora. "The same thing, in quite as tragic a manner, has happened to

thousands of other women, and they have gone on with calm faces and found happiness in life by loving

others. There was something else I am afraid I never shall forget; this I know I shall not, but talking does not

help. I must deliver my presents and photographs to the crowd. I have a picture and I made a present for you,

"I shall love anything you give me," said the Bird Woman. "I know you well enough to know that whatever

Elnora was pleased over that, and as she tried on her dress for the last fitting she was really happy. She was

lovely in the dainty gown: it would serve finely for the ball and many other like occasions, and it was her

The Bird Woman's driver took Elnora in the carriage and she called on all the girls with whom she was

especially intimate, and left her picture and the package containing her gift to them. By the time she returned

parcels for her were arriving. Friends seemed to spring from everywhere. Almost every one she knew had

some gift for her, while because they so loved her the members of her crowd had made her beautiful presents.

There were books, vases, silver pieces, handkerchiefs, fans, boxes of flowers and candy. One big package

settled the trouble at Sinton's, for it contained a dainty dress from Margaret, a fivedollar gold piece,

conspicuously labelled, "I earned this myself," from Billy, with which to buy music; and a gorgeous

cutglass perfume bottle, it would have cost five dollars to fill with even a moderate priced scent, from

In an expressed crate was a fine curlymaple dressing table, sent by Freckles. The drawers were filled with

wonderful toilet articles from the Angel. The Bird Woman added an embroidered linen cover and a small

silver vase for a few flowers, so no girl of the class had finer gifts. Elnora laid her head on the table sobbing

happily, and the Bird Woman was almost crying herself. Professor Henley sent a butterfly book, the grade

rooms in which Elnora had taught gave her a set of volumes covering every phase of life afield, in the woods,

and water. Elnora had no time to read so she carried one of these books around with her hugging it as she

went. After she had gone to dress a queerlooking package was brought by a small boy who hopped on one

"I'm Billy!" announced the boy. "I gave her the five dollars. I earned it myself dropping corn, sticking onions,

and pulling weeds. My, but you got to drop, and stick, and pull a lot before it's five dollars' worth."

"I bet you a thousand dollars I be first in my class when I graduate. Say, have the others got a lot more than

"Well, Uncle Wesley said to find out if I could, and if she didn't have as much as the rest, he'd buy till she

did, if it took a hundred dollars. Say, you ought to know him! He's just scrumptious! There ain't anybody any

"I bet you nobody can beat this!" he boasted. Then he stopped, thinking deeply. "I don't know, though," he

began reflectively. "Some of them are awful rich; they got big families to give them things and wagon loads

of friends, and I haven't seen what they have. Now, maybe Elnora is getting left, after all!"

"Don't worry, Billy," she said. "I will watch, and if I find Elnora is `getting left' I'll buy her some more things

myself. But I'm sure she is not. She has more beautiful gifts now than she will know what to do with, and

others will come. Tell your Uncle Wesley his girl is bountifully remembered, very happy, and she sends her

dearest love to all of you. Now you must go, so I can help her dress. You will be there tonight of course?"

"Yes, siree! She got me a seat, third row from the front, middle section, so I can see, and she's going to wink

at me, after she gets her speech off her mind. She kissed me, too! She's a perfect lady, Elnora is. I'm going to

Elnora was half disrobed as she took the package and, sitting on a couch, opened it. The Bird Woman bent

"Why, bless my soul!" she cried. "Handwoven, hand embroidered linen, fine as silk. It's priceless' I haven't

seen such things in years. My mother had garments like those when I was a child, but my sisters had them cut

up for collars, belts, and fancy waists while I was small. Look at the exquisite work!"

She shook out a petticoat, with a handwrought ruffle a foot deep, then an oldfashioned chemise the neck

and sleeve work of which was elaborate and perfectly wrought. On the breast was pinned a note that she

"I was married in these," it read, "and I had intended to be buried in them, but perhaps it would be more

sensible for you to graduate and get married in them yourself, if you like. Your mother."

"From my mother!" Wideeyed, Elnora looked at the Bird Woman. "I never in my life saw the like. Mother

does things I think I never can forgive, and when I feel hardest, she turns around and does something that

makes me think she just must love me a little bit, after all. Any of the girls would give almost anything to

graduate in handembroidered linen like that. Money can't buy such things. And they came when I was

"Yes," said the Bird Woman. "Wildly insane, if she does not love you and care what becomes of you."

Elnora arose and held the petticoat to her. "Will you look at it?" she cried. "Only imagine her not getting my

dress ready, and then sending me such a petticoat as this! Ellen would pay fifty dollars for it and never blink.

"Go take your bath and put on those things," said the Bird Woman. "Forget everything and be happy. She is

not insane. She is embittered. She did not understand how things would be. When she saw, she came at once

to provide you a dress. This is her way of saying she is sorry she did not get the other. You notice she has not

"Oh, she is honest!" said Elnora. "She wouldn't care enough to tell an untruth. She'd say just how things were,

Soon Elnora was ready for her dress. She never had looked so well as when she again headed the

processional across the flower and palm decked stage of the high school auditorium. As she sat there she

could have reached over and dropped a rose she carried into the seat she had occupied that September

morning when she entered the high school. She spoke the few words she had to say in behalf of the class

beautifully, had the tiny wink ready for Billy, and the smile and nod of recognition for Wesley and Margaret.

When at last she looked into the eyes of a whitefaced woman next them, she slipped a hand to her side and

raised her skirt the fraction of an inch, just enough to let the embroidered edge of a petticoat show a trifle.

When she saw the look of relief which flooded her mother's face, Elnora knew that forgiveness was in her

It was late afternoon before she arrived, and a dray followed with a load of packages. Mrs. Comstock was

overwhelmed. She sat half dazed and made Elnora show her each costly and beautiful or simple and useful

gift, tell her carefully what it was and from where it came. She studied the faces of Elnora's particular friends.

The gifts from them had to be set in a group. Several times she started to speak and then stopped. At last,

"I'll show you," said Elnora cheerfully. "I made the same gifts for the Bird Woman, Aunt Margaret and you if

When she returned she handed her mother an oblong frame, hand carved, enclosing Elnora's picture, taken by

a schoolmate's camera. She wore her stormcoat and carried a dripping umbrella. From under it looked her

bright face; her books and lunchbox were on her arm, and across the bottom of the frame was carved, "Your

"I am strong on frames," she said. "They seemed to be the best I could do without money. I located the maple

and the black walnut myself, in a little corner that had been overlooked between the river and the ditch. They

didn't seem to belong to any one so I just took them. Uncle Wesley said it was all right, and he cut and hauled

them for me. I gave the mill half of each tree for sawing and curing the remainder. Then I gave the

woodcarver half of that for making my frames. A photographer gave me a lot of spoiled plates, and I boiled

off the emulsion, and took the specimens I framed from my stuff. The man said the white frames were worth

three and a half, and the black ones five. I exchanged those little framed pictures for the photographs of the

others. For presents, I gave each one of my crowd one like this, only a different moth. The Bird Woman gave

Elnora handed her mother a handsome blackwalnut frame a foot and a half wide by two long. It finished a

small, shallow glasscovered box of birch bark, to the bottom of which clung a big night moth with delicate

"So you see I did not have to be ashamed of my gifts," said Elnora. "I made them myself and raised and

"Moth, you call it," said Mrs. Comstock. "I've seen a few of the things before."

"They are numerous around us every June night, or at least they used to be," said Elnora. "I've sold hundreds

of them, with butterflies, dragonflies, and other specimens. Now, I must put away these and get to work, for it

is almost June and there are a few more I want dreadfully. If I find them I will be paid some money for which

She was afraid to say college at that time. She thought it would be better to wait a few days and see if an

opportunity would not come when it would work in more naturally. Besides, unless she could secure the

Yellow Emperor she needed to complete her collection, she could not talk college until she was of age, for

She was standing before the kitchen mirror, tying the back part of her hair, while the front turned over her

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Elnora ran into the sittingroom and thrust the heavy kitchen towel into her mother's hand. Mrs. Comstock

swung open the screen door and struck at some object, Elnora tossed the hair from her face so that she could

Mrs. Comstock struck again. Elnora caught her arm. "It's the one I want! It's worth a lot of money! Don't! Oh,

The hand that held the screen swept a halfcircle and stopped at Elnora's cheek. She staggered with the blow,

and across her face, paled with excitement, a red mark arose rapidly. The screen slammed shut, throwing the

creature on the floor before them. Instantly Mrs. Comstock crushed it with her foot. Elnora stepped back.

"That was the last moth I needed," she said, "to complete a collection worth three hundred dollars. You've

"Moth!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "You say that because you are mad. Moths have big wings. I know a moth!"

"I've kept things from you," said Elnora, "because I didn't dare confide in you. You had no sympathy with

"It is!" cried Elnora. "It's from a case in the ground. Its wings take two or three hours to expand and harden."

"You did know! I told you! I begged you to stop! It meant just three hundred dollars to me."

"They are what have paid for books, tuition, and clothes for the past four years. They are what I could have

started on to college. You've ruined the very one I needed. You never made any pretence of loving me. At

last I'll be equally frank with you. I hate you! You are a selfish, wicked woman! I hate you!"

Elnora turned, went through the kitchen and from the back door. She followed the garden path to the gate and

walked toward the swamp a short distance when reaction overtook her. She dropped on the ground and

leaned against a big log. When a little child, desperate as now, she had tried to die by holding her breath. She

had thought in that way to make her mother sorry, but she had learned that life was a thing thrust upon her

She was so stunned over the loss of that moth, which she had childishly named the Yellow Emperor, that she

scarcely remembered the blow. She had thought no luck in all the world would be so rare as to complete her

collection; now she had been forced to see a splendid Imperialis destroyed before her. There was a possibility

that she could find another, but she was facing the certainty that the one she might have had and with which

she undoubtedly could have attracted others, was spoiled by her mother. How long she sat there Elnora did

not know or care. She simply suffered in dumb, abject misery, an occasional dry sob shaking her. Aunt

Margaret was right. Elnora felt that morning that her mother never would be any different. The girl had

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"She never did lie to me," she muttered. "I guess it was a moth. And the only one she needed to get three

hundred dollars, she said. I wish I hadn't been so fast! I never saw anything like it. I thought it was some

deadly, stinging, biting thing. A body does have to be mighty careful here. But likely I've spilt the milk now.

Pshaw! She can find another! There's no use to be foolish. Maybe moths are like snakes, where there's one,

Mrs. Comstock took the broom and swept the moth out of the door. Then she got down on her knees and

carefully examined the steps, logs and the earth of the flower beds at each side. She found the place where the

creature had emerged from the ground, and the hard, darkbrown case which had enclosed it, still wet inside.

Then she knew Elnora had been right. It was a moth. Its wings had been damp and not expanded. Mrs.

Comstock never before had seen one in that state, and she did not know how they originated. She had thought

all of them came from cases spun on trees or against walls or boards. She had seen only enough to know that

there were such things; as a flash of white told her that an ermine was on her premises, or a sharp "buzzzzz"

So it was from creatures like that Elnora had secured her school money. In one sickening sweep there rushed

into the heart of the woman a full realization of the width of the gulf that separated her from her child. Lately

many things had pointed toward it, none more plainly than when Elnora, like a reincarnation of her father,

had stood fearlessly before a large city audience and played with even greater skill than he, on what Mrs.

Comstock felt very certain was his violin. But that little crawling creature of earth, crushed by her before its

splendid yellow and lavender wings could spread and carry it into the mystery of night, had performed a

"We are nearer strangers to each other than we are with any of the neighbours," she muttered.

So one of the Almighty's most delicate and beautiful creations was sacrificed without fulfilling the law, yet

none of its species ever served so glorious a cause, for at last Mrs. Comstock's inner vision had cleared. She

went through the cabin mechanically. Every few minutes she glanced toward the back walk to see if Elnora

were coming. She knew arrangements had been made with Margaret to go to the city some time that day, so

she grew more nervous and uneasy every moment. She was haunted by the fear that the blow might discolour

Elnora's cheek; that she would tell Margaret. She went down the back walk, looking intently in all directions,

left the garden and followed the swamp path. Her step was noiseless on the soft, black earth, and soon she

came close enough to see Elnora. Mrs. Comstock stood looking at the girl in troubled uncertainty. Not

Noon came and she prepared dinner, calling, as she always did, when Elnora was in the garden, but she got

no response, and the girl did not come. A little after one o'clock Margaret stopped at the gate.

She felt that she hated Margaret as she hitched her horse and came up the walk instead of driving on.

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"You must be mistaken," said Margaret. "I was going on purpose for her. She asked me to take her. I had no

She followed the path again, and this time found Elnora sitting on the log. Her face was swollen and

"Mag Sinton is here," said Mrs. Comstock harshly. "I told her you had changed your mind, but she said you

Elnora arose, recklessly waded through the deep swamp grasses and so reached the path ahead of her mother.

Mrs. Comstock followed as far as the garden, but she could not enter the cabin. She busied herself among the

vegetables, barely looking up when the backdoor screen slammed noisily. Margaret Sinton approached

"I have been, for twenty long years now, Kate Comstock," said Margaret Sinton, "but my eyes are open at

last. What I see is that I've done you no good and Elnora a big wrong. I had an idea that it would kill you to

know, but I guess you are tough enough to stand anything. Kill or cure, you get it now!"

"You!" cried Margaret. "You! The woman who doesn't pretend to love her only child. Who lets her grow to a

woman, as you have let Elnora, and can't be satisfied with every sort of neglect, but must add abuse yet; and

"Then I'll make a tidy job of it," said Margaret. "You'll not touch me. You'll stand there and hear the truth at

last, and because I dare face you and tell it, you will know in your soul it is truth. When Robert Comstock

shaved that quagmire out there so close he went in, he wanted to keep you from knowing where he was

coming from. He'd been to see Elvira Carney. They had plans to go to a dance that night"

"You know I wouldn't dare open them if I wasn't telling you the truth. I can prove what I say. I was coming

from Reeds. It was hot in the woods and I stopped at Carney's as I passed for a drink. Elvira's bedridden old

mother heard me, and she was so crazy for some one to talk with, I stepped in a minute. I saw Robert come

down the path. Elvira saw him, too, so she ran out of the house to head him off. It looked funny, and I just

deliberately moved where I could see and hear. He brought her his violin, and told her to get ready and meet

him in the woods with it that night, and they would go to a dance. She took it and hid it in the loft to the

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"No. I am going to tell you the whole story. You don't spare Elnora anything. I shan't spare you. I hadn't been

here that day, but I can tell you just how he was dressed, which way he went and every word they said,

though they thought I was busy with her mother and wouldn't notice them. Put down your hoe, Kate. I went

to Elvira, told her what I knew and made her give me Comstock's violin for Elnora over three years ago. She's

been playing it ever since. I won't see her slighted and abused another day on account of a man who would

have broken your heart if he had lived. Six months more would have showed you what everybody else knew.

He was one of those men who couldn't trust himself, and so no woman was safe with him. Now, will you

Mrs. Comstock grasped the hoe tighter and turning she went down the walk, and started across the woods to

the home of Elvira Carney. With averted head she passed the pool, steadily pursuing her way. Elvira Carney,

hanging towels across the back fence, saw her coming and went toward the gate to meet her. Twenty years

she had dreaded that visit. Since Margaret Sinton had compelled her to produce the violin she had hidden so

long, because she was afraid to destroy it, she had come closer expectation than dread. The wages of sin are

the hardest debts on earth to pay, and they are always collected at inconvenient times and unexpected places.

Mrs. Comstock's face and hair were so white, that her dark eyes seemed burned into their setting. Silently she

"I might have saved myself the trouble of coming," she said at last, "I see you are guilty as sin!"

"What has Mag Sinton been telling you?" panted the miserable woman, gripping the fence.

"The truth!" answered Mrs. Comstock succinctly. "Guilt is in every line of your face, in your eyes, all over

your wretched body. If I'd taken a good look at you any time in all these past years, no doubt I could have

seen it just as plain as I can now. No woman or man can do what you've done, and not get a mark set on them

"Mercy?" scoffed Mrs. Comstock. "Mercy! That's a nice word from you! How much mercy did you have on

me? Where's the mercy that sent Comstock to the slime of the bottomless quagmire, and left me to see it, and

then struggle on in agony all these years? How about the mercy of letting me neglect my baby all the days of

"Suffered?" jeered Mrs. Comstock. "That's interesting. And pray, what have you suffered?"

"All the neighbours have suspected and been down on me. I ain't had a friend. I've always felt guilty of his

death! I've seen him go down a thousand times, plain as ever you did. Many's the night I've stood on the other

bank of that pool and listened to you, and I tried to throw myself in to keep from hearing you, but I didn't

dare. I knew God would send me to burn forever, but I'd better done it; for now, He has set the burning on my

body, and every hour it is slowly eating the life out of me. The doctor says it's a cancer"

Mrs. Comstock exhaled a long breath. Her grip on the hoe relaxed and her stature lifted to towering height.

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"I didn't know, or care, when I came here, just what I did," she said. "But my way is beginning to clear. If the

guilt of your soul has come to a head, in a cancer on your body, it looks as if the Almighty didn't need any of

my help in meting out His punishments. I really couldn't fix up anything to come anywhere near that. If you

are going to burn until your life goes out with that sort of fire, you don't owe me anything!"

"Oh, Katharine Comstock!" groaned Elvira Carney, clinging to the fence for support.

"Looks as if the Bible is right when it says, `The wages of sin is death,' doesn't it?" asked Mrs. Comstock.

"Instead of doing a woman's work in life, you chose the smile of invitation, and the dress of unearned cloth.

Now you tell me you are marked to burn to death with the unquenchable fire. And him! It was shorter with

him, but let me tell you he got his share! He left me with an untruth on his lips, for he told me he was going

to take his violin to Onabasha for a new key, when he carried it to you. Every vow of love and constancy he

ever made me was a lie, after he touched your lips, so when he tried the wrong side of the quagmire, to hide

from me the direction in which he was coming, it reached out for him, and it got him. It didn't hurry, either! It

"I don't know the word," said Mrs. Comstock. "You took all that out of me long ago. The past twenty years

haven't been of the sort that taught mercy. I've never had any on myself and none on my child. Why in the

name of justice, should I have mercy on you, or on him? You were both older than I, both strong, sane

people, you deliberately chose your course when you lured him, and he, when he was unfaithful to me. When

a Loose Man and a Light Woman face the end the Almighty ordained for them, why should they shout at me

"You've got tears, have you?" marvelled Mrs. Comstock. "Mine all dried long ago. I've none left to shed over

my wasted life, my disfigured face and hair, my years of struggle with a man's work, my wreck of land

among the tilled fields of my neighbours, or the final knowledge that the man I so gladly would have died to

save, wasn't worth the sacrifice of a rattlesnake. If anything yet could wring a tear from me, it would be the

thought of the awful injustice I always have done my girl. If I'd lay hand on you for anything, it would be for

"Kill me if you want to," sobbed Elvira Carney. "I know that I deserve it, and I don't care."

"You are getting your killing fast enough to suit me," said Mrs. Comstock. "I wouldn't touch you, any more

than I would him, if I could. Once is all any man or woman deceives me about the holiest things of life. I

wouldn't touch you any more than I would the black plague. I am going back to my girl."

Mrs. Comstock turned and started swiftly through the woods, but she had gone only a few rods when she

stopped, and leaning on the hoe, she stood thinking deeply. Then she turned back. Elvira still clung to the

"I don't know," said Mrs. Comstock, "but I left a wrong impression with you. I don't want you to think that I

believe the Almighty set a cancer to burning you as a punishment for your sins. I don't! I think a lot more of

the Almighty. With a whole skyfull of worlds on His hands to manage, I'm not believing that He has time to

look down on ours, and pick you out of all the millions of us sinners, and set a special kind of torture to

eating you. It wouldn't be a gentlemanly thing to do, and first of all, the Almighty is bound to be a gentleman.

I think likely a bruise and bad blood is what caused your trouble. Anyway, I've got to tell you that the

cleanest housekeeper I ever knew, and one of the noblest Christian women, was slowly eaten up by a cancer.

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She got hers from the careless work of a poor doctor. The Almighty is to forgive sin and heal disease, not to

"If you will gather a lot of red clover bloom, make a tea strong as lye of it, and drink quarts, I think likely it

will help you, if you are not too far gone. Anyway, it will cool your blood and make the burning easier to

Then she swiftly went home. Enter the lonely cabin she could not, neither could she sit outside and think. She

attacked a bed of beets and hoed until the perspiration ran from her face and body, then she began on the

potatoes. When she was too tired to take another stroke she bathed and put on dry clothing. In securing her

dress she noticed her husband's carefully preserved clothing lining one wall. She gathered it in an armload

and carried it to the swamp. Piece by piece she pitched into the green maw of the quagmire all those articles

she had dusted carefully and fought moths from for years, and stood watching as it slowly sucked them down.

She went back to her room and gathered every scrap that had in any way belonged to Robert Comstock,

excepting his gun and revolver, and threw it into the swamp. Then for the first time she set her door wide

She was too weary now to do more, but an urging unrest drove her. She wanted Elnora. It seemed to her she

never could wait until the girl came and delivered her judgment. At last in an effort to get nearer to her, Mrs.

Comstock climbed the stairs and stood looking around Elnora's room. It was very unfamiliar. The pictures

were strange to her. Commencement had filled it with packages and bundles. The walls were covered with

cocoons; moths and dragonflies were pinned everywhere. Under the bed she could see half a dozen large

white boxes. She pulled out one and lifted the lid. The bottom was covered with a sheet of thin cork, and on

long pins sticking in it were large, velvetwinged moths. Each one was labelled, always there were two of a

kind, in many cases four, showing under and upper wings of both male and female. They were of every

Mrs. Comstock caught her breath sharply. When and where had Elnora found them? They were the most

exquisite sight the woman ever had seen, so she opened all the boxes to feast on their beautiful contents. As

she did so there came more fully a sense of the distance between her and her child. She could not understand

how Elnora had gone to school, and performed so much work secretly. When it was finished, to the last moth,

she, the mother who should have been the first confidant and helper, had been the one to bring

Mrs. Comstock carefully closed and replaced the boxes; and again stood looking around the room. This time

her eyes rested on some books she did not remember having seen before, so she picked up one and found that

it was a moth book. She glanced over the first pages and was soon eagerly reading. When the text reached the

classification of species, she laid it down, took up another and read the introductory chapters. By that time her

brain was in a confused jumble of ideas about capturing moths with differing baits and bright lights.

She went down stairs thinking deeply. Being unable to sit still and having nothing else to do she glanced at

the clock and began preparing supper. The work dragged. A chicken was snatched up and dressed hurriedly.

A spice cake sprang into being. Strawberries that had been intended for preserves went into shortcake.

Delicious odours crept from the cabin. She put many extra touches on the table and then commenced

watching the road. Everything was ready, but Elnora did not come. Then began the anxious process of trying

to keep cooked food warm and not spoil it. The birds went to bed and dusk came. Mrs. Comstock gave up the

fire and set the supper on the table. Then she went out and sat on the frontdoor step watching night creep

around her. She started eagerly as the gate creaked, but it was only Wesley Sinton coming.

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"Katharine, Margaret and Elnora passed where I was working this afternoon, and Margaret got out of the

carriage and called me to the fence. She told me what she had done. I've come to say to you that I am sorry.

She has heard me threaten to do it a good many times, but I never would have got it done. I'd give a good deal

"You've got something to be sorry for," said Mrs. Comstock, "but likely we ain't thinking of the same thing. It

hurts me less to know the truth, than to live in ignorance. If Mag had the sense of a pewee, she'd told me long

ago. That's what hurts me, to think that both of you knew Robert was not worth an hour of honest grief, yet

you'd let me mourn him all these years and neglect Elnora while I did it. If I have anything to forgive you,

"Would it be asking too much to take me for having a few grains of plain common sense?" she inquired.

"You've known all this time that Comstock got what he deserved, when he undertook to sneak in an unused

way across a swamp, with which he was none too familiar. Now I should have thought that you'd figure that

knowing the same thing would be the best method to cure me of pining for him, and slighting my child."

"Heaven only knows we have thought of that, and talked of it often, but we were both too big cowards. We

"So you have gone on year after year, watching me show indifference to Elnora, and yet a little horsesense

would have pointed out to you that she was my salvation. Why look at it! Not married quite a year. All his

vows of love and fidelity made to me before the Almighty forgotten in a few months, and a dance and a Light

Woman so alluring he had to lie and sneak for them. What kind of a prospect is that for a life? I know men

and women. An honourable man is an honourable man, and a liar is a liar; both are born and not made. One

cannot change to the other any more than that same old leopard can change its spots. After a man tells a

woman the first untruth of that sort, the others come piling thick, fast, and mountain high. The desolation they

bring in their wake overshadows anything I have suffered completely. If he had lived six months more I

should have known him for what he was born to be. It was in the blood of him. His father and grandfather

before him were fiddling, dancing people; but I was certain of him. I thought we could leave Ohio and come

out here alone, and I could so love him and interest him in his work, that he would be a man. Of all the fool,

fruitless jobs, making anything of a creature that begins by deceiving her, is the foolest a sane woman ever

undertook. I am more than sorry you and Margaret didn't see your way clear to tell me long ago. I'd have

found it out in a few more months if he had lived, and I wouldn't have borne it a day. The man who breaks his

vows to me once, doesn't get the second chance. I give truth and honour. I have a right to ask it in return. I am

glad I understand at last. Now, if Elnora will forgive me, we will take a new start and see what we can make

out of what is left of life. If she won't, then it will be my time to learn what suffering really means."

"But she will," said Wesley. "She must! She can't help it when things are explained."

"I notice she isn't hurrying any about coming home. Do you know where she is or what she is doing?"

"I do not. But likely she will be along soon. I must go help Billy with the night work. Goodbye, Katharine.

They shook hands and Wesley went down the road while Mrs. Comstock entered the cabin. She could not

swallow food. She stood in the back door watching the sky for moths, but they did not seem to be very

numerous. Her spirits sank and she breathed unevenly. Then she heard the front screen. She reached the

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Elnora closed the stair door behind her, and for the first time in her life, threw the heavy lever which barred

out anyone from down stairs. Mrs. Comstock heard the thud, and knew what it meant. She reeled slightly and

caught the doorpost for support. For a few minutes she clung there, then sank to the nearest chair. After a

long time she arose and stumbling half blindly, she put the food in the cupboard and covered the table. She

took the lamp in one hand, the butter in the other, and started to the spring house. Something brushed close

by her face, and she looked just in time to see a winged creature rise above the cabin and sail away.

"That was a night bird," she muttered. As she stopped to set the butter in the water, came another thought.

"Perhaps it was a moth!" Mrs. Comstock dropped the butter and hurried out with the lamp; she held it high

above her head and waited until her arms ached. Small insects of night gathered, and at last a little dusty

She went to the barn after the stout pair of high boots she used in feeding stock in deep snow. Throwing these

beside the back door she climbed to the loft over the spring house, and hunted an old lard oil lantern and one

of first manufacture for oil. Both these she cleaned and filled. She listened until everything up stairs had been

still for over half an hour. By that time it was past eleven o'clock. Then she took the lantern from the kitchen,

the two old ones, a handful of matches, a ball of twine, and went from the cabin, softly closing the door.

Sitting on the back steps, she put on the boots, and then stood gazing into the perfumed June night, first in the

direction of the woods on her land, then toward the Limberlost. Its outline was so dark and forbidding she

shuddered and went down the garden, following the path toward the woods, but as she neared the pool her

knees wavered and her courage fled. The knowledge that in her soul she was now glad Robert Comstock was

at the bottom of it made a coward of her, who fearlessly had mourned him there, nights untold. She could not

go on. She skirted the back of the garden, crossed a field, and came out on the road. Soon she reached the

Limberlost. She hunted until she found the old trail, then followed it stumbling over logs and through

clinging vines and grasses. The heavy boots clumped on her feet, overhanging branches whipped her face and

pulled her hair. But her eyes were on the sky as she went straining into the night, hoping to find signs of a

By and by she began to see the wavering flight of something she thought near the right size. She had no idea

where she was, but she stopped, lighted a lantern and hung it as high as she could reach. A little distance

away she placed the second and then the third. The objects came nearer and sick with disappointment she saw

that they were bats. Crouching in the damp swamp grasses, without a thought of snakes or venomous insects,

she waited, her eyes roving from lantern to lantern. Once she thought a creature of high flight dropped near

the lard oil light, so she arose breathlessly waiting, but either it passed or it was an illusion. She glanced at the

old lantern, then at the new, and was on her feet in an instant creeping close. Something large as a small bird

was fluttering around. Mrs. Comstock began to perspire, while her hand shook wildly. Closer she crept and

just as she reached for it, something similar swept past and both flew away together.

Mrs. Comstock set her teeth and stood shivering. For a long time the locusts rasped, the whippoorwills

cried and a steady hum of night life throbbed in her ears. Away in the sky she saw something coming when it

was no larger than a falling leaf. Straight toward the light it flew. Mrs. Comstock began to pray aloud.

CHAPTER XII. WHEREIN MARGARET SINTON REVEALS A SECRET, AND MRS. COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST 107

The moth hesitated at the first light, then slowly, easily it came toward the second, as if following a path of

air. It touched a leaf near the lantern and settled. As Mrs. Comstock reached for it a thin yellow spray wet her

hand and the surrounding leaves. When its wings raised above its back, her fingers came together. She held

the moth to the light. It was nearer brown than yellow, and she remembered having seen some like it in the

boxes that afternoon. It was not the one needed to complete the collection, but Elnora might want it, so Mrs.

Comstock held on. Then the Almighty was kind, or nature was sufficient, as you look at it, for following the

law of its being when disturbed, the moth again threw the spray by which some suppose it attracts its kind,

and liberally sprinkled Mrs. Comstock's dress front and arms. From that instant, she became the best moth

bait ever invented. Every Polyphemus in range hastened to her, and other fluttering creatures of night

followed. The influx came her way. She snatched wildly here and there until she had one in each hand and no

place to put them. She could see more coming, and her aching heart, swollen with the strain of long

excitement, hurt pitifully. She prayed in broken exclamations that did not always sound reverent, but never

Moths were coming. She had one in each hand. They were not yellow, and she did not know what to do. She

glanced around to try to discover some way to keep what she had, and her throbbing heart stopped and every

muscle stiffened. There was the dim outline of a crouching figure not two yards away, and a pair of eyes their

owner thought hidden, caught the light in a cold stream. Her first impulse was to scream and fly for life.

Before her lips could open a big moth alighted on her breast while she felt another walking over her hair. All

sense of caution deserted her. She did not care to live if she could not replace the yellow moth she had killed.

"Here, you!" she cried hoarsely. "I need you! Get yourself out here, and help me. These critters are going to

"Oh, it's you!" said Mrs. Comstock. "I might have known! But you gave me a start. Here, hold these until I

make some sort of bag for them. Go easy! If you break them I don't guarantee what will happen to you!"

"Pretty fierce, ain't you!" laughed Pete, but he advanced and held out his hands. "For Elnora, I s'pose?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Comstock. "In a mad fit, I trampled one this morning, and by the luck of the old boy himself

it was the last moth she needed to complete a collection. I got to get another one or die."

"Then I guess it's your funeral," said Pete. "There ain't a chance in a dozen the right one will come. What

"The Emperor, likely," said Pete. "You dig for that kind, and they are not numerous, so's 'at you can smash

"Well, I can try to get one, anyway," said Mrs. Comstock. "I forgot all about bringing anything to put them

Mrs. Comstock removed her apron, tearing off the strings. She unfastened and stepped from the skirt of her

calico dress. With one apron string she tied shut the band and placket. She pulled a wire pin from her hair,

stuck it through the other string, and using it as a bodkin ran it around the hem of her skirt, so shortly she had

a large bag. She put several branches inside to which the moths could cling, closed the mouth partially and

CHAPTER XII. WHEREIN MARGARET SINTON REVEALS A SECRET, AND MRS. COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST 108

"Put your hand well down and let the things go!" she ordered. "But be careful, man! Don't run into the twigs!

Easy! That's one. Now the other. Is the one on my head gone? There was one on my dress, but I guess it flew.

"Now, that's five, Mrs. Comstock," he said. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to make that do. You must get out of

here lively. Your lights will be taken for hurry calls, and inside the next hour a couple of men will ride here

like fury. They won't be nice Sundayschool men, and they won't hold bags and catch moths for you. You

"I won't budge a step," she said. "This land doesn't belong to you. You have no right to order me off it. Here I

stay until I get a Yellow Emperor, and no little petering thieves of this neighbourhood can scare me away."

"You don't understand," said Pete. "I'm willing to help Elnora, and I'd take care of you, if I could, but there

"Well, who's calling them out?" demanded Mrs. Comstock. "I'm catching moths. If a lot of

goodfornothings get fooled into losing some sleep, why let them, they can't hurt me, or stop my work."

"Well, I'll see them do it!" said Mrs. Comstock. "I've got Robert's revolver in my dress, and I can shoot as

straight as any man, if I'm mad enough. Any one who interferes with me tonight will find me mad aplenty.

She stepped into the light and waited until a big brown moth settled on her and was easily taken. Then in

light, airy flight came a delicate pale green thing, and Mrs. Comstock started in pursuit. But the scent was not

right. The moth fluttered high, then dropped lower, still lower, and sailed away. With outstretched hands Mrs.

Comstock pursued it. She hurried one way and another, then ran over an object which tripped her and she

fell. She regained her feet in an instant, but she had lost sight of the moth. With livid face she turned to the

"You nasty, sneaking son of Satan!" she cried. "Why are you hiding there? You made me lose the one I

wanted most of any I've had a chance at yet. Get out of here! Go this minute, or I'll fill your worthless carcass

so full of holes you'll do to sift cornmeal. Go, I say! I'm using the Limberlost tonight, and I won't be stopped

by the devil himself! Cut like fury, and tell the rest of them they can just go home. Pete is going to help me,

The man turned and went. Pete leaned against a tree, held his mouth shut and shook inwardly. Mrs. Comstock

"The old scoundrel made me lose that!" she said. "If any one else comes snooping around here I'll just blow

them up to start with. I haven't time to talk. Suppose that had been yellow! I'd have killed that man, sure!

The Limberlost isn't safe tonight, and the sooner those whelps find it out, the better it will be for them."

Pete stopped laughing to look at her. He saw that she was speaking the truth. She was quite past reason,

sense, or fear. The soft night air stirred the wet hair around her temples, the flickering lanterns made her face

CHAPTER XII. WHEREIN MARGARET SINTON REVEALS A SECRET, AND MRS. COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST 109

a ghastly green. She would stop at nothing, that was evident. Pete suddenly began catching moths with

"We are close to the old case," said Pete. "I think I can get into it. Maybe we could slip the rest in there."

"That's a fine idea!" said Mrs. Comstock. "They'll have so much room there they won't be likely to hurt

themselves, and the books say they don't fly in daytime unless they are disturbed, so they will settle when it's

Mrs. Comstock looked up and stepped out with a prayer on her lips. She could not tell the colour at that

distance, but the moth appeared different from the others. On it came, dropping lower and darting from light

to light. As it swept near her, "O Heavenly Father!" exulted Mrs. Comstock, "it's yellow! Careful Pete! Your

Pete made a long sweep. The moth wavered above the hat and sailed away. Mrs. Comstock leaned against a

"That is my punishment!" she cried. "Oh, Lord, if you will give a moth like that into my possession, I'll

The Emperor again came in sight. Pete stood tense and ready. Mrs. Comstock stepped into the light and

watched the moth's course. Then a second appeared in pursuit of the first. The larger one wavered into the

radius of light once more. The perspiration rolled down the man's face. He half lifted the hat.

"I guess I best get over by that lard oil light and go to work," breathed Mrs. Comstock. "The Lord knows this

is all in prayer, but it's no time for words just now. Ready, Pete! You are going to get a chance first!"

Pete made another long, steady sweep, but the moth darted beneath the hat. In its flight it came straight

toward Mrs. Comstock. She snatched off the remnant of apron she had tucked into her petticoat band and

held the calico before her. The moth struck full against it and clung to the goods. Pete crept up stealthily. The

"Wait!" gasped Mrs. Comstock. "I think they have settled. The books say they won't leave now."

The big pale yellow creature clung firmly, lowering and raising its wings. The other came nearer. Mrs.

Comstock held the cloth with rigid hands, while Pete could hear her breathing in short gusts.

The night breeze stiffened and gently waved the apron. Locusts rasped, mosquitoes hummed and frogs sang

CHAPTER XII. WHEREIN MARGARET SINTON REVEALS A SECRET, AND MRS. COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST 110

"No. Leave them alone. They are safe now. They are mine. They are my salvation. God and the Limberlost

gave them to me! They won't move for hours. The books all say so. O Heavenly Father, I am thankful to You,

and you, too, Pete Corson! You are a good man to help me. Now, I can go home and face my girl."

Instead, Mrs. Comstock dropped suddenly. She spread the apron across her knees. The moths remained

undisturbed. Then her tired white head dropped, the tears she had thought forever dried gushed forth, and she

"Oh, I wouldn't do that now, you know!" comforted Pete. "Think of getting two! That's more than you ever

could have expected. A body would think you would cry, if you hadn't got any. Come on, now. It's almost

Pete took the bag and the two old lanterns. Mrs. Comstock carried her moths and the best lantern and went

Elnora had sat beside her window far into the night. At last she undressed and went to bed, but sleep would

not come. She had gone to the city to talk with members of the School Board about a room in the grades.

There was a possibility that she might secure the moth, and so be able to start to college that fall, but if she

did not, then she wanted the school. She had been given some encouragement, but she was so unhappy that

nothing mattered. She could not see the way open to anything in life, save a long series of disappointments,

while she remained with her mother. Yet Margaret Sinton had advised her to go home and try once more.

Margaret had seemed so sure there would be a change for the better, that Elnora had consented, although she

had no hope herself. So strong is the bond of blood, she could not make up her mind to seek a home

elsewhere, even after the day that had passed. Unable to sleep she arose at last, and the room being warm, she

sat on the floor close the window. The lights in the swamp caught her eye. She was very uneasy, for quite a

hundred of her best moths were in the case. However, there was no money, and no one ever had touched a

book or any of her apparatus. Watching the lights set her thinking, and before she realized it, she was in a

She hurried down the stairway softly calling her mother. There was no answer. She lightly stepped across the

sittingroom and looked in at the open door. There was no one, and the bed had not been used. Her first

thought was that her mother had gone to the pool; and the Limberlost was alive with signals. Pity and fear

mingled in the heart of the girl. She opened the kitchen door, crossed the garden and ran back to the swamp.

As she neared it she listened, but she could hear only the usual voices of night.

There was not a sound. Chilled with fright she hurried back to the cabin. She did not know what to do. She

understood what the lights in the Limberlost meant. Where was her mother? She was afraid to enter, while

she was growing very cold and still more fearful about remaining outside. At last she went to her mother's

room, picked up the gun, carried it into the kitchen, and crowding in a little corner behind the stove, she

waited in trembling anxiety. The time was dreadfully long before she heard her mother's voice. Then she

decided some one had been ill and sent for her, so she took courage, and stepping swiftly across the kitchen

Mrs. Comstock entered dragging her heavy feet. Her dress skirt was gone, her petticoat wet and drabbled, and

the waist of her dress was almost torn from her body. Her hair hung in damp strings; her eyes were red with

crying. In one hand she held the lantern, and in the other stiffly extended before her, on a wad of calico

CHAPTER XII. WHEREIN MARGARET SINTON REVEALS A SECRET, AND MRS. COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST 111

"Yes, anywhere inside the door," replied Mrs. Comstock as she moved a few steps to make way for him.

She placed the lantern on the table and barred the door. As she turned Elnora came into view. Mrs. Comstock

leaned toward her, and held out the moths. In a voice vibrant with tones never before heard she said: "Elnora,

Elnora awoke at dawn and lay gazing around the unfamiliar room. She noticed that every vestige of

masculine attire and belongings was gone, and knew, without any explanation, what that meant. For some

reason every tangible evidence of her father was banished, and she was at last to be allowed to take his place.

She turned to look at her mother. Mrs. Comstock's face was white and haggard, but on it rested an expression

of profound peace Elnora never before had seen. As she studied the features on the pillow beside her, the

heart of the girl throbbed in tenderness. She realized as fully as any one else could what her mother had

suffered. Thoughts of the night brought shuddering fear. She softly slipped from the bed, went to her room,

dressed and entered the kitchen to attend the Emperors and prepare breakfast. The pair had been left clinging

to the piece of calico. The calico was there and a few pieces of beautiful wing. A mouse had eaten the moths!

With the first thought of her mother, she caught up the remnants of the moths, burying them in the ashes of

the stove. She took the bag to her room, hurriedly releasing its contents, but there was not another yellow one.

Her mother had said some had been confined in the case in the Limberlost. There was still a hope that an

Elnora took a large piece of mosquito netting, and ran to the swamp. Throwing it over the top of the case, she

unlocked the door. She reeled, faint with distress. The living moths that had been confined there in their

fluttering to escape to night and the mates they sought not only had wrecked the other specimens of the case,

but torn themselves to fringes on the pins. A third of the rarest moths of the collection for the man of India

"This is overwhelming," she said at last. "It is making a fatalist of me. I am beginning to think things happen

as they are ordained from the beginning, this plainly indicating that there is to be no college, at least, this

year, for me. My life is all mountaintop or canon. I wish some one would lead me into a few days of `green

pastures.' Last night I went to sleep on mother's arm, the moths all secured, love and college, certainties. This

morning I wake to find all my hopes wrecked. I simply don't dare let mother know that instead of helping me,

she has ruined my collection. Everything is goneunless the love lasts. That actually seemed true. I believe I

The love remained. Indeed, in the overflow of the long hardened, pentup heart, the girl was almost

suffocated with tempestuous caresses and generous offerings. Before the day was over, Elnora realized that

she never had known her mother. The woman who now busily went through the cabin, her eyes bright, eager,

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 112

alert, constantly planning, was a stranger. Her very face was different, while it did not seem possible that

during one night the acid of twenty years could disappear from a voice and leave it sweet and pleasant.

For the next few days Elnora worked at mounting the moths her mother had taken. She had to go to the Bird

Woman and tell about the disaster, but Mrs. Comstock was allowed to think that Elnora delivered the moths

when she made the trip. If she had told her what actually happened, the chances were that Mrs. Comstock

again would have taken possession of the Limberlost, hunting there until she replaced all the moths that had

been destroyed. But Elnora knew from experience what it meant to collect such a list in pairs. It would

require steady work for at least two summers to replace the lost moths. When she left the Bird Woman she

went to the president of the Onabasha schools and asked him to do all in his power to secure her a room in

The next morning the last moth was mounted, and the housework finished. Elnora said to her mother, "If you

don't mind, I believe I will go into the woods pasture beside Sleepy Snake Creek and see if I can catch some

"Wait until I get a knife and a pail and I will go along," answered Mrs. Comstock. "The dandelions are plenty

tender for greens among the deep grasses, and I might just happen to see something myself. My eyes are

"I wish you could realize how young you are," said Elnora. "I know women in Onabasha who are ten years

older than you, yet they look twenty years younger. So could you, if you would dress your hair becomingly,

"I think my hair puts me in the old woman class permanently," said Mrs. Comstock.

"Well, it doesn't!" cried Elnora. "There is a woman of twentyeight who has hair as white as yours from sick

headaches, but her face is young and beautiful. If your face would grow a little fuller and those lines would

"You little pig!" laughed Mrs. Comstock. "Any one would think you would be satisfied with having a splinter

"That is a good word," said Elnora. "I admit the charge. I am greedy over every wasted year. I want you

young, lovely, suitably dressed and enjoying life like the other girls' mothers."

Mrs. Comstock laughed softly as she pushed back her sunbonnet so that shrubs and bushes beside the way

could be scanned closely. Elnora walked ahead with a case over her shoulder, a net in her hand. Her head was

bare, the rolling collar of her lavender gingham dress was cut in a V at the throat, the sleeves only reached the

elbows. Every few steps she paused and examined the shrubbery carefully, while Mrs. Comstock was

watching until her eyes ached, but there were no dandelions in the pail she carried.

Early June was rioting in fresh grasses, bright flowers, bird songs, and gaywinged creatures of air. Down the

footpath the two went through the perfect morning, the love of God and all nature in their hearts. At last they

reached the creek, following it toward the bridge. Here Mrs. Comstock found a large bed of tender dandelions

and stopped to fill her pail. Then she sat on the bank, picking over the greens, while she listened to the creek

Elnora remained within calling distance, and was having good success. At last she crossed the creek,

following it up to a bridge. There she began a careful examination of the under sides of the sleepers and

flooring for cocoons. Mrs. Comstock could see her and the creek for several rods above. The mother sat

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 113

beating the long green leaves across her hand, carefully picking out the white buds, because Elnora liked

Around the bend came a man. He was bareheaded, dressed in a white sweater, and waders which reached his

waist. He walked on the bank, only entering the water when forced. He had a queer basket strapped on his

hip, and with a small rod he sent a long line spinning before him down the creek, deftly manipulating with it

a little floating object. He was closer Elnora than her mother, but Mrs. Comstock thought possibly by

hurrying she could remain unseen and yet warn the girl that a stranger was coming. As she approached the

bridge, she caught a sapling and leaned over the water to call Elnora. With her lips parted to speak she

hesitated a second to watch a sort of insect that flashed past on the water, when a splash from the man

She was under the bridge, one knee planted in the embankment and a foot braced to support her. Her hair was

tousled by wind and bushes, her face flushed, and she lifted her arms above her head, working to loosen a

cocoon she had found. The call Mrs. Comstock had intended to utter never found voice, for as Elnora looked

Mrs. Comstock drew back. He was a young man with a wonderfully attractive face, although it was too white

"Oh, I do hope you can!" answered Elnora. "It's quite a find! It's one of those lovely pale red cocoons

described in the books. I suspect it comes from having been in a dark place and screened from the weather."

"Is that so?" cried the man. "Wait a minute. I've never seen one. I suppose it's a Cecropia, from the location."

"Of course," said Elnora. "It's so cool here the moth hasn't emerged. The cocoon is a big, baggy one, and it is

He reeled in his line, laid his rod across a bush and climbed the embankment to Elnora's side, produced a

"Yes. I paid my way through the high school in Onabasha with them. Now I am starting a collection which

"Onabasha!" said the man. "That is where I am visiting. Possibly you know my peopleDr. Ammon's? The

doctor is my uncle. My home is in Chicago. I've been having typhoid fever, something fierce. In the hospital

six weeks. Didn't gain strength right, so Uncle Doc sent for me. I am to live out of doors all summer, and

"Yes. He is Aunt Margaret's doctor, and he would be ours, only we are never ill."

"Strangers always mention it," sighed Elnora. "I wonder how it would seem to be a pale, languid lady and

"Ask me!" laughed the man. "It feels like thedickens! I'm so proud of my feet. It's quite a trick to stand on

them now. I have to keep out of the water all I can and stop to baby every halfmile. But with interesting

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 114

"I do, indeed! Nearly three miles, banks too soft to brag on and never a strike. Wouldn't you call that hard

"Yes," laughed Elnora. "Work at which you might kill yourself and never get a fish. Did any one tell you

"Oh, you can," said Elnora. "You can try no end, but you'll never get a trout. This is too far south and too

warm for them. If you sit on the bank and use worms you might catch some perch or catfish."

"Well, if you only want exercise, go right on fishing. You will have a creel full of invisible results every

"I object," said the man emphatically. He stopped work again and studied Elnora. Even the watching mother

could not blame him. In the shade of the bridge Elnora's bright head and her lavender dress made a picture

"I object!" repeated the man. "When I work I want to see results. I'd rather exercise sawing wood, making one

pile grow little and the other big than to cast all day and catch nothing because there is not a fish to take.

He digged the groove around the cocoon with skilled hand. "Now there is some fun in this!" he said. It's

going to be a fair job to cut it out, but when it comes, it is not only beautiful, but worth a price; it will help

you on your way. I think I'll put up my rod and hunt moths. That would be something like! Don't you want

"Enough to know the ropes in taking them and to distinguish the commonest ones. I go wild on Catocalae.

There's too many of them, all too much alike for Philip, but I know all these fellows. One flew into my room

when I was about ten years old, and we thought it a miracle. None of us ever had seen one so we took it over

to the museum to Dr. Dorsey. He said they were common enough, but we didn't see them because they flew

at night. He showed me the museum collection, and I was so interested I took mine back home and started to

hunt them. Every year after that we went to our cottage a month earlier, so I could find them, and all my

family helped. I stuck to it until I went to college. Then, keeping the little moths out of the big ones was too

much for the mater, so father advised that I donate mine to the museum. He bought a fine case for them with

my name on it, which constitutes my sole contribution to science. I know enough to help you all right."

"All depends on how this fever leaves me. Uncle says the nights are too cold and the days too hot there for

me. He thinks I had better stay in an even temperature until I am strong again. I am going to stick pretty close

to him until I know I am. I wouldn't admit it to any one at home, but I was almost gone. I don't believe

anything can eat up nerve much faster than the burning of a slow fever. No, thanks, I have enough. I stay with

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 115

"I don't blame you," said Elnora. "I never have been sick, but it must be dreadful. I am afraid you are tiring

"Oh, it isn't so bad as that! I wouldn't be wading creeks if it were. I only need a few more days to get steady

"It is kind of you to get it," said Elnora. "I should have had to peel it, which would spoil the cocoon for a'

"You better say `yes,'" he persisted. "It would be a real kindness. It would keep me outdoors all day and give

an incentive to work. I'm good at it. I'll show you if I am not in a week or so. I can `sugar,' manipulate lights,

and mirrors, and all the expert methods. I'll wager, moths are numerous in the old swamp over there."

"They are," said Elnora. "Most I have I took there. A few nights ago my mother caught a number, but we

"All the more reason why you need me. Where do you live? I can't get an answer from you, I'll go tell your

mother who I am and ask her if I may help you. I warn you, young lady, I have a very effective way with

"Then it's probable you will have a new experience when you meet mine," said Elnora. "She never was

The cocoon came loose. Philip Ammon stepped down the embankment turning to offer his hand to Elnora.

She ran down as she would have done alone, and taking the cocoon turned it end for end to learn if the imago

it contained were alive. Then Ammon took back the cocoon to smooth the edges. Mrs. Comstock gave them

one long look as they stood there, and returned to her dandelions. While she worked she paused occasionally,

listening intently. Presently they came down the creek, the man carrying the cocoon as if it were a jewel,

while Elnora made her way along the bank, taking a lesson in casting. Her face was flushed with excitement,

her eyes shining, the bushes taking liberties with her hair. For a picture of perfect loveliness she scarcely

could have been surpassed, and the eyes of Philip Ammon seemed to be in working order.

There was an undulant, caressing sweetness in the girl's voice, as she sung out the call in perfect confidence

that it would bring a loving answer, that struck deep in Mrs. Comstock's heart. She never had heard that word

"Mother, this is Mr. Philip Ammon, of Chicago," said Elnora. "He has been ill and he is staying with Dr.

Ammon in Onabasha. He came down the creek fishing and cut this cocoon from under the bridge for me. He

feels that it would be better to hunt moths than to fish, until he is well. What do you think about it?"

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 116

"You may take the handshaking for granted," replied Mrs. Comstock. "Dandelions have a way of making

fingers sticky, and I like to know a man before I take his hand, anyway. That introduction seems mighty

comprehensive on your part, but it still leaves me unclassified. My name is Comstock."

"I am sorry to hear you have been sick," said Mrs. Comstock. "But if people will live where they have such

"You do seem a little wobbly on your legs," she observed. "Maybe you had better sit and rest while I finish

these greens. It's late for the genuine article, but in the shade, among long grass they are still tender."

"May I have a leaf?" he asked, reaching for one as he sat on the bank, looking from the little creek at his feet,

away through the dim cool spaces of the June forest on the opposite side. He drew a deep breath. "Glory, but

He stretched on the grass and lay gazing up at the leaves, occasionally asking the interpretation of a bird note

or the origin of an unfamiliar forest voice. Elnora began helping with the dandelions.

"Do you suppose this is the kind of grass Nebuchadnezzar ate?" Elnora asked, giving the leaf.

"Oh, you should taste dandelions boiled with bacon and served with mother's cornbread."

"Don't! My appetite is twice my size now. While it ishow far is it to Onabasha, shortest cut?"

"This surely is a treat," he said. "No wonder you find good hunting here. There seems to be foliage for almost

every kind of caterpillar. But I suppose you have to exchange for northern species and Pacific Coast kinds?"

"Yes. And every one wants Regalis in trade. I never saw the like. They consider a Cecropia or a Polyphemus

Elnora began to name textbooks which started a discussion. Mrs. Comstock listened. She cleaned

dandelions with greater deliberation than they ever before were examined. In reality she was taking stock of

the young man's long, wellproportioned frame, his strong hands, his smooth, finetextured skin, his thick

shock of dark hair, and making mental notes of his simple manly speech and the fact that he evidently did

know much about moths. It pleased her to think that if he had been a neighbour boy who had lain beside her

every day of his life while she worked, he could have been no more at home. She liked the things he said, but

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 117

"You are three miles from the city and less than a mile from where we live," she said. "If you will tell me

what you dare eat, I suspect you had best go home with us and rest until the cool of the day before you start

back. Probably some one that you can ride in with will be passing before evening."

"That is mighty kind of you," said Philip. "I think I will. It doesn't matter so much what I eat, the point is that

"Then we will go," said Mrs. Comstock, "and we will not allow you to make yourself sick with us."

Philip Ammon arose: picking up the pail of greens and his fishing rod, he stood waiting. Elnora led the way.

Mrs. Comstock motioned Philip to follow and she walked in the rear. The girl carried the cocoon and the box

of moths she had taken, searching every step for more. The young man frequently set down his load to join in

the pursuit of a dragonfly or moth, while Mrs. Comstock watched the proceedings with sharp eyes. Every

Elnora proceeded slowly, chattering about everything beside the trail. Philip was interested in all the objects

she pointed out, noticing several things which escaped her. He carried the greens as casually when they took

a short cut down the roadway as on the trail. When Elnora turned toward the gate of her home Philip Ammon

stopped, took a long look at the big hewed log cabin, the vines which clambered over it, the flower garden

ablaze with beds of bright bloom interspersed with strawberries and tomatoes, the trees of the forest rising

Mrs. Comstock was pleased. "If you think that," she said, "perhaps you will understand how, in all this

present day rush to be modern, I have preferred to remain as I began. My husband and I took up this land,

and enough trees to build the cabin, stable, and outbuildings are nearly all we ever cut. Of course, if he had

lived, I suppose we should have kept up with our neighbours. I hear considerable about the value of the land,

the trees which are on it, and the oil which is supposed to be under it, but as yet I haven't brought myself to

change anything. So we stand for one of the few remaining homes of first settlers in this region. Come in.

Mrs. Comstock stepped forward and took the lead. She had a bowl of soft water and a pair of boots to offer

for the heavy waders, for outer comfort, a glass of cold buttermilk and a bench on which to rest, in the

circular arbour until dinner was ready. Philip Ammon splashed in the water. He followed to the stable and

exchanged boots there. He was ravenous for the buttermilk, and when he stretched on the bench in the arbour

the flickering patches of sunlight so tantalized his tired eyes, while the bees made such splendid music, he

was soon sound asleep. When Elnora and her mother came out with a table they stood a short time looking at

him. It is probable Mrs. Comstock voiced a united thought when she said: "What a refined, decent looking

young man! How proud his mother must be of him! We must be careful what we let him eat."

Then they returned to the kitchen where Mrs. Comstock proceeded to be careful. She broiled ham of her own

sugarcuring, creamed potatoes, served asparagus on toast, and made a delicious strawberry shortcake. As

she cooked dandelions with bacon, she feared to serve them to him, so she made an excuse that it took too

long to prepare them, blanched some and made a salad. When everything was ready she touched Philip's

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 118

"Please hurry!" he begged laughingly as he held a plate toward her to be filled. "I thought I had enough self

restraint to start out alone, but I see I was mistaken. If you would allow me, just now, I am afraid I should

start a fever again. I never did smell food so good as this. It's mighty kind of you to take me in. I hope I will

Spots of sunshine fell on the white cloth and blue china, the bees and an occasional stray butterfly came

searching for food. A rosebreasted grosbeak, released from a three hours' siege of brooding, while his

independent mate took her bath and recreation, mounted the top branch of a maple in the west woods from

which he serenaded the dinner party with a joyful chorus in celebration of his freedom. Philip's eyes strayed

to the beautiful cabin, to the mixture of flowers and vegetables stretching down to the road, and to the singing

bird with his redsplotched breast of white and he said: "I can't realize now that I ever lay in ice packs in a

The grosbeak sang on, a big Turnus butterfly sailed through the arbour and poised over the table. Elnora held

up a lump of sugar and the butterfly, clinging to her fingers, tasted daintily. With eager eyes and parted lips,

the girl held steadily. When at last it wavered away, "That made a picture!" said Philip. "Ask me some other

time how I lost my illusions concerning butterflies. I always thought of them in connection with sunshine,

"I know!" laughed Elnora. "I've seen that, too, but it didn't destroy any illusion for me. I think quite as much

Then they talked of flowers, moths, dragonflies, Indian relics, and all the natural wonders the swamp

afforded, straying from those subjects to books and school work. When they cleared the table Philip assisted,

carrying several tray loads to the kitchen. He and Elnora mounted specimens while Mrs Comstock washed

"I wonder if I did not see a picture of you in Onabasha last night," Philip said to Elnora. "Aunt Anna took me

to call on Miss Brownlee. She was showing me her crowdof course, it was you! But it didn't half do you

justice, although it was the nearest human of any of them. Miss Brownlee is very fond of you. She said the

Then they talked of Commencement, and at last Philip said he must go or his friends would become anxious

Mrs. Comstock brought him a blue bowl of creamy milk and a plate of bread. She stopped a passing team and

secured a ride to the city for him, as his exercise of the morning had been too violent, and he was forced to

"May I come tomorrow afternoon and hunt moths awhile?" he asked Mrs. Comstock as he arose. "We will

`sugar' a tree and put a light beside it, if I can get stuff to make the preparation. Possibly we can take some

that way. I always enjoy moth hunting, I'd like to help Miss Elnora, and it would be a charity to me. I've got

to remain outdoors some place, and I'm quite sure I'd get well faster here than anywhere else. Please say I

In her heart she wished he would not come. She wanted her newly found treasure all to herself, for a time, at

least. But Elnora's were eager, shining eyes. She thought it would be splendid to have help, and great fun to

try book methods for taking moths, so it was arranged. As Philip rode away, Mrs. Comstock's eyes followed

CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING 119

"He comes of a good family, too. I've often heard of his father. He is a great lawyer."

"That he always had connected them with sunshine, flowers, and fruits, and thought of them as the most

exquisite of creations; then one day he found some clustering thickly over carrion."

The next morning Mrs. Comstock called to Elnora, "The mail carrier stopped at our box."

Elnora ran down the walk and came back carrying an official letter. She tore it open and read:

At the weekly meeting of the Onabasha School Board last night, it was decided to add the position of

Lecturer on Natural History to our corps of city teachers. It will be the duty of this person to spend two hours

a week in each of the grade schools exhibiting and explaining specimens of the most prominent objects in

nature: animals, birds, insects, flowers, vines, shrubs, bushes, and trees. These specimens and lectures should

be appropriate to the seasons and the comprehension of the grades. This position was unanimously voted to

you. I think you will find the work delightful and much easier than the routine grind of the other teachers. It is

my advice that you accept and begin to prepare yourself at once. Your salary will be $750 a year, and you

will be allowed $200 for expenses in procuring specimens and books. Let us know at once if you want the

"It is a new position. They never have had anything like it before. I suspect it arose from the help I've been

giving the grade teachers in their nature work. They are trying to teach the children something, and half the

instructors don't know a blue jay from a kingfisher, a beech leaf from an elm, or a wasp from a hornet."

CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS 120

"Indeed, I do!" laughed Elnora, "and several other things beside. When Freckles bequeathed me the swamp,

he gave me a bigger inheritance than he knew. While you have thought I was wandering aimlessly, I have

been following a definite plan, studying hard, and storing up the stuff that will earn these seven hundred and

fifty dollars. Mother dear, I am going to accept this, of course. The work will be a delight. I'd love it most of

anything in teaching. You must help me. We must find nests, eggs, leaves, queer formations in plants and rare

flowers. I must have flower boxes made for each of the rooms and filled with wild things. I should begin to

"Oh, what great work that will be!" she cried. "You must go with me so you can see the little faces when I tell

"I think," said Elnora, "the idea is to begin with fall things in the fall, keeping to the seasons throughout the

"Oh, fringed gentians, asters, ironwort, every fall flower, leaves from every tree and vine, what makes them

change colour, abandoned bird nests, winter quarters of caterpillars and insects, what becomes of the

butterflies and grasshoppersmyriads of stuff. I shall have to be very wise to select the things it will be most

"Indeed, yes!" cried Elnora. "I never can get through it alone. There will be an immense amount of work

Mrs. Comstock lifted her head proudly and began doing business at once. Her sharp eyes ranged from earth

to heaven. She investigated everything, asking innumerable questions. At noon Mrs. Comstock took the

specimens they had collected, and went to prepare dinner, while Elnora followed the woods down to the

She had to explain what became of her moths, and why college would have to be abandoned for that year, but

Margaret and Wesley vowed not to tell. Wesley waved the letter excitedly, explaining it to Margaret as if it

were a personal possession. Margaret was deeply impressed, while Billy volunteered first aid in gathering

"Now anything you want in the ground, Snap can dig it out," he said. "Uncle Wesley and I found a hole three

"Yes," answered Elnora. "Dr. Ammon's nephew from Chicago is visiting in Onabasha. He is going to show

me how men put some sort of compound on a tree, hang a light beside it, and take moths that way. It will be

CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS 121

"About twentysix, I should think," said Elnora. "He said he had been out of college and at work in his

"Finest kind of a person," said Elnora. "He can teach me so much. It is very interesting to hear him talk. He

knows considerable about moths that will be a help to me. He had a fever and he has to stay outdoors until he

"Billy, I guess you better help me this afternoon," said Margaret. "Maybe Elnora had rather not bother with

"There's no reason on earth why Billy should not come!" cried Elnora, and Wesley smiled again.

"I thought you never would come," said Mrs. Comstock. "If you don't hurry Mr. Ammon will be here before

"I forgot about him until just now," said Elnora. "I am not going to dress. He's not coming to visit. We are

only going to the woods for more specimens. I can't wear anything that requires care. The limbs take the most

Mrs. Comstock opened her lips, looked at Elnora and closed them. In her heart she was pleased that the girl

was so interested in her work that she had forgotten Philip Ammon's coming. But it did seem to her that such

a pleasant young man should have been greeted by a girl in a fresh dress. "If she isn't disposed to primp at the

coming of a man, heaven forbid that I should be the one to start her," thought Mrs. Comstock.

Philip came whistling down the walk between the cinnamon pinks, pansies, and strawberries. He carried

several packages, while his face flushed with more colour than on the previous day.

"I'll wager I know!" answered Philip. "Isn't it great! Every one in Onabasha is talking about it. At last there is

something new under the sun. All of them are pleased. They think you'll make a big success. This will give

an incentive to work. In a few days more I'll be myself again, and we'll overturn the fields and woods around

"Aren't you proud of her, though?" he asked. "You should hear what folks are saying! They say she created

the necessity for the position, and every one seems to feel that it is a necessity. Now, if she succeeds, and she

will, all of the other city schools will have such departments, and first thing you know she will have made the

CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS 122

whole world a little better. Let me rest a few seconds; my feet are acting up again. Then we will cook the

"It doesn't seem possible that a fellow could lose his strength like this. My knees are actually trembling, but

I'll be all right in a minute. Uncle Doc said I could come. I told him how you took care of me, and he said I

Then he began unwrapping packages and explaining to Mrs. Comstock how to cook the compound to attract

the moths. He followed her into the kitchen, kindled the fire, and stirred the preparation as he talked. While

the mixture cooled, he and Elnora walked through the vegetable garden behind the cabin and strayed from

"I had hoped to," replied Elnora, "but I had a streak of dreadful luck, so I'll have to wait until next year. If you

Philip promised, so Elnora recited the history of the Yellow Emperor. She was so interested in doing the

Emperor justice she did not notice how many personalities went into the story. A few pertinent questions told

him the remainder. He looked at the girl in wonder. In face and form she was as lovely as any one of her age

and type he ever had seen. Her school work far surpassed that of most girls of her age he knew. She differed

in other ways. This vast store of learning she had gathered from field and forest was a wealth of attraction no

other girl possessed. Her frank, matteroffact manner was an inheritance from her mother, but there was

something more. Once, as they talked he thought "sympathy" was the word to describe it and again

"comprehension." She seemed to possess a large sense of brotherhood for all human and animate creatures.

She spoke to him as if she had known him all her life. She talked to the grosbeak in exactly the same manner,

as she laid strawberries and potato bugs on the fence for his family. She did not swerve an inch from her way

when a snake slid past her, while the squirrels came down from the trees and took corn from her fingers. She

might as well have been a boy, so lacking was she in any touch of feminine coquetry toward him. He studied

her wonderingly. As they went along the path they reached a large slimecovered pool surrounded by

decaying stumps and logs thickly covered with water hyacinths and blue flags. Philip stopped.

Philip stood looking at the water, while the long, sweet grasses, thickly sprinkled with blue flag bloom, over

which wild bees clambered, swayed around his feet. Then he turned to the girl. She had worked hard. The

same lavender dress she had worn the previous day clung to her in limp condition. But she was as evenly

coloured and of as fine grain as a wild rose petal, her hair was really brown, but never was such hair touched

with a redder glory, while her heavy arching brows added a look of strength to her big grayblue eyes.

CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS 123

"Yes," she said, looking into his eyes. "Just in time to prevent my mother from saving the life of my father.

"I find much in life that is cruel, from our standpoints," said Elnora. "It takes the large wisdom of the

Unfathomable, the philosophy of the Almighty, to endure some of it. But there is always right somewhere,

"It has come," said the girl serenely. "It came a week ago. It came in fullest measure when my mother ceased

to regret that I had been born. Now, work that I love has comethat should constitute happiness. A little

As Philip Ammon followed he definitely settled upon the name of the unusual feature of Elnora's face. It

should be called "experience." She had known bitter experiences early in life. Suffering had been her familiar

more than joy. He watched her earnestly, his heart deeply moved. She led him into a swampy halfopen

space in the woods, stopped and stepped aside. He uttered a cry of surprised delight.

A few decaying logs were scattered around, the grass grew in tufts long and fine. Blue flags waved, clusters

of cowslips nodded gold heads, but the whole earth was purple with a thick blanket of violets nodding from

stems a foot in length. Elnora knelt and slipping her fingers between the leaves and grasses to the roots,

"They are superb!" he said. "I never saw such length of stem or such rank leaves, while the flowers are the

deepest blue, the truest violet I ever saw growing wild. They are coloured exactly like the eyes of the girl I

Elnora handed him several others to add to those he held. "She must have wonderful eyes," she commented.

"No other blue eyes are quite so beautiful," he said. "In fact, she is altogether lovely."

"Is it customary for a man to think the girl he is going to marry lovely? I wonder if I should find her so."

"You would," said Philip. "No one ever fails to. She is tall as you, very slender, but perfectly rounded; you

know about her eyes; her hair is black and wavywhile her complexion is clear and flushed with red."

"No, indeed!" he said. "She is not a particle better looking in her way than you are in yours. She is a type of

dark beauty, but you are equally as perfect. She is unusual in her combination of black hair and violet eyes,

although every one thinks them black at a little distance. You are quite as unusual with your fair face, black

brows, and brown hair; indeed, I know many people who would prefer your bright head to her dark one. It's

CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS 124

"Edith has a birthday soon; if these last will you let me have a box of them to send her?"

"I will help gather and pack them for you, so they will carry nicely. Does she hunt moths with you?"

"No!" he cried. "She says they are `creepy.' She would go into a spasm if she were compelled to touch those

"Why would she?" marvelled Elnora. "Haven't you told her that they are perfectly clean, helpless, and

"No, I have not told her. She wouldn't care enough about caterpillars to listen."

"What interests Edith Carr? Let me think! First, I believe she takes pride in being a little handsomer and

better dressed than any girl of her set. She is interested in having a beautiful home, fine appointments, in

"She likes to find new things which amuse her, and to always and in all circumstances have her own way

"Good gracious!" cried Elnora, staring at him. "But what does she do? How does she spend her time?"

"Spend her time!" repeated Philip. "Well, she would call that a joke. Her days are never long enough. There is

endless shopping, to find the pretty things; regular visits to the dressmakers, calls, parties, theatres,

entertainments. She is always rushed. I never am able to be with her half as much as I would like."

"But I mean work," persisted Elnora. "In what is she interested that is useful to the world?"

"I can understand that," laughed Elnora. "What I can't understand is how you can be in" She stopped in

confusion, but she saw that he had finished the sentence as she had intended. "I beg your pardon!" she cried.

"I didn't intend to say that. But I cannot understand these people I hear about who live only for their own

amusement. Perhaps it is very great; I'll never have a chance to know. To me, it seems the only pleasure in

this world worth having is the joy we derive from living for those we love, and those we can help. I hope you

His look came back to her as she knelt before him among the flowers and he gazed at her steadily.

"No doubt I should be," he said, "but the fact is I am not. I cannot understand a life purely for personal

pleasure myself. But she is only a girl, and this is her playtime. When she is a woman in her own home, then

Elnora never resembled her mother so closely as when she answered that question.

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"I would have to be well acquainted with her to know, but I should hope so. To make a real home for a tired

business man is a very different kind of work from that required to be a leader of society. It demands different

talent and education. Of course, she means to change, or she would not have promised to make a home for

As they went along the path together Elnora talked of many things but Philip answered absently. Evidently he

was thinking of something else. But the moth bait recalled him and he was ready for work as they made their

way back to the woods. He wanted to try the Limberlost, but Elnora was firm about remaining on home

ground. She did not tell him that lights hung in the swamp would be a signal to call up a band of men whose

presence she dreaded. So they started, Ammon carrying the dope, Elnora the net, Billy and Mrs. Comstock

First they tried for butterflies and captured several fine ones without trouble. They also called swarms of ants,

bees, beetles, and flies. When it grew dusk, Mrs. Comstock and Philip went to prepare supper. Elnora and

Billy remained until the butterflies disappeared. Then they lighted the lanterns, repainted the trees and

"Do you 'spec you'll get just a lot of moths?" asked Billy, as he walked beside Elnora.

"I am sure I hardly know," said the girl. "This is a new way for me. Perhaps they will come to the lights, but

few moths eat; and I have some doubt about those which the lights attract settling on the right trees. Maybe

the smell of that dope will draw them. Between us, Billy, I think I like my old way best. If I can find a hidden

moth, slip up and catch it unawares, or take it in full flight, it's my captive, and I can keep it until it dies

naturally. But this way you seem to get it under false pretences, it has no chance, and it will probably ruin its

"Well, any moth ought to be proud to be taken anyway, by you," said Billy. "Just look what you do! You can

make everybody love them. People even quit hating caterpillars when they see you handle them and hear you

tell all about them. You must have some to show people how they are. It's not like killing things to see if you

can, or because you want to eat them, the way most men kill birds. I think it is right for you to take enough

for collections, to show city people, and to illustrate the Bird Woman's books. You go on and take them! The

"Billy, I see your future," said Elnora. "We will educate you and send you up to Mr. Ammon to make a great

"And so you are!" cried Billy. "Why, just from what you have taught them Uncle Wesley and Aunt Margaret

never think of killing a caterpillar until they look whether it's the beautiful June moth kind, or the horrid tent

"Billy, you are a jewel!" cried Elnora, throwing her arm across his shoulders as they came down the path.

CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS 126

"Aunt Margaret said likely he would fall in love with you, and you wouldn't want me around any more. Oh,

"I do hope Aunt Kate has ginger cookies," said Billy with a little skip of delight.

Mrs. Comstock and Elnora were finishing breakfast the following morning when they heard a cheery whistle

It was sunrise, but the musician was Philip Ammon. He appeared stronger than on yesterday.

"I hope I am not too early," he said. "I am consumed with anxiety to learn if we have made a catch. If we

have, we should beat the birds to it. I promised Uncle Doc to put on my waders and keep dry for a few days

yet, when I go to the woods. Let's hurry! I am afraid of crows. There might be a rare moth."

The sun was topping the Limberlost when they started. As they neared the place Philip stopped.

"Now we must use great caution," he said. "The lights and the odours always attract numbers that don't settle

"Those you see are fast enough. It's the ones for which you must search that will escape. The grasses are

dripping, and I have boots, so you look beside the path while I take the outside," suggested Ammon.

Mrs. Comstock wanted to hunt moths, but she was timid about making a wrong movement, so she wisely sat

on a log and watched Philip and Elnora to learn how they proceeded. Back in the deep woods a hermit thrush

was singing his chant to the rising sun. Orioles were sowing the pure, sweet air with notes of gold, poured out

while on wing. The robins were only chirping now, for their morning songs had awakened all the other birds

an hour ago. Scolding redwings tilted on half the bushes. Excepting late species of haws, tree bloom was

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 127

almost gone, but wild flowers made the path border and all the wood floor a riot of colour. Elnora, born

among such scenes, worked eagerly, but to the city man, recently from a hospital, they seemed too good to

miss. He frequently stooped to examine a flower face, paused to listen intently to the thrush or lifted his head

to see the gold flash which accompanied the oriole's trailing notes. So Elnora uttered the first cry, as she

Philip came hurrying also. When they reached her she stood on the path holding a pair of moths. Her eyes

were wide with excitement, her cheeks pink, her red lips parted, and on the hand she held out to them clung a

pair of delicate bluegreen moths, with white bodies, and touches of lavender and straw colour. All around

her lay flowerbrocaded grasses, behind the deep green background of the forest, while the sun slowly sifted

gold from heaven to burnish her hair. Mrs. Comstock heard a sharp breath behind her.

"Oh, what a picture!" exulted Philip at her shoulder. "She is absolutely and altogether lovely! I'd give a small

He picked the box from Mrs. Comstock's fingers and slowly advanced with it. Elnora held down her hand and

transferred the moths. Philip closed the box carefully, but the watching mother saw that his eyes were

following the girl's face. He was not making the slightest attempt to conceal his admiration.

"I wonder if a woman ever did anything lovelier than to find a pair of Luna moths on a forest path, early on a

"Look here, young man," said Mrs. Comstock. "You seem to find that girl of mine about right."

"I could suggest no improvement," said Philip. "I never saw a more attractive girl anywhere. She seems

"Then suppose you don't start any scheme calculated to spoil her!" proposed Mrs. Comstock dryly. "I don't

think you can, or that any man could, but I'm not taking any risks. You asked to come here to help in this

work. We are both glad to have you, if you confine yourself to work; but it's the least you can do to leave us

"I beg your pardon!" said Philip. "I intended no offence. I admire her as I admire any perfect creation."

"And nothing in all this world spoils the average girl so quickly and so surely," said Mrs. Comstock. She

raised her voice. "Elnora, fasten up that tag of hair over your left ear. These bushes muss you so you remind

Mrs. Comstock started down the path toward the log again, when she reached it she called sharply: "Elnora,

The "something" was a Citheronia Regalis which had emerged from its case on the soft earth under the log. It

climbed up the wood, its stout legs dragging a big pursy body, while it wildly flapped tiny wings the size of a

"That's the rarest moth in America!" he announced. "Mrs. Comstock, you've gone up head. You can put that

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 128

"It surely is," answered Elnora. "If we can find it a mate tonight, it will lay from two hundred and fifty to

three hundred eggs tomorrow. With any luck at all I can raise two hundred caterpillars from them. I did

"No. That was a different moth, but its life processes were the same as this. The Bird Woman calls this the

"Because it is named for Citheron who was a poet, and regalis refers to a king. You mustn't touch it or you

may stunt wing development. You watch and don't let that moth out of sight, or anything touch it. When the

"That's a part of the game," said Philip. "It is starting circulation now. When the right moment comes, it will

Presently the moth found a rough projection of bark and clung with its feet, back down, its wings hanging.

The body was an unusual orange red, the tiny wings were gray, striped with the red and splotched here and

there with markings of canary yellow. Mrs. Comstock watched breathlessly. Presently she slipped from the

They came and looked over Mrs. Comstock's shoulder. Lower drooped the gay wings, wider they spread,

brighter grew the markings as if laid off in geometrical patterns. They could hear Mrs. Comstock's tense

"Young people," she said solemnly, "if your studying science and the elements has ever led you to feel that

things just happen, kind of evolve by chance, as it were, this sight will be good for you. Maybe earth and air

accumulate, but it takes the wisdom of the Almighty God to devise the wing of a moth. If there ever was a

miracle, this whole process is one. Now, as I understand it, this creature is going to keep on spreading those

wings, until they grow to size and harden to strength sufficient to bear its body. Then it flies away, mates

with its kind, lays its eggs on the leaves of a certain tree, and the eggs hatch tiny caterpillars which eat just

that kind of leaves, and the worms grow and grow, and take on different forms and colours until at last they

are big caterpillars six inches long, with large horns. Then they burrow into the earth, build a waterproof

house around themselves from material which is inside them, and lie through rain and freezing cold for

months. A year from egg laying they come out like this, and begin the process all over again. They don't eat,

they don't see distinctly, they live but a few days, and fly only at night; then they drop off easy, but the

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 129

A shivering movement went over the moth. The wings drooped and spread wider. Mrs. Comstock sank into

"There never was a moment in my life," she said, "when I felt so in the Presence, as I do now. I feel as if the

Almighty were so real, and so near, that I could reach out and touch Him, as I could this wonderful work of

His, if I dared. I feel like saying to Him: `To the extent of my brain power I realize Your presence, and all it

is in me to comprehend of Your power. Help me to learn, even this late, the lessons of Your wonderful

creations. Help me to unshackle and expand my soul to the fullest realization of Your wonders. Almighty

The moth climbed to the end of the projection, up it a little way, then suddenly reversed its wings, turned the

hidden sides out and dropped them beside its abdomen, like a large fly. The upper side of the wings, thus

exposed, was far richer colour, more exquisite texture than the under, and they slowly half lifted and drooped

The moth spread its wings, shivered them tremulously, opening and closing them rapidly. Philip handed the

"But, Elnora," protested Mrs. Comstock, "I don't want to let her go. She's mine. She's the first one I ever

found this way. Can't you put her in a big box, and let her live, without hurting her? I can't bear to let her go. I

"Then watch while we gather these on the trees," said Elnora. "We will take her home until night and then

Mrs. Comstock settled on the ground, gazing at the moth. Elnora and Philip went to the baited trees, placing

several large moths and a number of smaller ones in the cyanide jar, and searching the bushes beyond where

they found several paired specimens of differing families. When they returned Elnora showed her mother

how to hold her hand before the moth so that it would climb upon her fingers. Then they started back to the

cabin, Elnora and Philip leading the way; Mrs. Comstock followed slowly, stepping with great care lest she

stumble and injure the moth. Her face wore a look of comprehension, in her eyes was an exalted light. On she

A turtle scrambled from a log and splashed into the water, while a redwing shouted, "Okalee!" to her.

Mrs. Comstock paused and looked intently at the slime covered quagmire, framed in a flower riot and

homed over by sweetvoiced birds. Then she gazed at the thing of incomparable beauty clinging to her

fingers and said softly: "If you had known about wonders like these in the days of your youth, Robert

Elnora missed her mother, and turning to look for her, saw her standing beside the pool. Would the old

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 130

"Are you afraid she is going?" Elnora asked. "If you are, cup your other hand over her for shelter. Carrying

her through this air and in the hot sunshine will dry her wings and make them ready for flight very quickly.

While she talked she took hold of her mother's sleeve, anxiously smiling a pitiful little smile that Mrs.

Comstock understood. Philip set his load at the back door, returning to hold open the garden gate for Elnora

and Mrs. Comstock. He reached it in time to see them standing together beside the pool. The mother bent

swiftly and kissed the girl on the lips. Philip turned and was busily hunting moths on the raspberry bushes

when they reached the gate. And so excellent are the rewards of attending your own business, that he found a

Promethea on a lilac in a corner; a moth of such rare winecoloured, velvety shades that it almost sent Mrs.

Comstock to her knees again. But this one was fully developed, able to fly, and had to be taken into the cabin

hurriedly. Mrs. Comstock stood in the middle of the room holding up her Regalis.

Elnora glanced at Philip Ammon. Their eyes met and both of them smiled; he with amusement at the tall,

spare figure, with dark eyes and white crown, asking the childish question so confidingly; and Elnora with

"How would you like to sit and see her finish development? I'll get dinner," proposed the girl.

After they had dined, Philip and Elnora carried the dishes to the kitchen, brought out boxes, sheets of cork,

pins, ink, paper slips and everything necessary for mounting and classifying the moths they had taken. When

the housework was finished Mrs. Comstock with her ruffle sat near, watching and listening. She remembered

all they said that she understood, and when uncertain she asked questions. Occasionally she laid down her

work to straighten some flower which needed attention or to search the garden for a bug for the grosbeak. In

one of these absences Elnora said to Philip: "These replace quite a number of the moths I lost for the man of

"There is no reason why you should not have the week and the luck," said he. "I have taken moths until the

middle of August, though I suspect one is more likely to find late ones in the north where it is colder than

here. The next week is haytime, but we can count on a few doublebrooders and strays, and by working the

exchange method for all it is worth, I think we can complete the collection again."

"You almost make me hope," said Elnora, "but I must not allow myself. I don't truly think I can replace all I

lost, not even with your help. If I could, I scarcely see my way clear to leave mother this winter. I have found

her so recently, and she is so precious, I can't risk losing her again. I am going to take the nature position in

the Onabasha schools, and I shall be most happy doing the work. Only, these are a temptation."

"I wish you might go to college this fall with the other girls," said Philip. "I feel that if you don't you never

"Well, mother is mighty glad to hear it," said Mrs. Comstock, entering the arbour.

"I was telling your daughter that she should go to college this winter," he explained, "but she says she doesn't

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 131

"If she wants to go, I wish she could," said Mrs. Comstock, a look of relief spreading over her face.

"Oh, all girls want to go to college," said Philip. "It's the only proper place to learn bridge and embroidery;

not to mention midnight lunches of mixed pickles and fruit cake, and all the delights of the sororities."

"I have thought for years of going to college," said Elnora, "but I never thought of any of those things."

"That is because your education in fudge and bridge has been sadly neglected," said Philip. "You should hear

my sister Polly! This was her final year! Lunches and sororities were all I heard her mention, until Tom

Levering came on deck; now he is the leading subject. I can't see from her daily conversation that she knows

half as much really worth knowing as you do, but she's ahead of you miles on fun."

"Oh, we had some good times in the high school," said Elnora. "Life hasn't been all work and study. Is Edith

"She is a girl in Chicago, that Mr. Ammon knows very well," said Elnora. "She is beautiful and rich, and a

"I don't remember, but she is," said Philip. "This moth needs an alcohol bath to remove the dope."

"No. You watch and you will see it come out, as Polly would say, `a perfectly good' moth."

"Yes," said Philip, "but she is three years older than you. She is the dearest sister in all the world. I'd love to

"Why don't you send for her," suggested Elnora. "Perhaps she'd like to help us catch moths."

"Yes, I think Polly in a Virot hat, Picot embroidered frock and threeinch heels would take more moths than

"Yes, but that is different. Father was reared in Onabasha, and he loved the country. He trained me his way

and mother took charge of Polly. I don't quite understand it. Mother is a great home body herself, but she did

"You are too matter of fact! Too `strictly' material. He needs a darling girl who will love him plenty, and

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"No!" cried Philip. "You are ornament enough for the Limberlost. I have changed my mind. I don't want

"She might," persisted Elnora. "You are her brother, and surely you care for these things."

"The argument does not hold," said Philip. "Polly and I do not like the same things when we are at home, but

we are very fond of each other. The member of my family who would go crazy about this is my father. I wish

he could come, if only for a week. I'd send for him, but he is tied up in preparing some papers for a great

corporation case this summer. He likes the country. It was his vote that brought me here."

Philip leaned back against the arbour, watching the grosbeak as it hunted food between a tomato vine and a

day lily. Elnora set him to making labels, and when he finished them he asked permission to write a letter. He

took no pains to conceal his page, and from where she sat opposite him, Elnora could not look his way

without reading: "My dearest Edith." He wrote busily for a time and then sat staring across the garden.

"That's about it," said Philip. "I have said that I am getting well as rapidly as possible, that the air is fine, the

folks at Uncle Doc's all well, and entirely too good to me; that I am spending most of my time in the country

helping catch moths for a collection, which is splendid exercise; now I can't think of another thing that will be

"Put in the grosbeak," suggested Elnora. "Tell her you are so friendly with him you feed him potato bugs."

"Blest if I do!" he cried. "She'd think a grosbeak was a depraved person with a large nose. She'd never dream

that it was a blackrobed lover, with a breast of snow and a crimson heart. She doesn't care for hungry babies

Elnora deftly picked up a moth, pinned it and placed its wings. She straightened the antennae, drew each leg

into position and set it in perfectly lifelike manner. As she lifted her work to see if she had it right, she

"I am writing this," she began, "in an old grape arbour in the country, near a log cabin where I had my dinner.

From where I sit I can see directly into the home of the nextdoor neighbour on the west. His name is R. B.

Grosbeak. From all I have seen of him, he is a gentleman of the old school; the oldest school there is, no

doubt. He always wears a black suit and cap and a white vest, decorated with one large red heart, which I

think must be the emblem of some ancient order. I have been here a number of times, and I never have seen

him wear anything else, or his wife appear in other than a brown dress with touches of white.

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 133

"It has appealed to me at times that she was a shade neglectful of her home duties, but he does not seem to

feel that way. He cheerfully stays in the sittingroom, while she is away having a good time, and sings while

he cares for the four small children. I must tell you about his music. I am sure he never saw inside a

conservatory. I think he merely picked up what he knows by ear and without vocal training, but there is a

tenderness in his tones, a depth of pure melody, that I never have heard surpassed. It may be that I think more

of his music than that of some other good vocalists hereabout, because I see more of him and appreciate his

"I just had an encounter with him at the west fence, and induced him to carry a small gift to his children.

When I see the perfect harmony in which he lives, and the depth of content he and the brown lady find in life,

I am almost persuaded to Now this is going to be poetry," said Elnora. "Move your pen over here and

Philip's face had been an interesting study while he wrote her sentences. Now he gravely set the pen where

"That's the truth!" cried Philip. "It's as big a temptation as I ever had. Go on!"

"That's all," said Elnora. "You can finish. The moths are done. I am going hunting for whatever I can find for

"Very well! Sign your name and come on. But I forgot to tell you all the bargain. Maybe you won't send the

letter when you hear that. The remainder is that you show me the reply to my part of it."

"Oh, that's easy! I wouldn't have the slightest objection to showing you the whole letter."

"I have a little work that should be done," said Mrs. Comstock. "Could you spare me? Where do you want to

"We will go down to Aunt Margaret's and see her a few minutes and get Billy. We will be back in time for

Mrs. Comstock smiled as she watched them down the road. What a splendidlooking pair of young creatures

they were! How finely proportioned, how full of vitality! Then her face grew troubled as she saw them in

earnest conversation. Just as she was wishing she had not trusted her precious girl with so much of a stranger,

she saw Elnora stoop to lift a branch and peer under. The mother grew content. Elnora was thinking only of

CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER 134

A few days later Philip handed Elnora a sheet of paper and she read: "In your condition I should think the

moth hunting and life at that cabin would be very good for you, but for any sake keep away from that

Grosbeak person, and don't come home with your head full of granger ideas. No doubt he has a remarkable

voice, but I can't bear untrained singers, and don't you get the idea that a June song is perennial. You are not

hearing the music he will make when the four babies have the scarlet fever and the measles, and the gadding

wife leaves him at home to care for them then. Poor soul, I pity her! How she exists where rampant cows

bellow at you, frogs croak, mosquitoes consume you, the butter goes to oil in summer and bricks in winter,

while the pump freezes every day, and there is no earthly amusement, and no society! Poor things! Can't you

influence him to move? No wonder she gads when she has a chance! I should die. If you are thinking of

settling in the country, think also of a woman who is satisfied with white and brown to accompany you!

Elnora laughed while she read. Her face was dimpling, as she returned the sheet. "Who's ahead?" she asked.

"She is," said Elnora. "Are you going to tell her in your next that R. B. Grosbeak is a bird, and that he

"No," said Philip. "I shall tell her that I understand her ideas of life perfectly, and, of course, I never shall ask

"Exactly!" said Philip. "At the same time I find so much to counterbalance those things, that I should not

object to bearing them myself, in view of the recompense. Where do we go and what do we do today?"

"We will have to hunt beside the roads and around the edge of the Limberlost today," said Elnora. "Mother

is making strawberry preserves, and she can't come until she finishes. Suppose we go down to the swamp and

I'll show you what is left of the flowerroom that Terence O'More, the big lumber man of Great Rapids,

"Yes, and I've met the O'Mores who are frequently in Chicago society. They have friends there. I think them

"That sounds as if they might be the only one," said Elnora, "and, indeed, they are not. I know dozens. Aunt

Margaret and Uncle Wesley are another, the Brownlees another, and my mathematics professor and his wife.

The world is full of happy people, but no one ever hears of them. You must fight and make a scandal to get

into the papers. No one knows about all the happy people. I am happy myself, and look how perfectly

"You only need go where you will be seen," began Philip, when he remembered and finished. "What do we

"Ourselves," said Elnora. "I have a vagabond streak in my blood and it's in evidence. I am going to show you

where real flowers grow, real birds sing, and if I feel quite right about it, perhaps I shall raise a note or two

CHAPTER XVI. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST SINGS FOR PHILIP, AND THE TALKING TREES TELL GREAT SECRETS 135

"At times," answered Elnora. "`As do the birds; because I must,' but don't be scared. The mood does not

They went down the road to the swamp, climbed the snake fence, followed the path to the old trail and then

turned south upon it. Elnora indicated to Philip the trail with remnants of sagging barbed wire.

"It was ten years ago," she said. "I was a little school girl, but I wandered widely even then, and no one cared.

I saw him often. He had been in a city institution all his life, when he took the job of keeping timber thieves

out of this swamp, before many trees had been cut. It was a strong man's work, and he was a frail boy, but he

grew hardier as he lived out of doors. This trail we are on is the path his feet first wore, in those days when he

was insane with fear and eaten up with loneliness, but he stuck to his work and won out. I used to come down

to the road and creep among the bushes as far as I dared, to watch him pass. He walked mostly, at times he

"Some days his face was dreadfully sad, others it was so determined a little child could see the force in it, and

once he was radiant. That day the Swamp Angel was with him. I can't tell you what she was like. I never saw

any one who resembled her. He stopped close here to show her a bird's nest. Then they went on to a sort of

flowerroom he had made, and he sang for her. By the time he left, I had gotten bold enough to come out on

the trail, and I met the big Scotchman Freckles lived with. He saw me catching moths and butterflies, so he

took me to the flowerroom and gave me everything there. I don't dare come alone often, so I can't keep it up

Elnora led the way and Philip followed. The outlines of the room were not distinct, because many of the trees

"The swamp is almost ruined now," she said. "The maples, walnuts, and cherries are all gone. The talking

"No wonder!" laughed Elnora. "They are my discovery. You know all trees whisper and talk during the

summer, but there are two that have so much to say they keep on the whole winter, when the others are silent.

The beeches and oaks so love to talk, they cling to their dead, dry leaves. In the winter the winds are stiffest

and blow most, so these trees whisper, chatter, sob, laugh, and at times roar until the sound is deafening. They

never cease until new leaves come out in the spring to push off the old ones. I love to stand beneath them

with my ear to the trunks, interpreting what they say to fit my moods. The beeches branch low, and their

leaves are small so they only know common earthly things; but the oaks run straight above almost all other

trees before they branch, their arms are mighty, their leaves large. They meet the winds that travel around the

Philip studied the girls face. "What do the beeches tell you, Elnora?" he asked gently.

"To be patient, to be unselfish, to do unto others as I would have them do to me."

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"They say `be true,' `live a clean life,' `send your soul up here and the winds of the world will teach it what

"Wonderful secrets, those!" marvelled Philip. "Are they telling them now? Could I hear?"

"No. They are only gossiping now. This is playtime. They tell the big secrets to a white world, when the

"All other trees are harps in the winter. Their trunks are the frames, their branches the strings, the winds the

musicians. When the air is cold and clear, the world very white, and the harp music swelling, then the talking

"If I am a woman at all worth while, it will be because I have had such wonderful opportunities," said Elnora.

"Not every girl is driven to the forest to learn what God has to say there. Here are the remains of Freckles's

room. The time the Angel came here he sang to her, and I listened. I never heard music like that. No wonder

she loved him. Every one who knew him did, and they do yet. Try that log, it makes a fairly good seat. This

old store box was his treasure house, just as it's now mine. I will show you my dearest possession. I do not

dare take it home because mother can't overcome her dislike for it. It was my father's, and in some ways I am

Elnora lifted the violin and began to play. She wore a school dress of green gingham, with the sleeves rolled

to the elbows. She seemed a part of the setting all around her. Her head shone like a small dark sun, and her

face never had seemed so roseflushed and fair. From the instant she drew the bow, her lips parted and her

eyes turned toward something far away in the swamp, and never did she give more of that impression of

feeling for her notes and repeating something audible only to her. Philip was too close to get the best effect.

He arose and stepped back several yards, leaning against a large tree, looking and listening intently.

As he changed positions he saw that Mrs. Comstock had followed them, and was standing on the trail, where

So to Philip before her and the mother watching on the trail, Elnora played the Song of the Limberlost. It

seemed as if the swamp hushed all its other voices and spoke only through her dancing bow. The mother out

on the trail had heard it all, once before from the girl, many times from her father. To the man it was a

revelation. He stood so stunned he forgot Mrs. Comstock. He tried to realize what a city audience would say

to that music, from such a player, with a similar background, and he could not imagine.

He was wondering what he dared say, how much he might express, when the last note fell and the girl laid the

violin in the case, closed the door, locked it and hid the key in the rotting wood at the end of a log. Then she

"I played that in public once," said Elnora. "I think they liked it, fairly well. I had a note yesterday offering

me the leadership of the high school orchestra in Onabasha. I can take it as well as not. None of my talks to

the grades come the first thing in the morning. I can play a few minutes in the orchestra and reach the rooms

in plenty of time. It will be more work that I love, and like finding the money. I would gladly play for

CHAPTER XVI. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST SINGS FOR PHILIP, AND THE TALKING TREES TELL GREAT SECRETS 137

"With some people it makes a regular battlefield of the human heartthis struggle for selfexpression," said

Philip. "You are going to do beautiful work in the world, and do it well. When I realize that your violin

belonged to your father, that he played it before you were born, and it no doubt affected your mother

strongly, and then couple with that the years you have roamed these fields and swamps finding in nature all

you had to lavish your heart upon, I can see how you evolved. I understand what you mean by

selfexpression. I know something of what you have to express. The world never so wanted your message as

it does now. It is hungry for the things you know. I can see easily how your position came to you. What you

have to give is taught in no college, and I am not sure but you would spoil yourself if you tried to run your

mind through a set groove with hundreds of others. I never thought I should say such a thing to any one, but I

do say to you, and I honestly believe it; give up the college idea. Your mind does not need that sort of

development. Stick close to your work in the woods. You are becoming so infinitely greater on it, than the

best college girl I ever knew, that there is no comparison. When you have money to spend, take that violin

and go to one of the world's great masters and let the Limberlost sing to him; if he thinks he can improve it,

"Do you really mean that you would give up all idea of going to college, in my place?"

"I really mean it," said Philip. "If I now held the money in my hands to send you, and could give it to you in

some way you would accept I would not. I do not know why it is the fate of the world always to want

something different from what life gives them. If you only could realize it, my girl, you are in college, and

have been always. You are in the school of experience, and it has taught you to think, and given you a heart.

God knows I envy the man who wins it! You have been in the college of the Limberlost all your life, and I

never met a graduate from any other institution who could begin to compare with you in sanity, clarity, and

interesting knowledge. I wouldn't even advise you to read too many books on your lines. You acquire your

material first hand, and you know that you are right. What you should do is to begin early to practise

selfexpression. Don't wait too long to tell us about the woods as you know them."

"In your own way; with your own light. She won't live forever. You are younger, and you will be ready to

begin where she ends. The swamp has given you all you need so far; now you give it to the world in payment.

"Here she is now," said Elnora. "Gracious, it's a mercy I got that violin put away in time! I didn't expect her

so soon," whispered the girl as she turned and went toward her mother. Mrs. Comstock's expression was

"I forgot that you were making sunpreserves and they didn't require much cooking," she said. "We should

"Nothing that I can show you," said Elnora. "I am almost sure I have found an idea that will revolutionize the

"`Ambitions!' My, what a hefty word!" laughed Mrs. Comstock. "Now who would suspect a little redhaired

country girl of harbouring such a deadly germ in her body? Can you tell mother about it?"

CHAPTER XVI. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST SINGS FOR PHILIP, AND THE TALKING TREES TELL GREAT SECRETS 138

"Well, I guess we better let ambition lie. I've always heard it was safest asleep. If you ever get a bona fide

attack, it will be time to attend it. Let's hunt specimens. It is June. Philip and I are in the grades. You have an

hour to put an idea into our heads that will stick for a lifetime, and grow for good. That's the way I look at

your job. Now, what are you going to give us? We don't want any old silly stuff that has been hashed over

and over, we want a big new idea to plant in our hearts. Come on, Miss Teacher, what is the boileddown,

doubledistilled essence of June? Give it to us strong. We are large enough to furnish it developing ground.

Hurry up! Time is short and we are waiting. What is the miracle of June? What one thing epitomizes the

Philip clapped his hands. The tears started to Mrs. Comstock's eyes. She took Elnora in her arms, and kissed

"You'll do!" she said. "June is June, not because it has bloom, bird, fruit, or flower, exclusive to it alone.

It's half May and half July in all of them. But to me, it's just June, when it comes to these great,

velvetwinged night moths which sweep its moonlit skies, consummating their scheme of creation, and

dropping like a bloomed out flower. Give them moths for June. Then make that the basis of your year's

work. Find the distinctive feature of each month, the one thing which marks it a time apart, and hit them

squarely between the eyes with it. Even the babies of the lowest grades can comprehend moths when they see

a few emerge, and learn their history, as it can be lived before them. You should show your specimens in

pairs, then their eggs, the growing caterpillars, and then the cocoons. You want to dig out the red heart of

"I can't name all of them offhand, but I think of one more right now. February belongs to our winter birds. It

is then the great horned owl of the swamp courts his mate, the big hawks pair, and even the crows begin to

take notice. These are truly our birds. Like the poor we have them always with us. You should hear the

musicians of this swamp in February, Philip, on a mellow night. Oh, but they are in earnest! For twentyone

years I've listened by night to the great owls, all the smaller sizes, the foxes, coons, and every resident left in

these woods, and by day to the hawks, yellowhammers, sapsuckers, titmice, crows, and other winter birds.

Only just now it's come to me that the distinctive feature of February is not linen bleaching, nor sugar

making; it's the love month of our very own birds. Give them hawks and owls for February, Elnora."

With flashing eyes the girl looked at Philip. "How's that?" she said. "Don't you think I will succeed, with such

help? You should hear the concert she is talking about! It is simply indescribable when the ground is covered

"It's about the best music we have," said Mrs. Comstock. "I wonder if you couldn't copy that and make a

Philip rushed to the rescue. "We must go to work," he said, and began examining a walnut branch for Luna

moth eggs. Elnora joined him while Mrs. Comstock drew her embroidery from her pocket and sat on a log.

She said she was tired, they could come for her when they were ready to go. She could hear their voices

around her until she called them at supper time. When they came to her she stood waiting on the trail, the

sewing in one hand, the violin in the other. Elnora became very white, but followed the trail without a word.

Philip, unable to see a woman carry a heavier load than he, reached for the instrument. Mrs. Comstock shook

CHAPTER XVI. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST SINGS FOR PHILIP, AND THE TALKING TREES TELL GREAT SECRETS 139

her head. She carried the violin home, took it into her room and closed the door. Elnora turned to Philip.

"She won't!" said Philip. "You misunderstand her. She wouldn't have said what she did about the owls, if she

had meant to. She is your mother. No one loves you as she does. Trust her! MyselfI think she's simply

Mrs. Comstock returned with serene face, and all of them helped with the supper. When it was over Philip

and Elnora sorted and classified the afternoon's specimens, and made a trip to the woods to paint and light

several trees for moths. When they came back Mrs. Comstock sat in the arbour, and they joined her. The

moonlight was so intense, print could have been read by it. The damp night air held odours near to earth,

making flower and tree perfume strong. A thousand insects were serenading, and in the maple the grosbeak

occasionally said a reassuring word to his wife, while she answered that all was well. A whippoorwill

wailed in the swamp and beside the bluebordered pool a chat complained disconsolately. Mrs. Comstock

went into the cabin, but she returned immediately, laying the violin and bow across Elnora's lap. "I wish you

Billy was swinging in the hammock, at peace with himself and all the world, when he thought he heard

something. He sat bolt upright, his eyes staring. Once he opened his lips, then thought again and closed them.

The sound persisted. Billy vaulted the fence, and ran down the road with his queer sidewise hop. When he

neared the Comstock cabin, he left the warm dust of the highway and stepped softly at slower pace over the

rank grasses of the roadside. He had heard aright. The violin was in the grape arbour, singing a perfect jumble

of everything, poured out in an exultant tumult. The strings were voicing the joy of a happy girl heart.

Billy climbed the fence enclosing the west woods and crept toward the arbour. He was not a spy and not a

sneak. He merely wanted to satisfy his childheart as to whether Mrs. Comstock was at home, and Elnora at

last playing her loved violin with her mother's consent. One peep sufficed. Mrs. Comstock sat in the

moonlight, her head leaning against the arbour; on her face was a look of perfect peace and contentment. As

"That's all very melodious and sweet," she said, "but I do wish you could play Money Musk and some of the

Elnora had been carefully avoiding every note that might be reminiscent of her father. At the words she

laughed softly and began "Turkey in the Straw." An instant later Mrs. Comstock was dancing in the moon

light. Ammon sprang to her side, caught her in his arms, while to Elnora's laughter and the violin's impetus

Billy scarcely knew when he reached the road. His light feet barely touched the soft way, so swiftly he flew.

"Aunt Margaret! Uncle Wesley!" he screamed. "Listen! Listen! She's playing it! Elnora's playing her violin at

home! And Aunt Kate is dancing like anything before the arbour! I saw her in the moonlight! I ran down! Oh,

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 140

"Why Billy!" she chided. "Don't cry, you little dunce! That's what we've all prayed for these many years; but

Billy lifted his head. "Well, you just have to!" he said. "When I say I saw anything, Uncle Wesley knows I

did. The city man was dancing with her. They danced together and Elnora laughed. But it didn't look funny to

"Who was it said `wonders never cease,'" asked Wesley. "You mark my word, once you get Kate Comstock

started, you can't stop her. There's a wagon load of pennedup force in her. Dancing in the moonlight! Well,

Billy was at his side instantly. "Whoever does it will have to hang me, too," he cried.

Sinton threw his arm around Billy and drew him closely. "Tell us all about it, son," he said. Billy told. "And

when Elnora just stopped a breath, `Can't you play some of the old things I knew when I was a girl?' said her

ma. Then Elnora began to do a thing that made you want to whirl round and round, and quicker 'an scat there

was her ma awhirling. The city man, he ups and grabs her and whirls, too, and back in the woods I was

going just like they did. Elnora begins to laugh, and I ran to tell you, cos I knew you'd like to know. Now, all

An hour later when Billy was ready to climb the stairs to his room, he went to Margaret to say good night. He

leaned against her an instant, then brought his lips to her ear. "Wish I could get your little girls back for you!"

Down at the Comstock cabin the violin played on until Elnora was so tired she scarcely could lift the bow.

Then Philip went home. The women walked to the gate with him, and stood watching him from sight.

"That's what I call one decent young man!" said Mrs. Comstock. "To see him fit in with us, you'd think he'd

been brought up in a cabin; but it's likely he's always had the very cream o' the pot."

"Yes, I think so," laughed Elnora, "but it hasn't hurt him. I've never seen anything I could criticise. He's

teaching me so much, unconsciously. You know he graduated from Harvard, and has several degrees in law.

"Those gray moths with wings that fold back like big flies, and they appear as if they had been carved from

old wood. Then, when they fly, the lower wings flash out and they are red and black, or gold and black, or

pink and black, or dozens of bright, beautiful colours combined with black. No one ever has classified all of

them and written their complete history, unless the Bird Woman is doing it now. She wants everything she

"I remember," said Mrs. Comstock. "They are mighty pretty things. I've started up slews of them from the

vines covering the logs, all my life. I must be cautious and catch them after this, but they seem powerful spry.

I might get hold of something rare." She thought intently and added, "And wouldn't know it if I did. It would

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 141

just be my luck. I've had the rarest thing on earth in reach this many a day and only had the wit to cinch it just

Next morning Philip came early, and he and Elnora went at once to the fields and woods. Mrs. Comstock had

come to believe so implicitly in him that she now stayed at home to complete the work before she joined

them, and when she did she often sat sewing, leaving them wandering hours at a time. It was noon before she

finished, and then she packed a basket of lunch. She found Elnora and Philip near the violet patch, which was

still in its prime. They all lunched together in the shade of a wild crab thicket, with flowers spread at their

feet, and the gold orioles streaking the air with flashes of light and trailing ecstasy behind them, while the

red wings, as always, asked the most impertinent questions. Then Mrs. Comstock carried the basket back to

the cabin, and Philip and Elnora sat on a log, resting a few minutes. They had unexpected luck, and both were

"Do you remember your promise about these violets?" asked he. "Tomorrow is Edith's birthday, and if I'd

put them special delivery on the morning train, she'd get them in the late afternoon. They ought to keep that

"Of course, you may have them," said Elnora. "We will quit long enough before supper to gather a large

bunch. They can be packed so they will carry all right. They should be perfectly fresh, especially if we gather

Then they went back to hunt Catocalae. It was a long and a happy search. It led them into new, unexplored

nooks of the woods, past a redpoll nest, and where goldfinches prospected for thistledown for the cradles

they would line a little later. It led them into real forest, where deep, dark pools lay, where the hermit thrush

and the wood robin extracted the essence from all other bird melody, and poured it out in their pure belltone

notes. It seemed as if every old gray treetrunk, slab of loose bark, and prostrate log yielded the flashing gray

treasures; while of all others they seemed to take alarm most easily, and be most difficult to capture.

Philip came to Elnora at dusk, daintily holding one by the body, its dark wings showing and its long slender

Elnora studied the black wings intently. "I surely believe that's Sappho," she marvelled. "The Bird Woman

"When you make a find like that," she said, "it's the right time to quit and feel glorious all the rest of that day.

I tell you I'm proud! We will go now. We have barely time to carry out our plans before supper. Won't

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 142

"I'd like to see any one more pleased than I am!" said Philip Ammon. "I feel as if I'd earned my supper

He took the greater part of the load and stepped aside for Elnora to precede him. She followed the path,

broken by the grazing cattle, toward the cabin and nearest the violet patch she stopped, laid down her net, and

the things she carried. Philip passed her and hurried straight toward the back gate.

"I'm going to get this moth home in a hurry," he said. "This cyanide has lost its strength, and it's not working

He had forgotten the violets! Elnora stood looking after him, a curious expression on her face. One second

sothen she picked up the net and followed. At the bluebordered pool she paused and half turned back,

then she closed her lips firmly and went on. It was nine o'clock when Philip said goodbye, and started to

town. His gay whistle floated to them from the farthest corner of the Limberlost. Elnora complained of being

tired, so she went to her room and to bed. But sleep would not come. Thought was racing in her brain and the

longer she lay the wider awake she grew. At last she softly slipped from bed, lighted her lamp and began

opening boxes. Then she went to work. Two hours later a beautiful birch bark basket, strongly and artistically

made, stood on her table. She set a tiny alarm clock at three, returned to bed and fell asleep instantly with a

She was on the floor with the first tinkle of the alarm, and hastily dressing, she picked up the basket and a

box to fit it, crept down the stairs, and out to the violet patch. She was unafraid as it was growing light, and

lining the basket with damp mosses she swiftly began picking, with practised hands, the best of the flowers.

She scarcely could tell which were freshest at times, but day soon came creeping over the Limberlost and

peeped at her. The robins awoke all their neighbours, and a babel of bird notes filled the air. The dew was

dripping, while the first strong rays of light fell on a world in which Elnora worshipped. When the basket was

filled to overflowing, she set it in the stout pasteboard box, packed it solid with mosses, tied it firmly and

Then she took a short cut across the woods and walked swiftly to Onabasha. It was after six o'clock, but all of

the city she wished to avoid were asleep. She had no trouble in finding a small boy out, and she stood at a

distance waiting while he rang Dr. Ammon's bell and delivered the package for Philip to a maid, with the

On the way home through the woods passing some baited trees she collected the captive moths. She entered

the kitchen with them so naturally that Mrs. Comstock made no comment. After breakfast Elnora went to her

room, cleared away all trace of the night's work and was out in the arbour mounting moths when Philip came

down the road. "I am tired sitting," she said to her mother. "I think I will walk a few rods and meet him."

"Completely!" said Philip. "But luckily it would not have been fatal. I wrote Polly last week to send Edith

something appropriate today, with my card. But that touch from the woods will be very effective. Thank

you more than I can say. Aunt Anna and I unpacked it to see the basket, and it was a beauty. She says you are

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 143

"Well, I hope not!" laughed Elnora. "If you'd seen me sneaking out before dawn, not to awaken mother and

coming in with moths to make her think I'd been to the trees, you'd know it was a most especial occasion."

"Then Philip understood two things: Elnora's mother did not know of the early morning trip to the city, and

"You were a brick to do it!" he whispered as he closed the gate behind them. "I'll never forget you for it.

"I did not do that for you," said Elnora tersely. "I did it mostly to preserve my own selfrespect. I saw you

"Just look what I've brought!" said Philip, entering the arbour and greeting Mrs. Comstock. "Borrowed it of

the Bird Woman. And it isn't hers. A rare edition of Catocalae with coloured plates. I told her the best I could,

and she said to try for Sappho here. I suspect the Bird Woman will be out presently. She was all excitement."

Then they bent over the book together and with the mounted moth before them determined her family. The

Bird Woman did come later, and carried the moth away, to put into a book and Elnora and Philip were freshly

So these days were the beginning of the weeks that followed. Six of them flying on Time's wings, each filled

to the brim with interest. After June, the moth hunts grew less frequent; the fields and woods were searched

for material for Elnora's grade work. The most absorbing occupation they found was in carrying out Mrs.

Comstock's suggestion to learn the vital thing for which each month was distinctive, and make that the key to

the nature work. They wrote out a list of the months, opposite each the things all of them could suggest which

seemed to pertain to that month alone, and then tried to sift until they found something typical. Mrs.

Comstock was a great help. Her mother had been Dutch and had brought from Holland numerous quaint

sayings and superstitions easily traceable to Pliny's Natural History; and in Mrs. Comstock's early years in

Ohio she had heard much Indian talk among her elders, so she knew the signs of each season, and sometimes

they helped. Always her practical thought and sterling common sense were useful. When they were afield

until exhausted they came back to the cabin for food, to prepare specimens and classify them, and to talk over

the day. Sometimes Philip brought books and read while Elnora and her mother worked, and every night Mrs.

Comstock asked for the violin. Her perfect hunger for music was sufficient evidence of how she had suffered

without it. So the days crept by, golden, filled with useful work and pure pleasure.

The grosbeak had led the family in the maple abroad and a second brood, in a wild grape vine clambering

over the well, was almost ready for flight. The dust lay thick on the country roads, the days grew warmer;

summer was just poising to slip into fall, and Philip remained, coming each day as if he had belonged there

One warm August afternoon Mrs. Comstock looked up from the ruffle on which she was engaged to see a

"He is in the woods back of the cabin. I will ring the bell. Do you know if it is important?"

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 144

Mrs. Comstock stepped to the back door and clanged the dinner bell sharply, paused a second, and rang

Mrs. Comstock indicated the boy. "There is an important message for Philip," she said.

He muttered an excuse and tore open the telegram. His colour faded slightly. "I have to take the first train,"

He handed the sheet to Elnora. "I have about two hours, as I remember the trains north, but my things are all

"Certainly," said Elnora, giving back the message. "Is there anything I can do to help? Mother, bring Philip a

"Never mind. There is nothing of importance. I don't want to be hampered. I'll send for it if I miss anything I

Philip drank the milk, said goodbye to Mrs. Comstock; thanked her for all her kindness, and turned to

"Will you walk to the edge of the Limberlost with me?" he asked. Elnora assented. Mrs. Comstock followed

to the gate, urged him to come again soon, and repeated her goodbye. Then she went back to the arbour to

"I had an idea he would speak to me first," she thought, "but this may change things some. He hasn't time.

Elnora will come back a happy girl, and she has good reason. He is a model young man. Her lot will be very

She picked up her embroidery and began setting dainty precise little stitches, possible only to certain women.

On the road Elnora spoke first. "I do hope it is nothing serious," she said. "Is he usually strong?"

"Quite strong," said Philip. "I am not at all alarmed but I am very much ashamed. I have been well enough for

the past month to have gone home and helped him with some critical cases that were keeping him at work in

this heat. I was enjoying myself so I wouldn't offer to go, and he would not ask me to come, so long as he

could help it. I have allowed him to overtax himself until he is down, and mother and Polly are north at our

cottage. He's never been sick before, and it's probable I am to blame that he is now."

"Yes, but it's hot in Chicago. I should have remembered him. He is always thinking of me. Possibly he has

needed me for days. I am ashamed to go to him in splendid condition and admit that I was having such a fine

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 145

They had reached the fence. Philip vaulted over to take a short cut across the fields. He turned and looked at

"The best, the sweetest, and most wholesome time any man ever had in this world," he said. "Elnora, if I

talked hours I couldn't make you understand what a girl I think you are. I never in all my life hated anything

"If you have learned anything worth while from me," said Elnora, "that should be it. Just to have strength to

He caught the hand she held out to him in both his. "Elnora, these days we have had together, have they been

"Beautiful days!" said Elnora. "Each like a perfect dream to be thought over and over all my life. Oh, they

have been the only really happy days I've ever known; these days rich with mother's love, and doing useful

Philip gazed at her. He tried to drop her hand, only clutched it closer. Suddenly he drew her toward him.

Elnora drew back and stared at him with wide eyes. "I'd strike you sooner!" she said. "Have I ever said or

done anything in your presence that made you feel free to ask that, Philip Ammon?"

"No!" panted Philip. "No! I think so much of you I wanted to touch your lips once before I left you. You

"Don't distress yourself," said Elnora calmly. "I am broad enough to judge you sanely. I know what you

mean. It would be no harm to you. It would not matter to me, but here we will think of some one else. Edith

Carr would not want your lips tomorrow if she knew they had touched mine today. I was wise to say: `Go

He held on. "Promise that you will write me only one letter," he urged. "I want just one message from you to

She looked into his eyes, and smiled serenely. "If the talking trees tell me this winter, the secret of how a man

may grow perfect, I will write you what it is, Philip. In all the time I have known you, I never have liked you

She drew away her hand and swiftly turned back to the road. Philip Ammon, wordless, started toward

Elnora crossed the road, climbed the fence and sought the shelter of their own woods. She chose a diagonal

course and followed it until she came to the path leading past the violet patch. She went down this hurriedly.

Her hands were clenched at her side, her eyes dry and bright, her cheeks redflushed, and her breath coming

fast. When she reached the patch she turned into it and stood looking around her.

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 146

The mosses were dry, the flowers gone, weeds a foot high covered it. She turned away and went on down the

Mrs. Comstock smiled and waited in the arbour until it occurred to her that Elnora was a long time coming,

so she went to the gate. The road stretched away toward the Limberlost empty and lonely. Then she knew that

Elnora had gone into their own woods and would come in the back way. She could not understand why the

girl did not hurry to her with what she would have to tell. She went out and wandered around the garden.

Then she stepped into the path and started along the way leading to the woods, past the pool now framed in a

thick setting of yellow lilies. Then she saw, and stopped, gasping for breath. Her hands flew up and her lined

face grew ghastly. She stared at the sky and then at the prostrate girl figure. Over and over she tried to speak,

In the familiar enclosure she gazed around her like a caged animal seeking escape. The sun beat down on her

bare head mercilessly, and mechanically she moved to the shade of a halfgrown hickory tree that voluntarily

had sprouted beside the milk house. At her feet lay an axe with which she made kindlings for fires. She

stooped and picked it up. The memory of that prone figure sobbing in the grass caught her with a renewed

spasm. She shut her eyes as if to close it out. That made hearing so acute she felt certain she heard Elnora

moaning beside the path. The eyes flew open. They looked straight at a few spindling tomato plants set too

near the tree and stunted by its shade. Mrs. Comstock whirled on the hickory and swung the axe. Her hair

shook down, her clothing became disarranged, in the heat the perspiration streamed, but stroke fell on stroke

until the tree crashed over, grazing a corner of the milk house and smashing the garden fence on the east.

At the sound Elnora sprang to her feet and came running down the garden walk. "Mother!" she cried.

Mrs. Comstock wiped her ghastly face on her apron. "I've laid out to cut that tree for years," she said. "It

Elnora uttered one wild little cry and fled into her mother's arms. "Oh mother!" she sobbed. "Will you ever

"There isn't a thing on God's footstool from a to izzard I won't forgive you, my precious girl!" she said. "Tell

Elnora lifted her wet face. "He told me," she panted, "just as soon as he decently couldthat second day he

told me. Almost all his life he's been engaged to a girl at home. He never cared anything about me. He was

Mrs. Comstock's arms tightened. With a shaking hand she stroked the bright hair.

"Not one!" sobbed Elnora. "Oh mother, I won't forgive you if you don't believe that. Not one! He never said,

or looked, or did anything all the world might not have known. He likes me very much as a friend. He hated

"Elnora!" the mother's head bent until the white hair mingled with the brown. "Elnora, why didn't you tell me

CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION 147

Elnora caught her breath in a sharp snatch. "I know I should!" she sobbed. "I will bear any punishment for

"Afraid you wouldn't let him come!" panted Elnora. "And oh, mother, I wanted him so!"

For the following week Mrs. Comstock and Elnora worked so hard there was no time to talk, and they were

compelled to sleep from physical exhaustion. Neither of them made any pretence of eating, for they could not

swallow without an effort, so they drank milk and worked. Elnora kept on setting bait for Catacolae and

Sphinginae, which, unlike the big moths of June, live several months. She took all the dragonflies and

butterflies she could, and when she went over the list for the man of India, she found, to her amazement, that

with Philip's help she once more had it complete save a pair of Yellow Emperors.

This circumstance was so surprising she had a fleeting thought of writing Philip and asking him to see if he

could not secure her a pair. She did tell the Bird Woman, who from every source at her command tried to

"I think the mills of the Gods are grinding this grist," said Elnora, "and we might as well wait patiently until

Mrs. Comstock invented work. When she had nothing more to do, she hoed in the garden although the earth

was hard and dry and there were no plants that really needed attention. Then came a notification that Elnora

would be compelled to attend a week's session of the Teachers' Institute held at the county seat twenty miles

north of Onabasha the following week. That gave them something of which to think and real work to do.

Elnora was requested to bring her violin. As she was on the programme of one of the most important sessions

for a talk on nature work in grade schools, she was driven to prepare her speech, also to select and practise

They went to Onabasha together and purchased a simple and appropriate fall suit and hat, goods for a dainty

little coloured frock, and a dress skirt and several fancy waists. Margaret Sinton came down and the sewing

began. When everything was finished and packed, Elnora kissed her mother goodbye at the depot, and

entered the train. Mrs. Comstock went into the waitingroom and dropped into a seat to rest. Her heart was so

sore her whole left side felt tender. She was half starved for the food she had no appetite to take. She had

worked in dogged determination until she was exhausted. For a time she simply sat and rested. Then she

began to think. She was glad Elnora had gone where she would be compelled to fix her mind on other matters

School would begin the following week. She thought over what Elnora would have to do to accomplish her

work successfully. She would be compelled to arise at six o'clock, walk three miles through varying weather,

lead the high school orchestra, and then put in the remainder of the day travelling from building to building

over the city, teaching a specified length of time every week in each room. She must have her object lessons

ready, and she must do a certain amount of practising with the orchestra. Then a cold lunch at noon, and a

"Humph!" said Mrs. Comstock, "to get through that the girl would have to be made of castiron. I wonder

CHAPTER XVIII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK EXPERIMENTS WITH REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY 148

"The less she sees of what she's been having all summer, the sooner she'll feel better about it," she muttered.

The cashier laughed. "You haven't been in a hurry," he replied. "We have been ready for you any time these

twenty years, but you didn't seem to pay much attention. Your account is rather flourishing. Interest, when it

gets to compounding, is quite a money breeder. Come back here to a table and I will show you your

Mrs. Comstock sank into a chair and waited while the cashier read a jumble of figures to her. It meant that

her deposits had exceeded her expenses from one to three hundred dollars a year, according to the cattle,

sheep, hogs, poultry, butter, and eggs she had sold. The aggregate of these sums had been compounding

interest throughout the years. Mrs. Comstock stared at the total with dazed and unbelieving eyes. Through her

sick heart rushed the realization, that if she merely had stood before that wicket and asked one question, she

would have known that all those bitter years of skimping for Elnora and herself had been unnecessary. She

"I want to send a message," she said. She picked up the pencil, and with rash extravagance, wrote, "Found

money at bank didn't know about. If you want to go to college, come on first train and get ready." She

hesitated a second and then she said to herself grimly, "Yes, I'll pay for that, too," and recklessly added,

"With love, Mother." Then she sat waiting for the answer. It came in less than an hour. "Will teach this

Mrs. Comstock held the message a long time. When she arose she was ravenously hungry, but the pain in her

heart was a little easier. She went to a restaurant and ate some food, then to a dressmaker where she ordered

four dresses: two very plain everyday ones, a serviceable dark gray cloth suit, and a soft light gray silk with

touches of lavender and lace. She made a heavy list of purchases at Brownlee's, and the remainder of the day

she did business in her direct and spirited way. At night she was so tired she scarcely could walk home, but

Later she went out beside the west fence and gathered an armful of tansy which she boiled to a thick green

tea. Then she stirred in oatmeal until it was a stiff paste. She spread a sheet over her bed and began tearing

strips of old muslin. She bandaged each hand and arm with the mixture and plastered the soggy,

evilsmelling stuff in a thick poultice over her face and neck. She was so tired she went to sleep, and when

she awoke she was half skinned. She bathed her face and hands, did the work and went back to town, coming

By the third morning she was a raw even red, the fourth she had faded to a brilliant pink under the soothing

influence of a cream recommended. That day came a letter from Elnora saying that she would remain where

she was until Saturday morning, and then come to Ellen Brownlee's at Onabasha and stay for the Saturday's

session of teachers to arrange their year's work. Sunday was Ellen's last day at home, and she wanted Elnora

very much. She had to call together the orchestra and practise them Sunday; and could not come home until

after school Monday night. Mrs. Comstock at once answered the letter saying those arrangements suited her.

The following day she was a pale pink, later a delicate porcelain white. Then she went to a hairdresser and

had the rope of snowy hair which covered her scalp washed, dressed, and fastened with such pins and combs

as were decided to be most becoming. She took samples of her dresses, went to a milliner, and bought a street

CHAPTER XVIII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK EXPERIMENTS WITH REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY 149

hat to match her suit, and a gray satin with lavender orchids to wear with the silk dress. Her last investment

was a loose coat of soft gray broadcloth with white lining, and touches of lavender on the embroidered collar,

Then she went home, rested and worked by turns until Monday. When school closed on that evening, Elnora,

so tired she almost trembled, came down the long walk after a late session of teachers' meeting, to be stopped

"There's a lady wants to see you most important. I am to take you to the place," he said.

Elnora groaned. She could not imagine who wanted her, but there was nothing to do but find out; tired and

"This is the place," said the boy, and went his way whistling. Elnora was three blocks from the high school

building on the same street. She was before a quaint old house, fresh with paint and covered with vines.

There was a long wide lot, grasscovered, closely set with trees, and a barn and chicken park at the back that

seemed to be occupied. Elnora stepped on the veranda which was furnished with straw rugs, bent hickory

chairs, hanging baskets, and a table with a work box and magazines, and knocked at the screen door.

Inside she could see polished floors, walls freshly papered in lowtoned harmonious colours, straw rugs and

madras curtains. It seemed to be a restful, homelike place to which she had come. A second later down an

open stairway came a tall, darkeyed woman with cheeks faintly pink and a crown of fluffy snow white

hair. She wore a lavender gingham dress with white collar and cuffs, and she called as she advanced: "That

Elnora stepped inside the door. "Mother!" she cried. "You my mother! I don't believe it!"

"Well, you better!" said Mrs. Comstock, "because it's true! You said you wished I were like the other girls'

mothers, and I've shot as close the mark as I could without any practice. I thought that walk would be too

much for you this winter, so I just rented this house and moved in, to be near you, and help more in case I'm

needed. I've only lived here a day, but I like it so well I've a mortal big notion to buy the place."

"But mother!" protested Elnora, clinging to her wonderingly. "You are perfectly beautiful, and this house is a

"Humph! Have you forgotten I telegraphed you I'd found some money I didn't know about? All I've done is

"I may get homesick as a pup before spring," she said, "but if I do I can go back. If I don't, I'll sell some

timber and put a few oil wells where they don't show much. I can have land enough cleared for a few fields

and put a tenant on our farm, and we will buy this and settle here. It's for sale."

"Just the reverse, my girl," said Mrs. Comstock, "I've gone sane. If you are going to undertake this work, you

must be convenient to it. And your mother should be where she can see that you are properly dressed, fed,

and cared for. This is ourlet me thinkreceptionroom. How do you like it? This door leads to your

workroom and study. I didn't do much there because I wasn't sure of my way. But I knew you would want a

rug, curtains, table, shelves for books, and a case for your specimens, so I had a carpenter shelve and enclose

CHAPTER XVIII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK EXPERIMENTS WITH REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY 150

that end of it. Looks pretty neat to me. The diningroom and kitchen are back, one of the cows in the barn,

and some chickens in the coop. I understand that none of the other girls' mothers milk a cow, so a neighbour

boy will tend to ours for a third of the milk. There are three bedrooms, and a bath upstairs. Go take one, put

on some fresh clothes, and come to supper. You can find your room because your things are in it."

Elnora kissed her mother over and over, and hurried upstairs. She identified her room by the dressingcase.

There were a pretty rug, and curtains, white iron bed, plain and rocking chairs to match her case, a shirtwaist

chest, and the big closet was filled with her old clothing and several new dresses. She found the bathroom,

bathed, dressed in fresh linen and went down to a supper that was an evidence of Mrs. Comstock's highest art

in cooking. Elnora was so hungry she ate her first real meal in two weeks. But the bites went down slowly

"How on earth did you do it?" she asked at last. "I always thought you were naturally brown as a nut."

"Oh, that was tan and sunburn!" explained Mrs. Comstock. "I always knew I was white underneath it. I hated

to shade my face because I hadn't anything but a sunbonnet, and I couldn't stand for it to touch my ears, so I

went bareheaded and took all the colour I accumulated. But when I began to think of moving you in to your

work, I saw I must put up an appearance that wouldn't disgrace you, so I thought I'd best remove the crust. It

took some time, and I hope I may die before I ever endure the feel and the smell of the stuff I used again, but

it skinned me nicely. What you now see is my own with a little dust of rice powder, for protection. I'm sort of

"Hairdresser did that!" said Mrs. Comstock. "It cost like smoke. But I watched her, and with a little help from

you I can wash it alone next time, though it will be hard work. I let her monkey with it until she said she had

found `my style.' Then I tore it down and had her show me how to build it up again three times. I thought my

arms would drop. When I paid the bill for her work, the time I'd taken, the pins, and combs she'd used, I

nearly had heart failure, but I didn't turn a hair before her. I just smiled at her sweetly and said, `How

reasonable you are!' Come to think of it, she was! She might have charged me ten dollars for what she did

quite as well as nine seventyfive. I couldn't have helped myself. I had made no bargain to begin on."

Then Elnora leaned back in her chair and shouted, in a gust of hearty laughter, so a little of the ache ceased in

her breast. There was no time to think, the remainder of that evening, she was so tired she had to sleep, while

her mother did not awaken her until she barely had time to dress, breakfast and reach school. There was

nothing in the new life to remind her of the old. It seemed as if there never came a minute for retrospection,

but her mother appeared on the scene with more work, or some entertaining thing to do.

Mrs. Comstock invited Elnora's friends to visit her, and proved herself a bright and interesting hostess. She

digested a subject before she spoke; and when she advanced a view, her point was sure to be original and

tersely expressed. Before three months people waited to hear what she had to say. She kept her appearance so

Elnora never mentioned Philip Ammon, neither did Mrs. Comstock. Early in December came a note and a big

box from him. It contained several books on nature subjects which would be of much help in school work, a

number of conveniences Elnora could not afford, and a pair of glasscovered plaster casts, for each large

moth she had. In these the upper and underwings of male and female showed. He explained that she would

break her specimens easily, carrying them around in boxes. He had seen these and thought they would be of

use. Elnora was delighted with them, and at once began the tedious process of softening the mounted moths

and fitting them to the casts moulded to receive them. Her time was so taken in school, she progressed

slowly, so her mother undertook this work. After trying one or two very common ones she learned to handle

CHAPTER XVIII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK EXPERIMENTS WITH REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY 151

the most delicate with ease. She took keen pride in relaxing the tense moths, fitting them to the cases,

polishing the glass covers to the last degree and sealing them. The results were beautiful to behold.

I am writing to thank you for the books, and the box of conveniences sent me for my work. I can use

everything with fine results. Hope I am giving good satisfaction in my position. You will be interested to

learn that when the summer's work was classified and pinned, I again had my complete collection for the man

of India, save a Yellow Emperor. I have tried everywhere I know, so has the Bird Woman. We cannot find a

pair for sale. Fate is against me, at least this season. I shall have to wait until next year and try again.

Thank you very much for helping me with my collection and for the books and cases.

Philip was disappointed over that note and instead of keeping it he tore it into bits and dropped them into the

That was precisely what Elnora had intended he should do. Christmas brought beautiful cards of greeting to

Mrs. Comstock and Elnora, Easter others, and the year ran rapidly toward spring. Elnora's position had been

intensely absorbing, while she had worked with all her power. She had made a wonderful success and won

new friends. Mrs. Comstock had helped in every way she could, so she was very popular also.

Throughout the winter they had enjoyed the city thoroughly, and the change of life it afforded, but signs of

spring did wonderful things to the hearts of the countrybred women. A restlessness began on bright

February days, calmed during March storms and attacked full force in April. When neither could bear it any

longer they were forced to discuss the matter and admit they were growing ill with pure homesickness. They

decided to keep the city house during the summer, but to return to the farm to live as soon as school closed.

So Mrs. Comstock would prepare breakfast and lunch and then slip away to the farm to make up beds in her

ploughed garden, plant seeds, trim and tend her flowers, and prepare the cabin for occupancy. Then she

would go home and make the evening as cheerful as possible for Elnora; in these days she lived only for the

Both of them were glad when the last of May came and the schools closed. They packed the books and

clothing they wished to take into a wagon and walked across the fields to the old cabin. As they approached

"Quite sure," she said. "For a time last fall I was glad to be away, but that all wore out with the winter. Spring

So they began that summer as they had begun all others with work. But both of them took a new joy in

CHAPTER XVIII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK EXPERIMENTS WITH REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY 152

Edith Carr stood in a vineenclosed side veranda of the Lake Shore Club House waiting while Philip Ammon

gave some important orders. In a few days she would sail for Paris to select a wonderful trousseau she had

planned for her marriage in October. Tonight Philip was giving a club dance in her honour. He had spent

days in devising new and exquisite effects in decorations, entertainment, and supper. Weeks before the

favoured guests had been notified. Days before they had received the invitations asking them to participate in

this entertainment by Philip Ammon in honour of Miss Carr. They spoke of it as "Phil's dance for Edith!"

She could hear the rumble of carriages and the panting of automobiles as in a steady stream they rolled to the

front entrance. She could catch glimpses of floating draperies of gauze and lace, the flash of jewels, and the

passing of exquisite colour. Every one was newly arrayed in her honour in the loveliest clothing, and the most

expensive jewels they could command. As she thought of it she lifted her head a trifle higher and her eyes

She was robed in a French creation suggested and designed by Philip. He had said to her: "I know a

competent judge who says the distinctive feature of June is her exquisite big night moths. I want you to be the

very essence of June that night, as you will be the embodiment of love. Be a moth. The most beautiful of

them is either the palegreen Luna or the Yellow Imperialis. Be my moon lady, or my gold Empress."

He took her to the museum and showed her the moths. She instantly decided on the yellow. Because she

knew the shades would make her more startlingly beautiful than any other colour. To him she said: "A moon

lady seems so far away and cold. I would be of earth and very near on that night. I choose the Empress."

So she matched the colours exactly, wrote out the idea and forwarded the order to Paquin. Tonight when

Philip Ammon came for her, he stood speechless a minute and then silently kissed her hands.

For she stood tall, lithe, of grace inborn, her dark waving hair high piled and crossed by gold bands studded

with amethyst and at one side an enamelled lavender orchid rimmed with diamonds, which flashed and

sparkled. The soft yellow robe of lightest weight velvet fitted her form perfectly, while from each shoulder

fell a great velvet wing lined with lavender, and flecked with embroidery of that colour in imitation of the

moth. Around her throat was a wonderful necklace and on her arms were bracelets of gold set with amethyst

and rimmed with diamonds. Philip had said that her gloves, fan, and slippers must be lavender, because the

feet of the moth were that colour. These accessories had been made to order and embroidered with gold. It

had been arranged that her mother, Philip's, and a few best friends should receive his guests. She was to

appear when she led the grand march with Philip Ammon. Miss Carr was positive that she would be the most

beautiful, and most exquisitely gowned woman present. In her heart she thought of herself as "Imperialis

Regalis," as the Yellow Empress. In a few moments she would stun her world into feeling it as Philip

Ammon had done, for she had taken pains that the history of her costume should be whispered to a few who

would give it circulation. She lifted her head proudly and waited, for was not Philip planning something

But of all the fragmentary thoughts crossing her brain the one that never came was that of Philip Ammon as

the Emperor. Philip the king of her heart; at least her equal in all things. She was the Empressyes, Philip

was but a mere man, to devise entertainments, to provide luxuries, to humour whims, to kiss hands!

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 153

"I only reached the dock," replied the man, "when I had a letter that recalled me by the first limited."

"The only business of any importance in all the world to me. I'm triumphant that I came. Edith, you are the

most superb woman in every respect that I have ever seen. One glimpse is worth the whole journey."

"You like my dress?" She moved toward him and turned, lifting her arms. "Do you know what it is intended

"Yes, Polly Ammon told me. I knew when I heard about it how you would look, so I started a sleuth hunt, to

get the first peep. Edith, I can become intoxicated merely with looking at you tonight."

He halfclosed his eyes and smilingly stared straight at her. He was taller than she, a lean man, with

closecropped light hair, steelgray eyes, a square chin and "man of the world" written all over him.

Edith Carr flushed. "I thought you realized when you went away that you were to stop that, Hart Henderson,"

"I did, but this letter of which I tell you called me back to start it all over again."

She came a step closer. "Who wrote that letter, and what did it contain concerning me?" she demanded.

"One of your most intimate chums wrote it. It contained the hazard that possibly I had given up too soon. It

said that in a fit of petulance you had broken your engagement with Ammon twice this winter, and he had

come back because he knew you did not really mean it. I thought deeply there on the dock when I read that,

and my boat sailed without me. I argued that anything so weak as an engagement twice broken and patched

up again was a mighty frail affair indeed, and likely to smash completely at any time, so I came on the run. I

said once I would not see you marry any other man. Because I could not bear it, I planned to go into exile of

any sort to escape that. I have changed my mind. I have come back to haunt you until the ceremony is over.

The girl laughed merrily. "Not half so insane as you are now, Hart!" she cried gaily. "You know that Philip

Ammon has been devoted to me all my life. Now I'll tell you something else, because this looks serious for

you. I love him with all my heart. Not while he lives shall he know it, and I will laugh at him if you tell him,

but the fact remains: I intend to marry him, but no doubt I shall tease him constantly. It's good for a man to be

uncertain. If you could see Philip's face at the quarterly return of his ring, you would understand the fun of it.

"Possibly," said Henderson calmly. "But you are the only woman in the world for me, and while you are free,

"But I'm not `free!'" cried Edith Carr. "I'm telling you I am not. This night is my public acknowledgment that

Phil and I are promised, as our world has surmised since we were children. That promise is an actual fact,

because of what I just have told you. My little fits of temper don't count with Phil. He's been reared on them.

In fact, I often invent one in a perfect calm to see him perform. He is the most amusing spectacle. But, please,

please, do understand that I love him, and always shall, and that we shall be married."

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 154

"Just the same, I'll wait and see it an accomplished fact," said Henderson. "And Edith, because I love you,

with the sort of love it is worth a woman's while to inspire, I want your happiness before my own. So I am

going to say this to you, for I never dreamed you were capable of the feeling you have displayed for Phil. If

you do love him, and have loved him always, a disappointment would cut you deeper than you know. Go

careful from now on! Don't strain that patched engagement of yours any further. I've known Philip all my life.

I've known him through boyhood, in college, and since. All men respect him. Where the rest of us confess

our sins, he stands clean. You can go to his arms with nothing to forgive. Mark this thing! I have heard him

say, `Edith is my slogan,' and I have seen him march home strong in the strength of his love for you, in the

face of temptations before which every other man of us fell. Before the gods! that ought to be worth

something to a girl, if she really is the delicate, sensitive, refined thing she would have man believe. It would

take a woman with the organism of an ostrich to endure some of the men here tonight, if she knew them as I

do; but Phil is sound to the core. So this is what I would say to you: first, your instincts are right in loving

him, why not let him feel it in the ways a woman knows? Second, don't break your engagement again. As

men know the man, any of us would be afraid to the soul. He loves you, yes! He is longsuffering for you,

yes! But men know he has a limit. When the limit is reached, he will stand fast, and all the powers can't move

"No, there is one thing more," said Henderson. "Here or hereafter, now and so long as I breathe, I am your

slave. You can do anything you choose and know that I will kneel before you again. So carry this in the

depths of your heart; now or at any time, in any place or condition, merely lift your hand, and I will come.

Anything you want of me, that thing will I do. I am going to wait; if you need me, it is not necessary to

speak; only give me the faintest sign. All your life I will be somewhere near you waiting for it."

"Idjit! You rave!" laughed Edith Carr. "How you would frighten me! What a bugbear you would raise! Be

sensible and go find what keeps Phil. I was waiting patiently, but my patience is going. I won't look nearly so

At that instant Philip Ammon entered. He was in full evening dress and exceptionally handsome. "Everything

Philip looked what he thought, and offered his arm. Edith Carr nodded carelessly to Hart Henderson, and

moved away. Attendants parted the curtains and the Yellow Empress bowing right and left, swept the length

of the ballroom and took her place at the head of the formed procession. The large open dancing pavilion was

draped with yellow silk caught up with lilac flowers. Every corner was filled with bloom of those colours.

The music was played by harpers dressed in yellow and violet, so the ball opened.

The midnight supper was served with the same colours and the last half of the programme was being danced.

Never had girl been more complimented and petted in the same length of time than Edith Carr. Every minute

she seemed to grow more worthy of praise. A partners' dance was called and the floor was filled with couples

waiting for the music. Philip stood whispering delightful things to Edith facing him. From out of the night, in

at the wide front entrance to the pavilion, there swept in slow wavering flight a large yellow moth and

fluttered toward the centre cluster of glaring electric lights. Philip Ammon and Edith Carr saw it at the same

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 155

"It's a Yellow Emperor! This is fate!" cried Philip. "The last one Elnora needs for her collection. I must have

He ran toward the light. "Hats! Handkerchiefs! Fans! Anything!" he panted. "Every one hold up something

"It's yellow! He wants it for Edith!" ran in a murmur around the hall. The girl's face flushed, while she bit her

Instantly every one began holding up something to keep the moth from flying back into the night. One fan

"Hold steady!" cried Philip. "Don't move for your life!" He rushed toward the moth, made a quick sweep and

held it up between his fingers. "All right!" he called. "Thanks, every one! Excuse me a minute."

"An ounce of gasolene, quick!" he ordered. "A cigar box, a cork, and the glue bottle."

He poured some glue into the bottom of the box, set the cork in it firmly, dashed the gasolene over the moth

repeatedly, pinned it to the cork, poured the remainder of the liquid over it, closed the box, and fastened it.

"Pack that box with cork around it, in one twice its size, tie securely and express to this address at once."

Edith Carr stood where he left her, thinking rapidly. She heard the murmur that arose when Philip started to

capture the exquisite golden creature she was impersonating. She saw the flash of surprise that went over

unrestrained faces when he ran from the room, without even showing it to her. "The last one Elnora needs,"

rang in her ears. He had told her that he helped collect moths the previous summer, but she had understood

that the Bird Woman, with whose work Miss Carr was familiar, wanted them to put in a book.

He had spoken of a country girl he had met who played the violin wonderfully, and at times, he had shown a

disposition to exalt her as a standard of womanhood. Miss Carr had ignored what he said, and talked of

something else. But that girl's name had been Elnora. It was she who was collecting moths! No doubt she was

the competent judge who was responsible for the yellow costume Philip had devised. Had Edith Carr been in

Being in a circle of her best friends, which to her meant her keenest rivals and harshest critics, she grew rigid

with anger. Her breath hurt her paining chest. No one thought to speak to the musicians, and seeing the floor

filled, they began the waltz. Only part of the guests could see what had happened, and at once the others

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 156

Edith Carr grew very white as she stood alone. Her lips turned pale, while her dark eyes flamed with anger.

She stood perfectly still where Philip had left her, and the approaching men guided their partners around her,

The idolized only daughter of the Carr family hoped that she would drop dead from mortification, but nothing

happened. She was too perverse to step aside and say that she was waiting for Philip. Then came Tom

Levering dancing with Polly Ammon. Being in the scales with the Ammon family, Tom scented trouble from

afar, so he whispered to Polly: "Edith is standing in the middle of the floor, and she's awful mad about

"That won't hurt her," laughed Polly. "It's an old pose of hers. She knows she looks superb when she is angry,

"She looks like the mischief!" answered Tom. "Hadn't we better steer over and wait with her? She's the

"Come dear," said Polly. "We are going to wait with you until Phil returns. Let's go after a drink. I am so

"Yes, do!" begged Tom, offering his arm. "Let's get out of here until Phil comes."

There was the opportunity to laugh and walk away, but Edith Carr would not accept it.

"My betrothed left me here," she said. "Here I shall remain until he returns for me, and thenhe will be my

"Oh, Edith!" she implored. "Don't make a scene here, and tonight. Edith, this has been the loveliest dance

ever given at the club house. Every one is saying so. Edith! Darling, do come! Phil will be back in a second.

He can explain! It's only a breath since I saw him go out. I thought he had returned."

As Polly panted these disjointed ejaculations, Tom Levering began to grow angry on her account.

"He has been gone just long enough to show every one of his guests that he will leave me standing alone, like

a neglected fool, for any passing whim of his. Explain! His explanation would sound well! Do you know for

whom he caught that moth? It is being sent to a girl he flirted with all last summer. It has just occurred to me

Speech unloosed the fountain. She stripped off her gloves to free her hands. At that instant the dancers parted

to admit Philip. Instinctively they stopped as they approached and with wondering faces walled in Edith and

"Mighty good of you to wait!" cried Philip, his face showing his delight over his success in capturing the

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 157

"I thought you would step aside and wait a few seconds for me, or dance with Henderson. It was most

important to have that moth. It completes a valuable collection for a person who needs the money. Come!"

"I `step aside' for no one!" stormed Edith Carr. "I await no other girl's pleasure! You may `complete the

She drew her engagement ring from her finger and reached to place it on one of Philip's outstretched hands.

He saw and drew back. Instantly Edith dropped the ring. As it fell, almost instinctively Philip caught it in air.

With amazed face he looked closely at Edith Carr. Her distorted features were scarcely recognizable. He held

"Edith, for the love of mercy, wait until I can explain," he begged. "Put on your ring and let me tell you how

"I know perfectly `how it is,'" she answered. "I never shall wear that ring again."

"You won't even hear what I have to say? You won't take back your ring?" he cried.

"Come to think of it," said Philip deliberately, "it is `infamous' to cut a girl, who has danced all her life, out of

a few measures of a waltz. As for asking forgiveness for so black a sin as picking up a moth, and starting it to

a friend who lives by collecting them, I don't see how I could! I have not been gone three minutes by the

He thrust the glittering ruby into her fingers and again held out his arms. She dropped the ring, and it rolled

some distance from them. Hart Henderson followed its shining course, and caught it before it was lost.

"I accept your decision in the presence of these witnesses," said Philip Ammon. "Where is my father?" The

elder Ammon with a distressed face hurried to him. "Father, take my place," said Philip. "Excuse me to my

He turned and walked from the pavilion. As he went Hart Henderson rushed to Edith Carr and forced the ring

into her fingers. "Edith, quick. Come, quick!" he implored. "There's just time to catch him. If you let him go

"Great prophet! aren't you, Hart?" she sneered. "Who wants him to return? If that ring is thrust upon me again

I shall fling it into the lake. Signal the musicians to begin, and dance with me."

Henderson put the ring into his pocket, and began the dance. He could feel the muscular spasms of the girl in

his arms, her face was cold and hard, but her breath burned with the scorch of fever. She finished the dance

and all others, taking Phil's numbers with Henderson, who had arrived too late to arrange a programme. She

left with the others, merely inclining her head as she passed Ammon's father taking his place, and entered the

big touring car for which Henderson had telephoned. She sank limply into a seat and moaned softly.

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 158

She raised her head in a few seconds. "Hart, I'm going to pieces," she said. "Won't you put your arm around

Henderson gathered her into his arms and her head fell on his shoulder. "Closer!" she cried.

Henderson held her until his arms were numb, but he did not know it. The tricks of fate are cruel enough, but

there scarcely could have been a worse one than that: To care for a woman as he loved Edith Carr and have

her given into his arms because she was so numb with misery over her trouble with another man that she did

not know or care what she did. Dawn was streaking the east when he spoke to her.

"Miss Carr is ill," he said to the footman. "Arouse her maid instantly, and have her prepare something hot as

"Edith," he cried, "just a word. I have been thinking. It isn't too late yet. Take your ring and put it on. I will go

find Phil at once and tell him you have, that you are expecting him, and he will come."

"Think what he said!" she cried. "He accepted my decision as final, `in the presence of witnesses,' as if it

"You think that now, but in a few days you will find that you feel very differently. Living a life of heartache

is no joke, and no job for a woman. Put on your ring and send me to tell him to come."

"Edith, there was not a soul who saw that, but sympathized with Phil. It was ridiculous for you to get so angry

over a thing which was never intended for the slightest offence, and by no logical reasoning could have been

"I do!" said Henderson. "If you had laughed and stepped aside an instant, or laughed and stayed where you

were, Phil would have been back; or, if he needed punishment in your eyes, to have found me having one of

his dances would have been enough. I was waiting. You could have called me with one look. But to publicly

do and say what you did, my ladyI know Phil, and I know you went too far. Put on that ring, and send him

"Then God help you!" said Henderson, "for you are plunging into misery whose depth you do not dream.

CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE 159

She swayed where she stood. Her maid opened the door and caught her. Henderson went down the hall and

Philip Ammon walked from among his friends a humiliated and a wounded man. Never before had Edith

Carr appeared quite so beautiful. All evening she had treated him with unusual consideration. Never had he

loved her so deeply. Then in a few seconds everything was different. Seeing the change in her face, and

hearing her meaningless accusations, killed something in his heart. Warmth went out and a cold weight took

its place. But even after that, he had offered the ring to her again, and asked her before others to reconsider.

He walked, paying no heed to where he went. He had traversed many miles when he became aware that his

feet had chosen familiar streets. He was passing his home. Dawn was near, but the first floor was lighted. He

staggered up the steps and was instantly admitted. The library door stood open, while his father sat with a

"Come on!" he called. "I have just told Banks to bring me a cup of coffee before I turn in. Have one with

Philip sat beside the table and leaned his head on his hands, but he drank a cup of steaming coffee and felt

"Of course," answered Mr. Ammon. "I am not at all tired. I think I must have been waiting in the hope that

you would come. I want no one's version of this but yours. Tell me the straight of the thing, Phil."

"On my life I can't see any occasion for such a display of temper, Phil. It passed all bounds of reason and

"Polly says every one expected you to carry the moth you caught to Edith. Why didn't you?"

"She screams if a thing of that kind comes near her. She never has taken the slightest interest in them. I was

in a big hurry. I didn't want to miss one minute of my dance with her. The moth was not so uncommon, but

by a combination of bad luck it had become the rarest in America for a friend of mine, who is making a

collection to pay college expenses. For an instant last June the series was completed; when a woman's

uncontrolled temper ruined this specimen and the search for it began over. A few days later a pair was

secured, and again the money was in sight for several hours. Then an accident wrecked onefourth of the

collection. I helped replace those last June, all but this Yellow Emperor which we could not secure, and we

haven't been able to find, buy or trade for one since. So my friend was compelled to teach this past winter

instead of going to college. When that moth came flying in there tonight, it seemed to me like fate. All I

thought of was, that to secure it would complete the collection and secure the money. So I caught the

Emperor and started it to Elnora. I declare to you that I was not out of the pavilion over three minutes at a

liberal estimate. If I only had thought to speak to the orchestra! I was sure I would be back before enough

CHAPTER XX. WHEREIN THE ELDER AMMON OFFERS ADVICE, AND EDITH CARR EXPERIENCES REGRETS 160

"The friend for whom you wanted the moth is a girl?" he asked indifferently, as he ran the book leaves

"The girl of whom I wrote you last summer, and told you about in the fall. I helped her all the time I was

"I tried many times to tell her, to interest her, but she was so indifferent that it was insulting. She would not

"We are neither one in any condition to sleep. Why don't you begin at the first and tell me about this girl? To

think of other matters for a time may clear our vision for a sane solution of this. Who is she, just what is she

doing, and what is she like? You know I was reared among those Limberlost people, I can understand readily.

Philip gave a man's version of the previous summer, while his father played with the book industriously.

"In almost two months' daily association, could a man be mistaken? She can far and away surpass Polly,

Edith, or any girl of our set on any common, high school, or supplementary branch, and you know high

schools have French, German, and physics now. Besides, she is a graduate of two other institutions. All her

life she has been in the school of Hard Knocks. She has the biggest, tenderest, most human heart I ever knew

in a girl. She has known life in its most cruel phases, and instead of hardening her, it has set her trying to save

other people suffering. Then this nature position of which I told you; she graduated in the School of the

Woods, before she secured that. The Bird Woman, whose work you know, helped her there. Elnora knows

more interesting things in a minute than any other girl I ever met knew in an hour, provided you are a person

The book leaves slid rapidly through his fingers as the father drawled: "What sort of looking girl is she?"

"Tall as Edith, a little heavier, pink, even complexion, wide open bluegray eyes with heavy black brows,

and lashes so long they touch her cheeks. She has a rope of waving, shining hair that makes a real crown on

her head, and it appears almost red in the light. She is as handsome as any fair woman I ever saw, but she

doesn't know it. Every time any one pays her a compliment, her mother, who is a caution, discovers that, for

"And you were in daily association two months with a girl like that! How about it, Phil?"

"If you mean, did I trifle with her, no!" cried Philip hotly. "I told her the second time I met her all about

Edith. Almost every day I wrote to Edith in her presence. Elnora gathered violets and made a fancy basket to

put them in for Edith's birthday. I started to err in too open admiration for Elnora, but her mother brought me

up with a whirl I never forgot. Fifty times a day in the swamps and forests Elnora made a perfect picture, but

I neither looked nor said anything. I never met any girl so downright noble in bearing and actions. I never

hated anything as I hated leaving her, for we were dear friends, like two wholly congenial men. Her mother

was almost always with us. She knew how much I admired Elnora, but so long as I concealed it from the girl,

CHAPTER XX. WHEREIN THE ELDER AMMON OFFERS ADVICE, AND EDITH CARR EXPERIENCES REGRETS 161

"Yet the girl you picture is far her superior to an unprejudiced person, when thinking what a man would

"I never have thought what I would `require' to be happy! I only thought whether I could make Edith happy. I

have been an idiot! What I've borne you'll never know! Tonight is only one of many outbursts like that, in

"Phil, I love you, when you say you have thought only of Edith! I happen to know that it is true. You are my

only son, and I have had a right to watch you closely. I believe you utterly. Any one who cares for you as I

do, and has had my years of experience in this world over yours, knows that in some ways, tonight would be

a blessed release, if you could take it; but you cannot! Go to bed now, and rest. Tomorrow, go back to her

"You heard what I said when I left her! I said it because something in my heart died a minute before that, and

I realized that it was my love for Edith Carr. Never again will I voluntarily face such a scene. If she can act

like that at a ball, before hundreds, over a thing of which I thought nothing at all, she would go into actual

physical fits and spasms, over some of the household crises I've seen the mater meet with a smile. Sir, it is

truth that I have thought only of her up to the present. Now, I will admit I am thinking about myself. Father,

did you see her? Life is too short, and it can be too sweet, to throw it away in a battle with an unrestrained

woman. I am no fighterwhere a girl is concerned, anyway. I respect and love her or I do nothing. Never

again is either respect or love possible between me and Edith Carr. Whenever I think of her in the future, I

will see her as she was tonight. But I can't face the crowd just yet. Could you spare me a few days?"

"I don't want to go north. I don't want to meet people I know. There, the story would precede me. I do not

need pitying glances or rough condolences. I wonder if I could not hide at Uncle Ed's in Wisconsin for

The book closed suddenly. The father leaned across the table and looked into the son's eyes.

"Death cannot return to life, father. My love for Edith Carr is dead. I hope never to see her again."

"If I thought you could be certain so soon! But, come to think of it, you are very like me in many ways. I am

with you in this. Public scenes and disgraces I would not endure. It would be over with me, were I in your

CHAPTER XX. WHEREIN THE ELDER AMMON OFFERS ADVICE, AND EDITH CARR EXPERIENCES REGRETS 162

"Then, Phil," the father leaned closer and looked at the son tenderly, "Phil, why don't you go to the

"Why not? No one can comfort a hurt heart like a tender woman; and, Phil, have you ever stopped to think

that you may have a duty in the Limberlost, if you are free? I don't know! I only suggest it. But, for a country

schoolgirl, unaccustomed to men, two months with a man like you might well awaken feelings of which you

do not think. Because you were safeguarded is no sign the girl was. She might care to see you. You can

soon tell. With you, she comes next to Edith, and you have made it clear to me that you appreciate her in

"Well, why not!" he said. "Years could make me no surer than I am now, and life is short. Please ask Banks

to get me some coffee and toast, and I will bathe and dress so I can take the early train."

"Go to your bath. I will attend to your packing and everything. And Phil, if I were you, I would leave no

When the train pulled out, the elder Ammon went home to find Hart Henderson waiting.

"He did not feel like facing his friends at present, and I am just back from driving him to the station. He said

Henderson almost staggered. "He's not gone? And left no address? You don't mean it! He'll never forgive

"Never is a long time, Hart," said Mr. Ammon. "And it seems even longer to those of us who are well

acquainted with Phil. Last night was not the last straw. It was the whole strawstack. It crushed Phil so far as

she is concerned. He will not see her again voluntarily, and he will not forget if he does. You can take it from

him, and from me, we have accepted the lady's decision. Will you have a cup of coffee?"

Twice Henderson opened his lips to speak of Edith Carr's despair. Twice he looked into the stern, inflexible

"I have no instructions as to that," said the elder Ammon, drawing back. "Possibly Miss Carr would have it as

"Then suppose you return it to Peacock. I will phone him. He will give you the price of it, and you might add

it to the children's Fresh Air Fund. We would be obliged if you would do that. No one here cares to handle

CHAPTER XX. WHEREIN THE ELDER AMMON OFFERS ADVICE, AND EDITH CARR EXPERIENCES REGRETS 163

Then he went to his home, but he could not think of sleep. He ordered breakfast, but he could not eat. He

paced the library for a time, but it was too small. Going on the streets he walked until exhausted, then he

called a hansom and was driven to his club. He had thought himself familiar with every depth of suffering;

that night had taught him that what he felt for himself was not to be compared with the anguish which wrung

his heart over the agony of Edith Carr. He tried to blame Philip Ammon, but being an honest man, Henderson

knew that was unjust. The fault lay wholly with her, but that only made it harder for him, as he realized it

"You are wanted most urgently at the 'phone, Mr. Henderson," he said. "You have had three calls from Main

"When I reached the house Banks said Mr. Ammon and Phil were out in the motor, so I waited. Mr. Ammon

"Edith, he said he had been to the station. He said Phil had started to Siam or Patagonia, he didn't know

CHAPTER XX. WHEREIN THE ELDER AMMON OFFERS ADVICE, AND EDITH CARR EXPERIENCES REGRETS 164

Distinctly Henderson heard her fall. He set the buzzer ringing, and in a few seconds heard voices, so he knew

she had been found. Then he crept into a private den and shook with a hard, nervous chill.

The next day Edith Carr started on her trip to Europe. Henderson felt certain she hoped to meet Philip there.

He was sure she would be disappointed, though he had no idea where Ammon could have gone. But after

much thought he decided he would see Edith soonest by remaining at home, so he spent the summer in

We must be thinking about supper, mother," said Elnora, while she set the wings of a Cecropia with much

care. "It seems as if I can't get enough to eat, or enough of being at home. I enjoyed that city house. I don't

believe I could have done my work if I had been compelled to walk back and forth. I thought at first I never

Elnora glanced quickly at her mother and then turned to the road as Philip Ammon reached the gate.

"Careful, mother!" the girl instantly warned. "If you change your treatment of him a hair's breadth, he will

She was a trifle thinner than during the previous summer. On her face there was a more mature, patient look,

but the sun struck her bare head with the same ray of red gold. She wore one of the old blue gingham dresses,

open at the throat and rolled to the elbows. Mrs. Comstock did not appear at all the same woman, but Philip

saw only Elnora; heard only her greeting. He caught both hands where she offered but one.

"Elnora," he cried, "if you were engaged to me, and we were at a ball, among hundreds, where I offended you

very much, and didn't even know I had done anything, and if I asked you before all of them to allow me to

explain, to forgive me, to wait, would your face grow distorted and unfamiliar with anger? Would you drop

Elnora's big eyes seemed to leap, while her face grew very white. She drew away her hands.

"Hush, Phil! Hush!" she protested. "That fever has you again! You are dreadfully ill. You don't know what

"I am sleepless and exhausted; I'm heartsick; but I am well as I ever was. Answer me, Elnora, would you?"

"Answer nothing!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "Answer nothing! Hang your coat there on your nail, Phil, and

come split some kindling. Elnora, clean away that stuff, and set the table. Can't you see the boy is starved and

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 165

Mrs. Comstock marched away, and Philip hung his coat in its old place and followed. Out of sight and

"I should think you would!" she ejaculated. "I'll admit you did the square thing and was a man last summer,

though I'd liked it better if you'd faced up and told me you were promised; but to come back here babying,

and take hold of Elnora like that, and talk that way because you have had a fuss with your girl, I don't

tolerate. Split that kindling and I'll get your supper, and then you better go. I won't have you working on

Elnora's big heart, because you have quarrelled with some one else. You'll have it patched up in a week and

"The more fool you, then!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "This time yesterday you were engaged to another woman,

no doubt. Now, for some little flareup you come racing here to use Elnora as a tool to spite the other girl. A

week of sane living, and you will be sorry and ready to go back to Chicago, or, if you really are man enough

to be sure of yourself, she will come to claim you. She has her rights. An engagement of years is a serious

matter, and not broken for a whim. If you don't go, she'll come. Then, when you patch up your affairs and go

"I am a lawyer, Mrs. Comstock," said Philip. "It appeals to me as beneath your ordinary sense of justice to

decide a case without hearing the evidence. It is due me that you hear me first."

"Hear your side!" flashed Mrs. Comstock. "I'd a heap sight rather hear the girl!"

"I wish to my soul that you had heard and seen her last night, Mrs. Comstock," said Ammon. "Then, my way

would be clear. I never even thought of coming here today. I'll admit I would have come in time, but not for

"Father, mother, and Polly were present last night. They, and all my friends, saw me insulted and disgraced in

the worst exhibition of uncontrolled temper any of us ever witnessed. All of them knew it was the end. Father

liked what I had told him of Elnora, and he advised me to come here, so I came. If she does not want me, I

"Oh yes we are!" answered Mrs. Comstock. "You set out the things for biscuit, and lay the table." She turned

again to Philip. "I know considerable about your father," she said. "I have met your Uncle's family frequently

this winter. I've heard your Aunt Anna say that she didn't at all like Miss Carr, and that she and all your

family secretly hoped that something would happen to prevent your marrying her. That chimes right in with

your saying that your father sent you here. I guess you better speak your piece."

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 166

"Nothing, so far as I am concerned. Her plans were all made to start to Europe today. I suspect she is on the

way by this time. Elnora is very sensible, Mrs. Comstock. Hadn't you better let her decide this?"

"The final decision rests with her, of course," admitted Mrs. Comstock. "But look you one thing! She's all I

have. As Solomon says, `she is the one child, the only child of her mother.' I've suffered enough in this world

that I fight against any suffering which threatens her. So far as I know you've always been a man, and you

may stay. But if you bring tears and heartache to her, don't have the assurance to think I'll bear it tamely. I'll

"I have no doubt but you will," replied Philip, "and I don't blame you in the least if you do. I have the utmost

devotion to offer Elnora, a good home, fair social position, and my family will love her dearly. Think it over.

"Yes, I reckon he did!" said Mrs. Comstock dryly. "I guess instead of me being the catamount, you had the

genuine article up in Chicago, masquerading in peacock feathers, and posing as a fine lady, until her time

came to scratch. Human nature seems to be the same the world over. But I'd give a pretty to know that secret

thing you say you don't, that set her raving over your just catching a moth for Elnora. You might get that

They prepared and ate supper. Afterward they sat in the arbour and talked, or Elnora played until time for

"Not tonight," she answered lightly. "Come early in the morning if you like, and we will go over to Sleepy

"I think not," replied Elnora. "The fact is, I don't care why you came. It is enough for me that we are your

very good friends, and that in trouble, you have found us a refuge. I fancy we had better live a week or two

before you say anything. There is a possibility that what you have to say may change in that length of time.

"Then it will have the grace of that much age to give it some small touch of flavour," said the girl. "Come

"Well bless my soul!" ejaculated the astounded Mrs. Comstock. "To think I was worrying for fear you

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 167

"Nope! I don't want to hear it!" said Elnora. "He is only six hours from Chicago. I'll give her a week to find

him and fix it up, if he stays that long. If she doesn't put in an appearance then, he can tell me what he wants

to say, and I'll take my time to think it over. Time in plenty, too! There are three of us in this, and one must

be left with a sore heart for life. If the decision rests with me I propose to be very sure that it is the one who

The next morning Philip came early, dressed in the outing clothing he had worn the previous summer, and

aside from a slight paleness seemed very much the same as when he left. Elnora met him on the old footing,

and for a week life went on exactly as it had the previous summer. Mrs. Comstock made mental notes and

watched in silence. She could see that Elnora was on a strain, though she hoped Philip would not. The girl

grew restless as the week drew to a close. Once when the gate clicked she suddenly lost colour and moved

Philip leaned toward Mrs. Comstock and said: "I am expressly forbidden to speak to Elnora as I would like.

Would you mind telling her for me that I had a letter from my father this morning saying that Miss Carr is on

"Elnora," said Mrs. Comstock promptly, "I have just heard that Carr woman is on her way to Europe, and I

Philip Ammon shouted, but Elnora arose hastily and went to meet Billy. They came into the arbour together

and after speaking to Mrs. Comstock and Philip, Billy said: "Uncle Wesley and I found something funny, and

"I don't know what I should do without you and Uncle Wesley to help me," said Elnora. "What have you

"Something I couldn't bring. You have to come to it. I tried to get one and I killed it. They are a kind of

insecty things, and they got a long tail that is three fine hairs. They stick those hairs right into the hard bark of

"We will come at once," laughed Elnora. "I know what they are, and I can use some in my work."

Billy lifted a chastened face. "Yes, ma'am," he replied. "This has been the worst day."

"The day is all right," admitted Billy. "I mean every single thing has gone wrong with me."

"What has poor Snap been doing?" demanded Mrs. Comstock, her eyes beginning to twinkle.

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 168

"Digging for woodchucks, like he always does. He gets up at two o'clock to dig for them. He was coming in

from the woods all tired and covered thick with dirt. I was going to the barn with the pail of water for Uncle

Wesley to use in milking. I had to set down the pail to shut the gate so the chickens wouldn't get into the

flower beds, and old Snap stuck his dirty nose into the water and began to lap it down. I knew Uncle Wesley

wouldn't use that, so I had to go 'way back to the cistern for more, and it pumps awful hard. Made me mad, so

"Nothing, if he'd stood still. But it scared him awful, and when he's afraid he goes ahumping for Aunt

Margaret. When he got right up against her he stiffened out and gave a big shake. You oughter seen the nice

Mrs. Comstock and Philip laughed, but Elnora put her arms around the boy. "Oh Billy!" she cried. "That was

"She got up early and ironed that dress to wear because it was cool. Then, when it was all dirty, she wouldn't

go, and she wanted to real bad." Billy wiped his eyes. "That ain't all, either," he added.

"We'd like to know about it, Billy," suggested Mrs. Comstock, struggling with her face.

"Cos she couldn't go to the city, she's most worked herself to death. She's done all the dirty, hard jobs she

"Sure!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "When a woman is disappointed she always works like a dog to gain

"Well, Uncle Wesley and I are sympathizing all we know how, without her working so. I've squeezed until I

almost busted to get the juice out from the seeds and skins. That's the hard part. Now, she has to strain it

through white flannel and seal it in bottles, and it's good for sick folks. Most wish I'd get sick myself, so I

"I worked so hard," continued Billy, "that she said if I would throw the leavings in the woods, then I could

"We will all go," said Mrs. Comstock. "I am mightily interested in those bugs myself."

From afar commotion could be seen at the Sinton home. Wesley and Margaret were running around wildly

Margaret was softly crying. "Wesley, can't I fix something hot? Can't we do anything? It means several

"I never saw stock taken so suddenly and so hard," said Wesley. "I have 'phoned for the veterinary to come as

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 169

All of them hurried to the feeding pen into which the pigs seemed to be gathering from the woods. Among

the common stock were big white beasts of pedigree which were Wesley's pride at county fairs. Several of

these rolled on their backs, pawing the air feebly and emitting little squeaks. A huge Berkshire sat on his

haunches, slowly shaking his head, the water dropping from his eyes, until he, too, rolled over with faint

grunts. A pair crossing the yard on wavering legs collided, and attacked each other in anger, only to fall, so

weak they scarcely could squeal. A fine snowy Plymouth Rock rooster, after several attempts, flew to the

fence, balanced with great effort, wildly flapped his wings and started a guttural crow, but fell sprawling

Billy climbed on the fence, took one long look and turned an astounded face to Wesley.

"Threw it just where she told me to," cried Billy. But some of the pigs came by there coming into the pen,

"They just chanked into it," replied Billy graphically. "They pushed, and squealed, and fought over it. You

"Margaret," said Wesley, "run 'phone that doctor he won't be needed. Billy, take Elnora and Mr. Ammon to

Wesley took the clothes basket from the back porch and started in the direction of the cellar. Margaret

"I just caught him," she said. "There's that much saved. Why Wesley, what are you going to do?"

"You go sit on the front porch a little while," said Wesley. "You will feel better if you don't see this."

"Wesley," cried Margaret aghast. "Some of that wine is ten years old. There are days and days of hard work

in it, and I couldn't say how much sugar. Dr. Ammon keeps people alive with it when nothing else will stay

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 170

"Not a smell for any use on this earth! You heard the boy! He shan't say, when he grows to manhood, that he

Wesley threw away the wine, Mrs. Comstock cheerfully assisting. Then they walked to the woods to see and

learn about the wonderful insects. The day ended with a big supper at Sintons', and then they went to the

Comstock cabin for a concert. Elnora played beautifully that night. When the Sintons left she kissed Billy

with particular tenderness. She was so moved that she was kinder to Philip than she had intended to be, and

Elnora as an antidote to a disappointed lover was a decided success in any mood.

However strong the attractions of Edith Carr had been, once the bond was finally broken, Philip Ammon

could not help realizing that Elnora was the superior woman, and that he was fortunate to have escaped, when

he regarded his ties strongest. Every day, while working with Elnora, he saw more to admire. He grew very

thankful that he was free to try to win her, and impatient to justify himself to her.

Elnora did not evince the slightest haste to hear what he had to say, but waited the week she had set, in spite

of Philip's hourly manifest impatience. When she did consent to listen, Philip felt before he had talked five

minutes, that she was putting herself in Edith Carr's place, and judging him from what the other girl's

standpoint would be. That was so disconcerting, he did not plead his cause nearly so well as he had hoped, for

"If I could hear her speak from her heart as I just have heard you, then I could decide," answered Elnora.

"She is on the ocean," said Philip. "She went because she knew she was wholly in the wrong. She had

"That sounds plausible," reasoned Elnora, "but it is pretty difficult to find a woman in an affair that involves

her heart with nothing at all to say. I fancy if I could meet her, she would say several things. I should love to

hear them. If I could talk with her three minutes, I could tell what answer to make you."

"Unquestioningly," answered Elnora. "But I would believe her also. If only I could meet her I soon would

"I don't see how that is to be accomplished," said Philip, "but I am perfectly willing. There is no reason why

you should not meet her, except that she probably would lose her temper and insult you."

"Not to any extent," said Elnora calmly. "I have a tongue of my own, while I am not without some small

Philip glanced at her and began to laugh. Very different of facial formation and colouring, Elnora at times

"The point is this," she said. "Some one is going to be hurt, most dreadfully. If the decision as to whom it

shall be rests with me, I must know it is the right one. Of course, no one ever hinted it to you, but you are a

very attractive man, Philip. You are mighty good to look at, and you have a trained, refined mind, that makes

you most interesting. For years Edith Carr has felt that you were hers. Now, how is she going to change? I

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 171

have been thinkingthinking deep and long, Phil. If I were in her place, I simply could not give you up,

unless you had made yourself unworthy of love. Undoubtedly, you never seemed so desirable to her as just

now, when she is told she can't have you. What I think is that she will come to claim you yet."

"You overlook the fact that it is not in a woman's power to throw away a man and pick him up at pleasure,"

said Philip with some warmth. "She publicly and repeatedly cast me off. I accepted her decision as publicly

as it was made. You have done all your thinking from a wrong viewpoint. You seem to have an idea that it

lies with you to decide what I shall do, that if you say the word, I shall return to Edith. Put that thought out of

your head! Now, and for all time to come, she is a matter of indifference to me. She killed all feeling in my

"If I hated her, or was angry with her, I could not be sure the feeling would not die. As it is, she has deadened

me into a creature of indifference. So you just revise your viewpoint a little, Elnora. Cease thinking it is for

you to decide what I shall do, and that I will obey you. I make my own decisions in reference to any woman,

save you. The question you are to decide is whether I may remain here, associating with you as I did last

summer; but with the difference that it is understood that I am free; that it is my intention to care for you all I

please, to make you return my feeling for you if I can. There is just one question for you to decide, and it is

not triangular. It is between us. May I remain? May I love you? Will you give me the chance to prove what I

"This is the time to speak plainly," said Philip Ammon. "There is no use in allowing you to go on threshing

out a problem which does not exist. If you do not want me here, say so and I will go. Of course, I warn you

before I start, that I will come back. I won't yield without the stiffest fight it is in me to make. But drop

thinking it lies in your power to send me back to Edith Carr. If she were the last woman in the world, and I

the last man, I'd jump off the planet before I would give her further opportunity to exercise her temper on me.

Narrow this to us, Elnora. Will you take the place she vacated? Will you take the heart she threw away? I'd

give my right hand and not flinch, if I could offer you my life, free from any contact with hers, but that is not

possible. I can't undo things which are done. I can only profit by experience and build better in the future."

"I don't see how you can be sure of yourself," said Elnora. "I don't see how I could be sure of you. You loved

her first, you never can care for me anything like that. Always I'd have to be afraid you were thinking of her

"Folly!" cried Philip. "Regretting what? That I was not married to a woman who was liable to rave at me any

time or place, without my being conscious of having given offence? A man does relish that! I am likely to

"You'd be thinking she'd learned a lesson. You would think it wouldn't happen again."

"No, I wouldn't be `thinking,'" said, Philip. "I'd be everlastingly sure! I wouldn't risk what I went through that

"Very well," said Philip. "We will wait until you feel that you can. Wait until fear vanishes. Just decide now

whether you would rather have me go for a few months, or remain with you. Which shall it be, Elnora?"

CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION 172

"I am happy to say I cannot," replied he. "I've cut my matrimonial teeth. I'm cured of wanting to swell in

society. I'm over being proud of a woman for her looks alone. I have no further use for lavishing myself on a

beautiful, elegantly dressed creature, who thinks only of self. I have learned that I am a common man. I

admire beauty and beautiful clothing quite as much as I ever did; but, first, I want an understanding, deep as

the lowest recess of my soul, with the woman I marry. I want to work for you, to plan for you, to build you a

home with every comfort, to give you all good things I can, to shield you from every evil. I want to interpose

my body between yours and fire, flood, or famine. I want to give you everything; but I hate the idea of getting

nothing at all on which I can depend in return. Edith Carr had only good looks to offer, and when anger

"I want you to love me. I want some consideration. I even crave respect. I've kept myself clean. So far as I

know how to be, I am honest and scrupulous. It wouldn't hurt me to feel that you took some interest in these

things. Rather fierce temptations strike a man, every few days, in this world. I can keep decent, for a woman

who cares for decency, but when I do, I'd like to have the fact recognized, by just enough of a show of

appreciation that I could see it. I am tired of this one sided business. After this, I want to get a little in return

for what I give. Elnora, you have love, tenderness, and honest appreciation of the finest in life. Take what I

"As for not loving you as I did Edith," continued Philip, "as I said before, I hope not! I have a newer and a

better idea of loving. The feeling I offer you was inspired by you. It is a Limberlost product. It is as much

bigger, cleaner, and more wholesome than any feeling I ever had for Edith Carr, as you are bigger than she,

when you stand before your classes and in calm dignity explain the marvels of the Almighty, while she stands

on a ballroom floor, and gives way to uncontrolled temper. Ye gods, Elnora, if you could look into my soul,

you would see it leap and rejoice over my escape! Perhaps it isn't decent, but it's human; and I'm only a

common human being. I'm the gladdest man alive that I'm free! I would turn somersaults and yell if I dared.

What an escape! Stop straining after Edith Carr's viewpoint and take a look from mine. Put yourself in my

"I am so happy I grow religious over it. Fifty times a day I catch myself whispering, `My soul is escaped!' As

for you, take all the time you want. If you prefer to be alone, I'll take the next train and stay away as long as I

can bear it, but I'll come back. You can be most sure of that. Straight as your pigeons to their loft, I'll come

The month which followed was a reproduction of the previous June. There were long moth hunts, days of

specimen gathering, wonderful hours with great books, big dinners all of them helped to prepare, and perfect

nights filled with music. Everything was as it had been, with the difference that Philip was now an avowed

suitor. He missed no opportunity to advance himself in Elnora's graces. At the end of the month he was no

nearer any sort of understanding with her than he had been at the beginning. He revelled in the privilege of

loving her, but he got no response. Elnora believed in his love, yet she hesitated to accept him, because she

One afternoon early in July, Philip came across the fields, through the Comstock woods, and entered the

garden. He inquired for Elnora at the back door and was told that she was reading under the willow. He went

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 173

around the west end of the cabin to her. She sat on a rustic bench they had made and placed beneath a

drooping branch. He had not seen her before in the dress she was wearing. It was clinging mull of pale green,

trimmed with narrow ruffles and touched with knots of black velvet; a simple dress, but vastly becoming.

Every tint of her bright hair, her luminous eyes, her red lips, and her roseflushed face, neck, and arms grew

He stopped short. She was so near, so temptingly sweet, he lost control. He went to her with a half

smothered cry after that first long look, dropped on one knee beside her and reached an arm behind her to the

"Elnora!" he cried tensely, "end it now! Say this strain is over. I pledge you that you will be happy. You don't

know! If you only would say the word, you would awake to new life and great joy! Won't you promise me

The girl sat staring into the west woods, while strong in her eyes was her father's look of seeing something

invisible to others. Philip's arm slipped from the bench around her. His fingers closed firmly over hers.

Elnora," he pleaded, "you know me well enough. You have had time in plenty. End it now. Say you will be

mine!" He gathered her closer, pressing his face against hers, his breath on her cheek. "Can't you quite

"Forgive me," he begged. "I had no intention of thrusting myself upon you, but, Elnora, you are the veriest

Queen of Love this afternoon. From the tips of your toes to your shining crown, I worship you. I want no

woman save you. You are so wonderful this afternoon, I couldn't help urging. Forgive me. Perhaps it was

something that came this morning for you. I wrote Polly to send it. May we try if it fits? Will you tell me if

He drew a little white velvet box from his pocket and showed her a splendid emerald ring.

"It may not be right," he said. "The inside of a glove finger is not very accurate for a measure, but it was the

best I could do. I wrote Polly to get it, because she and mother are home from the East this week, but next

they will go on to our cottage in the north, and no one knows what is right quite so well as Polly." He laid the

ring in Elnora's hand. "Dearest," he said, "don't slip that on your finger; put your arms around my neck and

"I won't! Not all those venturesome things at once; but, Phil, I'm ashamed to confess that ring simply

fascinates me. It is the most beautiful one I ever saw, and do you know that I never owned a ring of any kind

in my life? Would you think me unwomanly if I slip it on for a second, before I can say for sure? Phil, you

know I care! I care very much! You know I will tell you the instant I feel right about it."

"Certainly you will," agreed Philip promptly. "It is your right to take all the time you choose. I can't put that

ring on you until it means a bond between us. I'll shut my eyes and you try it on, so we can see if it fits."

Philip turned his face toward the west woods and tightly closed his eyes. It was a boyish thing to do, and it

caught the hesitating girl in the depths of her heart as the boy element in a man ever appeals to a motherly

woman. Before she quite realized what she was doing, the ring slid on her finger. With both arms she caught

Philip and drew him to her breast, holding him closely. Her head drooped over his, her lips were on his hair.

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 174

"Dear Lord!" he whispered. "Youyou didn't mean that, Elnora! You What made you do it?"

"Youyou looked so boyish!" panted Elnora. "I didn't mean it! II forgot that you were older than Billy.

"`The Queen can do no wrong,'" quoted Philip between his set teeth. "But don't you do that again, Elnora,

unless you do mean it. Kings are not so good as queens, and there is a limit with all men. As you say, we will

look at your ring. It seems very lovely to me. Suppose you leave it on until time for me to go. Please do! I

have heard of mute appeals; perhaps it will plead for me. I am wild for your lips this afternoon. I am going to

"I must have a little more time," she whispered. "I must be absolutely certain, for when I say yes, and give

myself to you, only death shall part us. I would not give you up. So I want a little more timebut, I think I

"Thank you," said Philip. "If at any time you feel that you have reached a decision, will you tell me? Will you

promise me to tell me instantly, or shall I keep asking you until the time comes?"

"You make it difficult," said Elnora. "But I will promise you that. Whenever the last doubt vanishes, I will let

"It seems as if I can't be man enough to put this thought aside and give up this afternoon," said Philip. "I am

ashamed of myself, but I can't help it. I am going to ask God to make that last doubt vanish before I go this

night. I am going to believe that ring will plead for me. I am going to hope that doubt will disappear

suddenly. I will be watching. Every second I will be watching. If it happens and you can't speak, give me

your hand. Just the least movement toward me, I will understand. Would it help you to talk this over with

Honk! Honk! Honk! Hart Henderson set the horn of the big automobile going as it shot from behind the trees

lining the Brushwood road. The picture of a vine covered cabin, a large drooping tree, a greenclad girl and

a man bending over her very closely flashed into view. Edith Carr caught her breath with a snap. Polly

Several days before, Edith had returned from Europe suddenly. She and Henderson had called at the Ammon

residence saying that they were going to motor down to the Limberlost to see Philip a few hours, and urged

that Polly and Tom accompany them. Mrs. Ammon knew that her husband would disapprove of the trip, but

it was easy to see that Edith Carr had determined on going. So the mother thought it better to have Polly

along to support Philip than to allow him to confront Edith unexpectedly and alone. Polly was full of spirit.

She did not relish the thought of Edith as a sister. Always they had been in the same set, always Edith,

because of greater beauty and wealth, had patronized Polly. Although it had rankled, she had borne it sweetly.

But two days before, her father had extracted a promise of secrecy, given her Philip's address and told her to

send him the finest emerald ring she could select. Polly knew how that ring would be used. What she did not

know was that the girl who accompanied her went back to the store afterward, made an excuse to the clerk

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 175

that she had been sent to be absolutely sure that the address was right, and so secured it for Edith Carr.

Two days later Edith had induced Hart Henderson to take her to Onabasha. By the aid of maps they located

the Comstock land and passed it, merely to see the place. Henderson hated that trip, and implored Edith not to

take it, but she made no effort to conceal from him what she suffered, and it was more than he could endure.

He pointed out that Philip had gone away without leaving an address, because he did not wish to see her, or

any of them. But Edith was so sure of her power, she felt certain Philip needed only to see her to succumb to

her beauty as he always had done, while now she was ready to plead for forgiveness. So they came down the

Brushwood road, and Henderson had just said to Edith beside him: "This should be the Comstock land on our

A minute later the wood ended, while the sunlight, as always pitiless, etched with distinctness the scene at the

west end of the cabin. Instinctively, to save Edith, Henderson set the horn blowing. He had thought to drive

to the city, but Polly Ammon arose crying: "Phil! Phil!" Tom Levering was on his feet shouting and waving,

while Edith in her most imperial manner ordered him to turn into the lane leading through the woods beside

"Find some way for me to have a minute alone with her," she commanded as he stopped the car.

"That is my sister Polly, her fiance Tom Levering, a friend of mine named Henderson, and" began

"And Edith Carr," repeated Philip Ammon. "Elnora, be brave, for my sake. Their coming can make no

"Do I seem scared?" inquired Elnora serenely. "This is why you haven't had your answer. I have been waiting

Philip glanced at her and broke into a laugh. She had not lost colour. Her selfpossession was perfect. She

deliberately turned and walked toward the grape arbour, while he sprang over the west fence and ran to the

Elnora standing in the arbour entrance made a perfect picture, framed in green leaves and tendrils. No matter

how her heart ached, it was good to her, for it pumped steadily, and kept her cheeks and lips suffused with

colour. She saw Philip reach the car and gather his sister into his arms. Past her he reached a hand to

Levering, then to Edith Carr and Henderson. He lifted his sister to the ground, and assisted Edith to alight.

She could see that Miss Carr was splendidly beautiful, while she moved with the hauteur and grace supposed

to be the prerogatives of royalty. And she had instantly taken possession of Philip. But he also had a brain

which was working with rapidity. He knew Elnora was watching, so he turned to the others.

"Give her up, Tom!" he cried. "I didn't know I wanted to see the little nuisance so badly, but I do. How are

"She did!" said Polly Ammon, stopping on the path and lifting her chin as a little child, while she drew away

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 176

"Umhu!" assented Polly. And aloud"Look at that ripping green and gold symphony! I never saw such a

Edith's move to compel Philip to approach Elnora beside her had been easy to see; also its failure. Henderson

stepped into Philip's place as he turned to his sister. Instead of taking Polly's hand Levering ran to open the

gate. Edith passed through first, but Polly darted in front of her on the run, with Phil holding her arm, and

swept up to Elnora. Polly looked for the ring and saw it. That settled matters with her.

"You lovely, lovely, darling girl!" she cried, throwing her arms around Elnora and kissing her. With her lips

Elnora drew back, staring at Polly in confused amazement. She was a beautiful girl, her eyes were sparkling

and dancing, and as she turned to make way for the others, she kept one of Elnora's hands in hers. Polly

would have dropped dead in that instant if Edith Carr could have killed with a look, for not until then did she

realize that Polly would even many a slight, and that it had been a great mistake to bring her.

Edith bowed low, muttered something and touched Elnora's fingers. Tom took his cue from Polly.

"I always follow a good example," he said, and before any one could divine his intention he kissed Elnora as

he gripped her hand and cried: "Mighty glad to meet you! Like to meet you a dozen times a day, you know!"

Elnora laughed and her heart pumped smoothly. They had accomplished their purpose. They had let her know

they were there through compulsion, but on her side. In that instant only pity was in Elnora's breast for the

flashing dark beauty, standing with smiling face while her heart must have been filled with exceeding

"Come into the shade," she urged. "You must have found it warm on these country roads. Won't you lay aside

your dustcoats and have a cool drink? Philip, would you ask mother to come, and bring that pitcher from the

They entered the arbour exclaiming at the dim, green coolness. There was plenty of room and wide seats

around the sides, a table in the centre, on which lay a piece of embroidery, magazines, books, the moth

apparatus, and the cyanide jar containing several specimens. Polly rejoiced in the cooling shade, slipped off

her duster, removed her hat, rumpled her pretty hair and seated herself to indulge in the delightful occupation

of paying off old scores. Tom Levering followed her example. Edith took a seat but refused to remove her hat

He seized a net from the table and raced across the garden after a butterfly. He caught it and came back

mightily pleased with himself. As the creature struggled in the net, Elnora noted a repulsed look on Edith

"Now what have I got?" he demanded. "Is it just a common one that every one knows and you don't keep, or

"You must have had practice, you took that so perfectly," said Elnora. "I am sorry, but it is quite common and

not of a kind I keep. Suppose all of you see how beautiful it is and then it may go nectar hunting again."

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 177

She held the butterfly where all of them could see, showed its upper and under wing colours, answered

Polly's questions as to what it ate, how long it lived, and how it died. Then she put it into Polly's hand saying:

Elnora caught a brush from the table and began softly stroking the creature's sides and wings. Delighted with

the sensation the butterfly opened and closed its wings, clinging to Polly's soft little fingers, while every one

cried out in surprise. Elnora laid aside the brush, and the butterfly sailed away.

"I learned that from the Bird Woman," said Elnora. "She takes soft brushes and coaxes butterflies and moths

into the positions she wants for the illustrations of a book she is writing. I have helped her often. Most of the

"Oh, dear, no!" cried Elnora. "Not a tenth! For myself, a pair of each kind to use in illustrating the lectures I

give in the city schools in the winter, and one pair for each collection I make. One might as well keep the big

night moths of June, for they only live four or five days anyway. For the Bird Woman, I only save rare ones

she has not yet secured. Sometimes I think it is cruel to take such creatures from freedom, even for an hour,

but it is the only way to teach the masses of people how to distinguish the pests they should destroy, from the

Mrs. Comstock came deliberately, talking to Philip as she approached. Elnora gave her one searching look,

but could discover only an extreme brightness of eye to denote any unusual feeling. She wore one of her

lavender dresses, while her snowy hair was high piled. She had taken care of her complexion, and her face

had grown fuller during the winter. She might have been any one's mother with pride, and she was perfectly

Polly instantly went to her and held up her face to be kissed. Mrs. Comstock's eyes twinkled and she made

The drink was compounded of the juices of oranges and berries from the garden. It was cool enough to frost

glasses and pitcher and delicious to dusty tired travellers. Soon the pitcher was empty, and Elnora picked it

up and went to refill it. While she was gone Henderson asked Philip about some trouble he was having with

his car. They went to the woods and began a minute examination to find a defect which did not exist. Polly

and Levering were having an animated conversation with Mrs. Comstock. Henderson saw Edith arise, follow

the garden path next the woods and stand waiting under the willow which Elnora would pass on her return. It

was for that meeting he had made the trip. He got down on the ground, tore up the car, worked, asked for

help, and kept Philip busy screwing bolts and applying the oil can. All the time Henderson kept an eye on

Edith and Elnora under the willow. But he took pains to lay the work he asked Philip to do where that scene

would be out of his sight. When Elnora came around the corner with the pitcher, she found herself facing

"Set the pitcher on the bench there," commanded Edith Carr, as if speaking to a servant.

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 178

"I prefer not to offer my visitors a warm drink," said Elnora. "I'll come back if you really wish to speak with

"It would be a pity to travel so far in this dust and heat for nothing. I'll only be gone a second."

Elnora placed the pitcher before her mother. "Please serve this," she said. "Miss Carr wishes to speak with

"Don't you pay the least attention to anything she says," cried Polly. "Tom and I didn't come here because we

wanted to. We only came to checkmate her. I hoped I'd get the opportunity to say a word to you, and now she

has given it to me. I just want to tell you that she threw Phil over in perfectly horrid way. She hasn't any right

"Nary a claim," said Tom Levering earnestly. "Why, even you, Polly, couldn't serve me as she did Phil, and

ever get me back again. If I were you, Miss Comstock, I'd send my mother to talk with her and I'd stay here."

Tom had gauged Mrs. Comstock rightly. Polly put her arms around Elnora. "Let me go with you, dear," she

"I promised I would speak with her alone," said Elnora, "and she must be considered. But thank you, very

The girl slowly and gravely walked back to the willow. She could not imagine what was coming, but she was

"No. I prefer to stand," she said. "Did Mr. Ammon give you the ring you are wearing, and do you consider

"By the right of a betrothed wife. I have been promised to Philip Ammon ever since I wore short skirts. All

our lives we have expected to marry. An agreement of years cannot be broken in one insane moment. Always

he has loved me devotedly. Give me ten minutes with him and he will be mine for all time."

"I seriously doubt that," said Elnora. "But I am willing that you should make the test. I will call him."

"Mr. Ammon is my betrothed," continued Edith Carr. "I expect to take him back to Chicago with me."

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 179

"You expect considerable," murmured Elnora. "I will raise no objection to your taking him, if you canbut,

"You are so sure of yourself as that," scoffed Edith Carr. "One hour in my presence will bring back the old

"Then it is untrue that you twice rejected his ring, repeatedly insulted him, and publicly renounced him?"

"That was through you!" cried Edith Carr. "Phil and I never had been so near and so happy as we were on that

night. It was your clinging to him for things that caused him to desert me among his guests, while he tried to

make me await your pleasure. I realize the spell of this place, for a summer season. I understand what you

and your mother have done to inveigle him. I know that your hold on him is quite real. I can see just how you

"Men would call that lying," said Elnora calmly. "The second time I met Philip Ammon he told me of his

engagement to you, and I respected it. I did by you as I would want you to do by me. He was here parts of

each day, almost daily last summer. The Almighty is my witness that never once, by word or look, did I ever

make the slightest attempt to interest him in my person or personality. He wrote you frequently in my

presence. He forgot the violets for which he asked to send you. I gathered them and carried them to him. I

sent him back to you in unswerving devotion, and the Almighty is also my witness that I could have changed

his heart last summer, if I had tried. I wisely left that work for you. All my life I shall be glad that I lived and

worked on the square. That he ever would come back to me free, by your act, I never dreamed. When he left

me I did not hope or expect to see him again," Elnora's voice fell soft and low," and, behold! You sent

"You exult in that!" cried Edith Carr. "Let me tell you he is not free! We have belonged for years. We always

shall. If you cling to him, and hold him to rash things he has said and done, because he thought me still angry

and unforgiving with him, you will ruin all our lives. If he married you, before a month you would read

hearthunger for me in his eyes. He could not love me as he has done, and give me up for a little scene like

"There is a great poem," said Elnora, "one line of which reads, `For each man kills the thing he loves.' Let me

tell you that a woman can do that also. He did love you that I concede. But you killed his love

everlastingly, when you disgraced him in public. Killed it so completely he does not even feel resentment

toward you. Today, he would do you a favour, if he could; but love you, no! That is over!"

Edith Carr stood truly regal and filled with scorn. "You are mistaken! Nothing on earth could kill that!" she

"We have lived and loved too long. I have had years with him to match against your days. He is mine! His

work, his ambitions, his friends, his place in society are with me. You may have a summer charm for a sick

man in the country; if he tried placing you in society, he soon would see you as others will. It takes birth to

position, schooling, and endless practice to meet social demands gracefully. You would put him to shame in a

"I scarcely think I should follow your example so far," said Elnora dryly. "I have a feeling for Philip that

would prevent my hurting him purposely, either in public or private. As for managing a social career for him

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 180

he never mentioned that he desired such a thing. What he asked of me was that I should be his wife. I

understood that to mean that he desired me to keep him a clean house, serve him digestible food, mother his

"To which of us do you intend that adjective to apply?" inquired Elnora. "I never was less ashamed in all my

life. Please remember I am in my own home, and your presence here is not on my invitation."

Miss Carr lifted her head and struggled with her veil. She was very pale and trembling violently, while Elnora

"Why don't you ask him?" inquired Elnora. "I can call him with one breath; but, if he judged us as we stand, I

should not be the one to tremble at his decision. Miss Carr, you have been quite plain. You have told me in

carefully selected words what you think of me. You insult my birth, education, appearance, and home. I

assure you I am legitimate. I will pass a test examination with you on any high school or supplementary

branch, or French or German. I will take a physical examination beside you. I will face any social emergency

you can mention with you. I am acquainted with a whole world in which Philip Ammon is keenly interested,

that you scarcely know exists. I am not afraid to face any audience you can get together anywhere with my

violin. I am not repulsive to look at, and I have a wholesome regard for the proprieties and civilities of life.

"It is plain to see," cried Edith Carr, "that you took him when he was hurt and angry and kept his wound wide

"I did not promise to marry him when an hour ago he asked me, and offered me this ring, because there was

so much feeling in my heart for you, that I knew I never could be happy, if I felt that in any way I had failed

in doing justice to your interests. I did slip on this ring, which he had just brought, because I never owned

one, and it is very beautiful, but I made him no promise, nor shall I make any, until I am quite, quite sure, that

"You know perfectly that if your puny hold on him were broken, if he were back in his home, among his

friends, and where he was meeting me, in one short week he would be mine again, as he always has been. In

your heart you don't believe what you say. You don't dare trust him in my presence. You are afraid to allow

him out of your sight, because you know what the results would be. Right or wrong, you have made up your

"That will do!" said Elnora. "Spare me the enumeration of how I will regret it. I shall regret nothing. I shall

not act until I know there will be nothing to regret. I have decided on my course. You may return to your

"That is my affair," replied Elnora. "Only this! When your opportunity comes, seize it! Any time you are in

Philip Ammon's presence, exert the charms of which you boast, and take him. I grant you are justified in

doing it if you can. I want nothing more than I want to see you marry Philip if he wants you. He is just across

the fence under that automobile. Go spread your meshes and exert your wiles. I won't stir to stop you. Take

him to Onabasha, and to Chicago with you. Use every art you possess. If the old charm can be revived I will

be the first to wish both of you well. Now, I must return to my visitors. Kindly excuse me."

CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST 181

Elnora turned and went back to the arbour. Edith Carr followed the fence and passed through the gate into the

west woods where she asked Henderson about the car. As she stood near him she whispered: "Take Phil back

"I say, Ammon, can't you go to the city with us and help me find a shop where I can get this pinion fixed?"

asked Henderson. "We want to lunch and start back by five. That will get us home about midnight. Why don't

"I am a working man," said Philip. "I have no time to be out motoring. I can't see anything the matter with

your car, myself; but, of course you don't want to break down in the night, on strange roads, with women on

Philip went into the arbour, where Polly took possession of his lap, fingered his hair, and kissed his forehead

"When are you coming to the cottage, Phil?" she asked. "Come soon, and bring Miss Comstock for a visit.

Philip beamed on Polly. "I'll see about that," he said. "Sounds pretty good. Elnora, Henderson is in trouble

with his automobile. He wants me to go to Onabasha with him to show him where the doctor lives, and make

repairs so he can start back this evening. It will take about two hours. May I go?"

"Of course, you must go," she said, laughing lightly. "You can't leave your sister. Why don't you return to

"I'll be back in just two hours," said Philip. "While I am gone, you be thinking over what we were talking of

"Miss Comstock can go with us as well as not," said Polly. "That back seat was made for three, and I can sit

"Come on! Do come!" urged Philip instantly, and Tom Levering joined him, but Henderson and Edith

"No, thank you," laughed Elnora. "That would crowd you, and it's warm and dusty. We will say goodbye

She offered her hand to all of them, and when she came to Philip she gave him one long steady look in the

Well, she came, didn't she?" remarked Mrs. Comstock to Elnora as they watched the automobile speed down

"She hasn't got him yet, anyway," said Mrs. Comstock, taking heart. "What's that on your finger, and what

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 182

"I have several letters to write, then I am going to change my dress and walk down toward Aunt Margaret's

for a little exercise. I may meet some of them, and I don't want them to see this ring. You keep it until Philip

comes," said Elnora. "As for what Miss Carr said to me, many things, two of importance: one, that I lacked

every social requirement necessary for the happiness of Philip Ammon, and that if I married him I would see

"The other was that she has been engaged to him for years, that he belongs to her, and she refuses to give him

up. She said that if he were in her presence one hour, she would have him under a mysterious thing she calls

`her spell' again; if he were where she could see him for one week, everything would be made up. It is her

opinion that he is suffering from wounded pride, and that the slightest concession on her part will bring him

Mrs. Comstock giggled. "I do hope the boy isn't weakkneed," she said. "I just happened to be passing the

Elnora laughed. "Nothing save actual knowledge ever would have made me believe there was a girl in all this

world so infatuated with herself. She speaks casually of her power over men, and boasts of `bringing a man to

his knees' as complacently as I would pick up a net and say: `I am going to take a butterfly.' She honestly

believes that if Philip were with her a short time she could rekindle his love for her and awaken in him every

particle of the old devotion. Mother, the girl is honest! She is absolutely sincere! She so believes in herself

and the strength of Phil's love for her, that all her life she will believe in and brood over that thought, unless

she is taught differently. So long as she thinks that, she will nurse wrong ideas and pine over her blighted life.

She must be taught that Phil is absolutely free, and yet he will not go to her."

"Lookey here, Elnora!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "That Carr girl is the handsomest dark woman I ever saw. She's

got to the place where she won't stop at anything. Her coming here proves that. I don't believe there was a

thing the matter with that automobile. I think that was a scheme she fixed up to get Phil where she could see

him alone, as she worked to see you. If you are going deliberately to put Philip under her influence again,

you've got to brace yourself for the possibility that she may win. A man is a weak mortal, where a lovely

woman is concerned, and he never denied that he loved her once. You may make yourself downright

"But mother, if she won, it wouldn't make me half so miserable as to marry Phil myself, and then read hunger

for her in his eyes! Some one has got to suffer over this. If it proves to be me, I'll bear it, and you'll never hear

a whisper of complaint from me. I know the real Philip Ammon better in our months of work in the fields

than she knows him in all her years of society engagements. So she shall have the hour she asked, many,

many of them, enough to make her acknowledge that she is wrong. Now I am going to write my letters and

Elnora threw her arms around her mother and kissed her repeatedly. "Don't you worry about me," she said. "I

will get along all right, and whatever happens, I always will be your girl and you my darling mother."

She left two sealed notes on her desk. Then she changed her dress, packed a small bundle which she dropped

with her hat from the window beside the willow, and softly went down stairs. Mrs. Comstock was in the

garden. Elnora picked up the hat and bundle, hurried down the road a few rods, then climbed the fence and

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 183

entered the woods. She took a diagonal course, and after a long walk reached a road two miles west and one

south. There she straightened her clothing, put on her hat and a thin dark veil and waited the passing of the

next trolley. She left it at the first town and took a train for Fort Wayne. She made that point just in time to

climb on the evening train north, as it pulled from the station. It was after midnight when she left the car at

Tired out, she laid her head on her bundle and fell asleep on a seat in the women's waitingroom. Long after

light she was awakened by the roar and rattle of trains. She washed, rearranged her hair and clothing, and

went into the general waitingroom to find her way to the street. She saw him as he entered the door. There

was no mistaking the tall, lithe figure, the bright hair, the lean, brownsplotched face, the steady gray eyes.

He was dressed for travelling, and carried a light overcoat and a bag. Straight to him Elnora went speeding.

"I am the Limberlost girl to whom your wife gave the dress for Commencement last spring, and both of you

sent lovely gifts. There is a reason, a very good reason, why I must be hidden for a time, and I came straight

"You have!" answered Freckles. "Any boy or girl who ever suffered one pang in the Limberlost has a claim

to the best drop of blood in my heart. You needn't be telling me anything more. The Angel is at our cottage

on Mackinac. You shall tell her and play with the babies while you want shelter. This way!"

They breakfasted in a luxurious car, talked over the swamp, the work of the Bird Woman; Elnora told of her

nature lectures in the schools, and soon they were good friends. In the evening they left the train at Mackinaw

City and crossed the Straits by boat. Sheets of white moonlight flooded the water and paved a molten path

The island lay a dark spot on the silver surface, its tall trees sharply outlined on the summit, and a million

lights blinked around the shore. The night guns boomed from the white fort and a dark sentinel paced the

ramparts above the little city tucked down close to the water. A great tenor summering in the north came out

on the upper deck of the big boat, and baring his head, faced the moon and sang: "Oh, the moon shines bright

on my old Kentucky home!" Elnora thought of the Limberlost, of Philip, and her mother, and almost choked

with the sobs that would arise in her throat. On the dock a woman of exquisite beauty swept into the arms of

"Four days, Angel, only four days by the clock," remonstrated Freckles. "Where are the children?"

"Asleep! Thank goodness! I'm worn to a thread. I never saw such inventive, active children. I can't keep track

"I have brought you help," said Freckles. "Here is the Limberlost girl in whom the Bird Woman is interested.

Miss Comstock needs a rest before beginning her school work for next year, so she came to us."

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 184

"You dear thing! How good of you!" cried the Angel. "We shall be so happy to have you!"

In her room that night, in a beautiful cottage furnished with every luxury, Elnora lifted a tired face to the

"Of course, you understand there is something back of this?" she said. "I must tell you."

"Yes," agreed the Angel. "Tell me! If you get it out of your system, you will stand a better chance of

Elnora stood brushing the copperbright masses of her hair as she talked. When she finished the Angel was

"You insane creature!" she cried. "How crazy of you to leave him to her! I know both of them. I have met

them often. She may be able to make good her boast. But it is perfectly splendid of you! And, after all, really

it is the only way. I can see that. I think it is what I should have done myself, or tried to do. I don't know that

I could have done it! When I think of walking away and leaving Freckles with a woman he once loved, to let

her see if she can make him love her again, oh, it gives me a graveyard heart. No, I never could have done it!

"I am a coward," admitted Elnora. "I am soulsick! I am afraid I shall lose my senses before this is over. I

didn't want to come! I wanted to stay, to go straight into his arms, to bind myself with his ring, to love him

with all my heart. It wasn't my fault that I came. There was something inside that just pushed me. She is

"You can imagine how fascinating she can be. She used no arts on me. Her purpose was to cower me. She

found she could not do that, but she did a thing which helped her more: she proved that she was honest,

perfectly sincere in what she thought. She believes that if she merely beckons to Philip, he will go to her. So I

am giving her the opportunity to learn from him what he will do. She never will believe it from any one else.

"That is the supposition with which I shall eat and sleep for the coming few weeks. Would one dare ask for a

"Now, you are perfect!" announced the Angel. "I never should have liked you all I can, if you had been

content to go to sleep in this house without asking to see the babies. Come this way. We named the first boy

for his father, of course, and the girl for Aunt Alice. The next boy is named for my father, and the baby for

"Oh, I suspect there will be quite a number of them," said the Angel serenely. "I am told the more there are

the less trouble they make. The big ones take care of the little ones. We want a large family. This is our start."

She entered a dark room and held aloft a candle. She went to the side of a small white iron bed in which lay a

boy of eight and another of three. They were perfectly formed, rosy children, the elder a replica of his mother,

the other very like. Then they came to a cradle where a baby girl of almost two slept soundly, and made a

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 185

"But just see here!" said the Angel. She threw the light on a sleeping girl of six. A mass of red curls swept the

pillow. Line and feature the face was that of Freckles. Without asking, Elnora knew the colour and expression

of the closed eyes. The Angel handed Elnora the candle, and stooping, straightened the child's body. She ran

her fingers through the bright curls, and lightly touched the aristocratic little nose.

"The supply of freckles holds out in my family, you see!" she said. "Both of the girls will have them, and the

She stood an instant longer, then bending, ran her hand caressingly down a rosy bare leg, while she kissed the

babyish red mouth. There had been some reason for touching all of them, the kiss fell on the lips which were

To Elnora she said a tender goodnight, whispering brave words of encouragement and making plans to fill

the days to come. Then she went away. An hour later there was a light tap on the girl's door.

"I just had to come back to you," she said. "I have been telling Freckles, and he is almost hurting himself with

laughing. I didn't think it was funny, but he does. He thinks it's the funniest thing that ever happened. He says

that to run away from Mr. Ammon, when you had made him no promise at all, when he wasn't sure of you,

won't send him home to her; it will set him hunting you! He says if you had combined the wisdom of

Solomon, Socrates, and all the remainder of the wise men, you couldn't have chosen any course that would

have sealed him to you so surely. He feels that now Mr. Ammon will perfectly hate her for coming down

there and driving you away. And you went to give her the chance she wanted. Oh, Elnora! It is becoming

"Forgive me," gulped the Angel. "I didn't mean to laugh. I didn't think it was funny, until all at once it came

"Maybe it is," admitted Elnora "to others; but it isn't very funny to me. And it won't be to Philip, or to

That was very true. Mrs. Comstock had been slightly prepared for stringent action of some kind, by what

Elnora had said. The mother instantly had guessed where the girl would go, but nothing was said to Philip.

That would have been to invalidate Elnora's test in the beginning, and Mrs. Comstock knew her child well

enough to know that she never would marry Philip unless she felt it right that she should. The only way was

to find out, and Elnora had gone to seek the information. There was nothing to do but wait until she came

back, and her mother was not in the least uneasy but that the girl would return brave and selfreliant, as

Philip Ammon hurried back to the Limberlost, strong in the hope that now he might take Elnora into his arms

and receive her promise to become his wife. His first shock of disappointment came when he found her gone.

In talking with Mrs. Comstock he learned that Edith Carr had made an opportunity to speak with Elnora

alone. He hastened down the road to meet her, coming back alone, an agitated man. Then search revealed the

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 186

I find that I am never going to be able to answer your question of this afternoon fairly to all of us, when you

are with me. So I am going away a few weeks to think over matters alone. I shall not tell you, or even mother,

where I am going, but I shall be safe, well cared for, and happy. Please go back home and live among your

friends, just as you always have done, and on or before the first of September, I will write you where I am,

and what I have decided. Please do not blame Edith Carr for this, and do not avoid her. I hope you will call

on her and be friends. I think she is very sorry, and covets your friendship at least. Until September, then, as

Mrs. Comstock's note was much the same. Philip was ill with disappointment. In the arbour he laid his head

on the table, among the implements of Elnora's loved work, and gulped down dry sobs he could not restrain.

Mrs. Comstock never had liked him so well. Her hand involuntarily crept toward his dark head, then she drew

"What am I going to do to convince Edith Carr that I do not love her, and Elnora that I am hers?" he

"I guess you have to figure that out yourself," said Mrs. Comstock. "I'd be glad to help you if I could, but it

Philip sat a long time in silence. "Well, I have decided!" he said abruptly. "Are you perfectly sure Elnora had

"Absolutely!" answered Mrs. Comstock. "She has been taking care of herself ever since she was born, and

she always has come out all right, so far; I'll stake all I'm worth on it, that she always will. I don't know where

"I can't help worrying!" cried Philip. "I can think of fifty things that may happen to her when she thinks she is

safe. This is distracting! First, I am going to run up to see my father. Then, I'll let you know what we have

But the desire to do something for him was so strong with her she scarcely could keep her lips closed or her

hands quiet. She longed to tell him what Edith Carr had said, how it had affected Elnora, and to comfort him

as she felt she could. But loyalty to the girl held her. If Elnora truly felt that she could not decide until Edith

Carr was convinced, then Edith Carr would have to yield or triumph. It rested with Philip. So Mrs. Comstock

By noon the next day he was in his father's offices. They had a long conference, but did not arrive at much

until the elder Ammon suggested sending for Polly. Anything that might have happened could be explained

"Talk about lovely woman!" cried Philip Ammon. "One would think that after such a dose as Edith gave me,

she would be satisfied to let me go my way, but no! Not caring for me enough herself to save me from public

disgrace, she must now pursue me to keep any other woman from loving me. I call that too much! I am going

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 187

When Edith Carr came into her receptionroom that afternoon, gowned for conquest, she expected only

Philip, and him penitent. She came hurrying toward him, smiling, radiant, ready to use every allurement she

possessed, and paused in dismay when she saw his cold face and his father. "Why, Phil!" she cried. "When

"I am not at home," answered Philip. "I merely ran up to see my father on business, and to inquire of you

what it was you said to Miss Comstock yesterday that caused her to disappear before I could return to the

"I thought perhaps you could answer that, since it was through you that she went."

"Phil, I am the girl you love!" she cried. "All your life you have loved me. Surely it cannot be all gone in a

few weeks of misunderstanding. I was jealous of her! I did not want you to leave me an instant that night for

any other girl living. That was the moth I was representing. Every one knew it! I wanted you to bring it to me.

When you did not, I knew instantly it had been for her that you worked last summer, she who suggested my

dress, she who had power to take you from me, when I wanted you most. The thought drove me mad, and I

said and did those insane things. Phil, I beg your pardon! I ask your forgiveness. Yesterday she said that you

had told her of me at once. She vowed both of you had been true to me and Phil, I couldn't look into her eyes

and not see that it was the truth. Oh, Phil, if you understood how I have suffered you would forgive me. Phil,

"Then tell me what you said to Elnora yesterday that drove her, alone and friendless, into the night, heaven

"Yes," said Philip. "I have. Because I once loved you, and believed in you, my heart aches for you. I will

gladly forgive anything you ask. I will do anything you want, except to resume our former relations. That is

CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR 188

"You are not even interested in the fact that she says you are not responsible for her going, and that I am to

"She has done what she could for my cause, it seems," she said coldly. "How very generous of her! Do you

"No," replied Philip. "I simply propose to go back to the Limberlost and live with her mother, until Elnora

becomes convinced that I am not courting you, and never shall be. Then, perhaps, she will come home to us.

Many people looked, a few followed, when Edith Carr slowly came down the main street of Mackinac,

pausing here and there to note the glow of colour in one small booth after another, overflowing with gay

curios. That street of packed white sand, winding with the curves of the shore, outlined with brilliant shops,

and thronged with laughing, bareheaded people in outing costumes was a picturesque and fascinating sight.

Thousands annually made long journeys and paid exorbitant prices to take part in that pageant.

As Edith Carr passed, she was the most distinguished figure of the old street. Her clinging black gown was

sufficiently elaborate for a dinner dress. On her head was a large, wide, droopingbrimmed black hat, with

immense floating black plumes, while on the brim, and among the laces on her breast glowed velvety, deep

red roses. Some way these made up for the lack of colour in her cheeks and lips, and while her eyes seemed

unnaturally bright, to a close observer they appeared weary. Despite the effort she made to move lightly she

She turned at the little street leading to the dock, and went to meet the big lake steamer ploughing up the

Straits from Chicago. Past the landing place, on to the very end of the pier she went, then sat down, leaned

against a dock support and closed her tired eyes. When the steamer came very close she languidly watched

the people lining the railing. Instantly she marked one lean anxious face turned toward hers, and with a throb

of pity she lifted a hand and waved to Hart Henderson. He was the first man to leave the boat, coming to her

instantly. She spread her trailing skirts and motioned him to sit beside her. Silently they looked across the

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 189

"Then let us sit here and wait until the Petoskey steamer comes in. I like to watch the boats. Sometimes I

"And it's going to be worse," said Henderson bitterly. "There's no use putting it off. Edith, I saw some one

"He went. He was there three weeks, but the strain broke him. He has an old letter in his hands that he has

handled until it is ragged. He held it up to me and said: "You can see for yourself that she says she will be

well and happy, but we can't know until we see her again, and that may never be. She may have gone too near

that place her father went down, some of that Limberlost gang may have found her in the forest, she may lie

"I can't," cried Henderson desperately. "I am forced to tell you. They are fighting brain fever. He did go back

to the swamp and he prowled it night and day. The days down there are hot now, and the nights wet with dew

and cold. He paid no attention and forgot his food. A fever started and his uncle brought him home. They've

never had a word from her, or found a trace of her. Mrs. Comstock thought she had gone to O'Mores' at Great

Rapids, so when Phil broke down she telegraphed there. They had been gone all summer, so her mother is as

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 190

"The O'Mores are here," said Edith. "I haven't seen any of them, because I haven't gone out much in the few

"Edith, they say at the hospital that it will take careful nursing to save Phil. He is surrounded by stacks of

maps and railroad guides. He is trying to frame up a plan to set the entire detective agency of the country to

work. He says he will stay there just two days longer. The doctors say he will kill himself when he goes. He

is a sick man, Edith. His hands are burning and shaky and his breath was hot against my face."

"I do not! I haven't an idea! I never dreamed she would go away when she had him in her hand! I should not

Henderson looked across the water and suffered keenly. At last he turned to Edith and laid a firm, strong hand

"Do you want as fine a fellow as Philip driven any further? If he leaves that hospital now, and goes out to the

exposure and anxiety of a search for her, there will be a tragedy that no after regrets can avert. Edith, what

The girl turned her face from him and sat still, but the man gripping her hands and waiting in agony could see

"Phil thinks so. He has thought so until his brain is worn enough to give way. Tell me, Edith!"

"I told her Phil was mine! That if he were away from her an hour and back in my presence, he would be to

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 191

There was no answer. Henderson took her other hand and holding both of them firmly he said softly: "Don't

mind me, dear. I don't count! I'm just old Hart! You can tell me anything. Do you still believe that?"

The beautiful head barely moved in negation. Henderson gathered both her hands in one of his and stretched

an arm across her shoulders to the post to support her. She dragged her hands from him and twisted them

"Oh, Hart!" she cried. "It isn't fair! There is a limit! I have suffered my share. Can't you see? Can't you

"Yes," he panted. "Yes, my girl! Tell me just this one thing yet, and I'll cheerfully kill any one who annoys

Then she lifted her big, dull, painfilled eyes to his and cried: "No! I do not believe it now! I know it is not

true! I killed his love for me. It is dead and gone forever. Nothing will revive it! Nothing in all this world.

And that is not all. I did not know how to touch the depths of his nature. I never developed in him those

things he was made to enjoy. He admired me. He was proud to be with me. He thought, and I thought, that he

worshipped me; but I know now that he never did care for me as he cares for her. Never! I can see it! I

planned to lead society, to make his home a place sought for my beauty and popularity. She plans to advance

his political ambitions, to make him comfortable physically, to stimulate his intellect, to bear him a brood of

redfaced children. He likes her and her plans as he never did me and mine. Oh, my soul! Now, are you

She dropped back against his arm exhausted. Henderson held her and learned what suffering truly means. He

fanned her with his hat, rubbed her cold hands and murmured broken, incoherent things. By and by slow tears

slipped from under her closed lids, but when she opened them her eyes were dull and hard.

"What a rag one is when the last secret of the soul is torn out and laid bare!" she cried.

Henderson thrust his handkerchief into her fingers and whispered, "Edith, the boat has been creeping up. It's

very close. Maybe some of our crowd are on it. Hadn't we better slip away from here before it lands?"

"Yes, dear," said Henderson soothingly. "Just try to pass the landing before the boat anchors. If I only dared

They struggled through the waiting masses, but directly opposite the landing there was a backward movement

in the happy, laughing crowd, the gangplank came down with a slam, and people began hurrying from the

boat. Crowded against the fish house on the dock, Henderson could only advance a few steps at a time. He

was straining every nerve to protect and assist Edith. He saw no one he recognized near them, so he slipped

his arm across her back to help support her. He felt her stiffen against him and catch her breath. At the same

instant, the clearest, sweetest male voice he ever had heard called: "Be careful there, little men!"

Henderson sent a swift glance toward the boat. Terence O'More had stepped from the gangplank, leading a

little daughter, so like him, it was comical. There followed a picture not easy to describe. The Angel in the

full flower of her beauty, richly dressed, a laugh on her cameo face, the setting sun glinting on her gold hair,

escorted by her eldest son, who held her hand tightly and carefully watched her steps. Next came Elnora,

dressed with equal richness, a trifle taller and slenderer, almost the same type of colouring, but with different

eyes and hair, facial lines and expression. She was led by the second O'More boy who convulsed the crowd

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 192

"What lovely women! Who are they? It's the O'Mores. The lightest one is his wife. Is that her sister? No, it is

Whispers ran fast and audible. As the crowd pressed around the party an opening was left beside the fish

sheds. Edith ran down the dock. Henderson sprang after her, catching her arm and assisting her to the street.

"Up the shore! This way!" she panted. "Every one will go to dinner the first thing they do."

They left the street and started around the beach, but Edith was breathless from running, while the yielding

"Help me!" she cried, clinging to Henderson. He put his arm around her, almost carrying her from sight into a

little cove walled by high rocks at the back, while there was a clean floor of white sand, and logs washed

from the lake for seats. He found one of these with a back rest, and hurrying down to the water he soaked his

handkerchief and carried it to her. She passed it across her lips, over her eyes, and then pressed the palms of

her hands upon it. Henderson removed the heavy hat, fanned her with his, and wet the handkerchief again.

"Hart, what makes you?" she said wearily. "My mother doesn't care. She says this is good for me. Do you

"Edith, you know I would give my life if I could save you this," he said, and could not speak further.

She leaned against him, closed her eyes and lay silent so long the man fell into panic.

He held her carefully, gently fanning her. She was suffering almost more than either of them could endure.

"I wish you had your boat," she said at last. "I want to sail with the wind in my face."

"Lie on the sand. I can 'phone from the first booth. It won't take but a little while."

Edith lay on the white sand, and Henderson covered her face with her hat. Then he ran to the nearest booth

and talked imperatively. Presently he was back bringing a hot drink that was stimulating. Shortly the motor

ran close to the beach and stopped. Henderson's servant brought a rowboat ashore and took them to the

launch. It was filled with cushions and wraps. Henderson made a couch and soon, warmly covered, Edith

Hour after hour the boat ran up and down the shore. The moon arose and the night air grew very chilly.

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 193

He was compelled to take her to the cottage with the battle still raging. He went back early the next morning,

but already she had wandered out over the island. Instinctively Henderson felt that the shore would attract

her. There was something in the tumult of rough little Huron's waves that called to him. It was there he found

"I have been hoping you would come," she answered. "It's bad enough when you are here, but it is a little

She shook her head. So they sat by the hour. At last she spoke: "Of course, you know there is something I

"You have not!" cried Henderson, violently. "That's all nonsense! Give me just one word of permission. That

"Did you ever know one word could be so big, so black, so desperately bitter? Oh, Hart!"

Henderson suffered unspeakably. At last he said: "If you had seen and heard him, Edith, you, too, would feel

"No! No! No!" she cried. "Don't ask me to remember even the least of my pride and folly. Let me forget!"

That was the first time in her life that Edith Carr ever had proposed to give up anything she wanted.

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 194

Henderson started around the beach assisting her all he could. Finally he stopped.

"Edith, there is no sense in this! You are too tired to go. You know you can trust me. You wait in any of these

lovely places and send me. You will be safe, and I'll run. One word is all that is necessary."

"Then write it, and let me carry it. The message is not going to prove who went to the office and sent it."

"That is quite true," she said, dropping wearily, but she made no movement to take the pen and paper he

Henderson turned away his face. He gripped the pen, while his breath sucked between his dry teeth.

"Certainly!" he said when he could speak. "Mackinac, August 27, 1908. Philip Ammon, Lake Shore Hospital,

Chicago." He paused with suspended pen and glanced at Edith. Her white lips were working, but no sound

came. "Miss Comstock is with the Terence O'Mores, on Mackinac Island," prompted Henderson.

"For the love of mercy, Hart, don't make this any harder! It is the least I can do, and it takes every ounce of

She nodded, and, pulling his hat lower over his eyes, Henderson ran around the shore. In less than an hour he

was back. He helped her a little farther to where the Devil's Kitchen lay cut into the rocks; it furnished places

to rest, and cool water. Before long his man came with the boat. From it they spread blankets on the sand for

her, and made chafingdish tea. She tried to refuse it, but the fragrance overcame her for she drank

ravenously. Then Henderson cooked several dishes and spread an appetizing lunch. She was young, strong,

and almost famished for food. She was forced to eat. That made her feel much better. Then Henderson helped

her into the boat and ran it through shady coves of the shore, where there were refreshing breezes. When she

fell asleep the girl did not know, but the man did. Sadly in need of rest himself, he ran that boat for five hours

through quiet bays, away from noisy parties, and where the shade was cool and deep. When she awoke he

took her home, and as they went she knew that she had been mistaken. She would not die. Her heart was not

even broken. She had suffered horribly; she would suffer more; but eventually the pain must wear out. Into

"Hearts do not break, they sting and ache, For old love's sake, but do not die, As witnesseth the living I."

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That evening they were sailing down the Straits before a stiff breeze and Henderson was busy with the tiller

"I have. I knew from the beginning that when this was over you would dislike me for having seen you suffer.

I have grown my Gethsemane in a full realization of what was coming, but I could not leave you, Edith, so

long as it seemed to me that I was serving you. Does it make any difference to you where I go?"

"Thank you!" said Henderson, smiling grimly. "Have you any idea where such a spot might be found?"

"It should be with your sister at Los Angeles. She always has seemed very fond of you."

"That is quite true," said Henderson, his eyes brightening a little. "I will go to her. When shall I start?"

Henderson began to tack for the landing, but his hands shook until he scarcely could manage the boat. Edith

Carr sat watching him indifferently, but her heart was throbbing painfully. "Why is there so much suffering in

the world?" she kept whispering to herself. Inside her door Henderson took her by the shoulders almost

"I don't know for how long it is," she said. "It seems now as if it had been a slow eternity. I wish to my soul

that God would be merciful to me and make something `snap' in my heart, as there did in Phil's, that would

give me rest. I don't know for how long, but I'm perfectly shameless with you, Hart. If peace ever comes and

I want you, I won't wait for you to find it out yourself, I'll cable, Marconigraph, anything. As for how I say

"In that case, we will shake hands," he said. "Goodbye, Edith. Don't forget that every hour I am thinking of

CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD 196

Oh, I need my own violin," cried Elnora. "This one may be a thousand times more expensive, and much older

than mine; but it wasn't inspired and taught to sing by a man who knew how. It doesn't know `beans,' as

"Why don't you write your mother to come for a visit and bring yours?" suggested Freckles.

"I did that three days ago," acknowledged Elnora. "I am half expecting her on the noon boat. That is one

reason why this violin grows worse every minute. There is nothing at all the matter with me."

"Splendid!" cried the Angel. "I've begged and begged her to do it. I know how anxious these mothers

"`When?' Three days ago. `What made me?' You. `Why didn't I tell you?' Because I can't be sure in the least

that she will come. Mother is the most individual person. She never does what every one expects she will.

"Loving Alice. It made me realize that if you cared for your girl like that, with Mr. O'More and three other

children, possibly my mother, with no one, might like to see me. I know I want to see her, and you had told

me to so often, I just sent for her. Oh, I do hope she comes! I want her to see this lovely place."

"Oh, it is a perfect picture, all of it! I should like to hang it on the wall, so I could see it whenever I wanted to;

"That isn't necessary," retorted Elnora. "They know this, and they love it; but you and I are acquainted with

something different. The Limberlost is life. Here it is a carefully kept park. You motor, sail, and golf, all so

secure and fine. But what I like is the excitement of choosing a path carefully, in the fear that the quagmire

may reach out and suck me down; to go into the swamp nakedhanded and wrest from it treasures that bring

me books and clothing, and I like enough of a fight for things that I always remember how I got them. I even

enjoy seeing a canny old vulture eyeing me as if it were saying: `Ware the sting of the rattler, lest I pick your

bones as I did old Limber's.' I like sufficient danger to put an edge on life. This is so tame. I should have

loved it when all the homes were cabins, and watchers for the stealthy Indian canoes patrolled the shores.

You wait until mother comes, and if my violin isn't angry with me for leaving it, tonight we shall sing you

the Song of the Limberlost. You shall hear the big gold bees over the red, yellow, and purple flowers, bird

song, wind talk, and the whispers of Sleepy Snake Creek, as it goes past you. You will know!" Elnora turned

He nodded. "Who better?" he asked. "This is secure while the children are so small, but when they grow

larger, we are going farther north, into real forest, where they can learn selfreliance and develop backbone."

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Elnora laid away the violin. "Come along, children," she said. "We must get at that backbone business at

With the brood at her heels Elnora ran, and for an hour lively sounds stole from the remaining spot of forest

on the Island, which lay beside the O'More cottage. Then Terry went to the playroom to bring Alice her doll.

He came racing back, dragging it by one leg, and crying: "There's company! Someone has come that mamma

"It could not be my mother, yet," mused Elnora. "Her boat is not due until twelve. Terry, give Alice that

"It's a manperson, and I don't know him, but my father is shaking his hand right straight along, and my

mother is running for a hot drink and a cushion. It's a kind of a sick person, but they are going to make him

I'll go tell him to come lie on the pine needles in the sun and watch the sails go by. That will fix him!"

"Watch sails go by," chanted Little Brother. "'A fix him! Elnora fix him, won't you?"

"A beautiful white person; but my father is going to `colour him up,' I heard him say so. He's just out of the

hospital, and he is a bad person, 'cause he ran away from the doctors and made them awful angry. But father

and mother are going to doctor him better. I didn't know they could make sick people well."

Before Elnora missed her, Alice, who had gone to investigate, came flying across the shadows and through

"There is a manpersona strangerperson!" she shouted. "But he knows you! He sent you that! You are to

Elnora read Edith Carr's telegram to Philip Ammon and understood that he had been ill, that she had been

located by Edith who had notified him. In so doing she had acknowledged defeat. At last Philip was free.

"I like him `heaps' myself!" she cried. "Come on children, we will go tell him so."

Terry and Alice ran, but Elnora had to suit her steps to Little Brother, who was her loyal esquire, and would

have been heartbroken over desertion and insulted at being carried. He was rather dragged, but he was

"She looked just like she'd seen angels when she read the letter," explained Alice.

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 198

Elnora helped Little Brother up the steps, then deserted him and came at a rush. The strangerperson stood

"It is almost September," explained Elnora. "I sent for mother three days ago. We must wait until she comes,

and we either have to send for Uncle Wesley and Aunt Margaret, or go to them. I couldn't possibly be

"We will send," decided Ammon. "The trip will be a treat for them. O'More, would you get off a message at

Every one met the noon boat. They went in the motor because Philip was too weak to walk so far. As soon as

people could be distinguished at all Elnora and Philip sighted an erect figure, with a head like a snowdrift.

When the gangplank fell the first person across it was a lean, redhaired boy of eleven, carrying a violin in

one hand and an enormous bouquet of yellow marigolds and purple asters in the other. He was beaming with

"Aw, say!" he exclaimed reproachfully. "I bet you Aunt Margaret is right. He is going to be your beau!"

"There, there!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "Don't knock my headgear into my eye. I'm not sure I've got either hat

She shook out her skirts, straightened her hat, and came forward to meet Philip, who took her into his arms

and kissed her repeatedly. Then he passed her along to Freckles and the Angel to whom her greetings were

"No doubt I'm a precious spectacle!" she said to the Angel. "I saw your pa a little before I started, and he sent

you a note. It's in my satchel. He said he was coming up next week. What a lot of people there are in this

world! And what on earth are all of them laughing about? Did none of them ever hear of sickness, or sorrow,

or death? Billy, don't you go to playing Indian or chasing woodchucks until you get out of those clothes. I

"Merry Christmas!" cried Mrs. Comstock, gathering them in. "Got everything right here but the tree, and

there seems to be plenty of them a little higher up. If this wind would stiffen just enough more to blow away

the people, so one could see this place, I believe it would be right decent looking."

"See here," whispered Elnora to Philip. "You must fix this with Billy. I can't have his trip spoiled."

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 199

"Now, here is where I dust the rest of 'em!" complacently remarked Mrs. Comstock, as she climbed into the

motor car for her first ride, in company with Philip and Little Brother. "I have been the one to trudge the

She sat very erect as the car rolled into the broad main avenue, where only stray couples were walking. Her

eyes began to twinkle and gleam. Suddenly she leaned forward and touched the driver on the shoulder.

"Young man," she said, "just you toot that horn suddenly and shave close enough a few of those people, so

The amazed chauffeur glanced questioningly at Philip who slightly nodded. A second later there was a quick

"honk!" and a swerve at a corner. A man engrossed in conversation grabbed the woman to whom he was

talking and dashed for the safety of a lawn. The woman tripped in her skirts, and as she fell the man caught

and dragged her. Both of them turned red faces to the car and berated the driver. Mrs. Comstock laughed in

"That's enough," she said. "It seems a mite risky." A minute later she added to Philip, "If only they had been

carrying six pounds of butter and ten dozen eggs apiece, wouldn't that have been just perfect?"

Billy had wavered between Elnora and the motor, but his loyal little soul had been true to her, so the walk to

the cottage began with him at her side. Long before they arrived the little O'Mores had crowded around and

captured Billy, and he was giving them an expurgated version of Mrs. Comstock's tales of Big Foot and

Adam Poe, boasting that Uncle Wesley had been in the camps of Meshingomesia and knew

Wacaconah before he got religion and dressed like white men; while the mighty prowess of Snap as a

woodchuck hunter was done full justice. When they reached the cottage Philip took Billy aside, showed him

the emerald ring and gravely asked his permission to marry Elnora. Billy struggled to be just, but it was going

"Why don't you let them get married?" she asked. "You are much too small for her. You wait for me!"

Billy studied her intently. At last he turned to Ammon. "Aw, well! Go on, then!" he said gruffly. "I'll marry

Alice reached her hand. "If you got that settled let's put on our Indian clothes, call the boys, and go to the

"Yes, you have," explained Alice. "Father bought you some coming from the dock. You can put them on in

Never had he encountered such possibilities. He could see a hundred amusing things to try, and he could not

decide which to do first. The most immediate attraction seemed to be a dead pine, held perpendicularly by its

"If we just had some grease that would make the dandiest pole to play Fourth of July with!" he shouted.

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"Butter is grease. There is plenty in the 'frigerator," suggested Alice, speeding away.

Billy's face lengthened. "That's so!" he said. "The thing is to begin at the top and grease down. I'll show you!"

Billy put the butter in his handkerchief and took the corners between his teeth. He climbed the pole, greasing

"Now, I got to try first," he said, "because I'm the biggest and so I have the best chance; only the one that

goes first hasn't hardly any chance at all, because he has to wipe off the grease on himself, so the others can

"All right!" said Terry. "You go first and then I will and then Alice. Phew! It's slick. He'll never get up."

Billy wrestled manfully, and when he was exhausted he boosted Terry, and then both of them helped Alice, to

"No, she doesn't!" cried Alice. "There's stacks of it! I can have all the butter I want."

"Well, I'm mighty glad of it!" said Billy. "I didn't just think. I'm afraid we've greased our clothes, too."

"That's no difference," said Terry. "We can play what we please in these things."

"Well, we ought to be all dirty, and bloody, and have feathers on us to be real Indians," said Billy.

Alice tried a handful of dirt on her sleeve and it streaked beautifully. Instantly all of them began smearing

Terry disappeared and shortly returned from the garage with a feather duster. Billy fell on it with a shriek.

Around each one's head he firmly tied a twisted handkerchief, and stuck inside it a row of stiffly upstanding

"Now, if we just only had some pokeberries to paint us red, we'd be real, for sure enough Indians, and we

could go on the warpath and fight all the other tribes and burn a lot of them at the stake."

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 201

Alice made another trip to the refrigerator. Billy crushed the berries in his hands and smeared and streaked all

Billy collapsed. "I forgot the ponies! You got to ride ponies to go on the warpath!"

"You ain't neither!" contradicted Terry. "It's the very latest style to go on the warpath in a motor. Everybody

does! They go everywhere in them. They are much faster and better than any old ponies."

"I am not!" flashed Terry. "I know how to start and stop it, and I drive lots for Stephens. It is hard to turn over

"Maybe it will start without. If Stephens has just been running it, sometimes it will. Come on, let's try."

"Why don't you come on and whoop?" demanded Billy. "Don't you know how? You are great Indians! You

got to whoop before you go on the warpath. You ought to kill a bat, too, and see if the wind is right. But

maybe the engine won't run if we wait to do that. You can whoop, anyway. All together now!"

They did whoop, and after several efforts the cry satisfied Billy, so he led the way to the big motor, and took

"It will go," said Terry as the machine gently slid out into the avenue and started under his guidance.

"This is no warpath!" scoffed Billy. "We got to go a lot faster than this, and we got to whoop. Alice, why

"If I open the throttle, I can't squeeze the bulb to scare people out of our way," said Terry. "I can't steer and

Billy also stood, lifted his chin and whooped like the wildest little savage that ever came out of the West.

Alice and Little Brother added their voices, and when he was not absorbed with the steering gear, Terry

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 202

Intoxicated with the speed and excitement, Terry threw the throttle wider and the big car leaped forward and

sped down the avenue. In it four black, feather bedecked children whooped in wild glee until suddenly

"You little fool! Why don't you stop?" screamed Billy, catching Terry's arm. "Tell me how to stop!"

A bicycle shot beside them and Freckles standing on the pedals shouted: "Pull out the pin in that little circle

Billy fell on his knees and tugged and the pin yielded at last. Just as the wheels struck the white sand the

bicycle sheered close, Freckles caught the lever and with one strong shove set the brake. The water flew as

the car struck Huron, but luckily it was shallow and the beach smooth. Hub deep the big motor stood

"I guess I better," he said. "We were playing Indians on the warpath, and we hadn't any ponies, and Terry said

"I wonder if you realize how nearly you came to being four drowned children?" he said gravely, after a time.

"Oh, I think I could swim enough to get most of us out," said Billy. "Anyway, we need washing."

"You do indeed," said Freckles. "I will head this procession to the garage, and there we will remove the first

coat." For the remainder of Billy's visit the nurse, chauffeur, and every servant of the O'More household had

"I have Billy's consent," said Philip to Elnora, "and all the other consent you have stipulated. Before you

Elnora gave it gladly, and the emerald slipped on her finger. Then they went together into the forest to tell

"No," answered Elnora. "But she must be here, or she may have seen me when we went to Petoskey a few

days ago. Her people have a cottage over on the bluff, but the Angel never told me until today. I didn't want

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 203

to make that trip, but the folks were so anxious to entertain me, and it was only a few days until I intended to

"And I was going to wait just that long, and if I didn't hear then I was getting ready to turn over the country. I

"No wonder! It's a difficult thing to believe. I can't express how I feel for her."

"Let us never speak of it again," said Philip. "I came nearer feeling sorry for her last night than I have yet. I

couldn't sleep on that boat coming over, and I couldn't put away the thought of what sending that message

cost her. I never would have believed it possible that she would do it. But it is done. We will forget it."

"I scarcely think I shall," said Elnora. "It is something I like to remember. How suffering must have changed

"Henderson came to see me at the hospital a few days ago. He's gone a rather wild pace, but if he had been

held from youth by the love of a good woman he might have lived differently. There are things about him one

"He does! He always has! He never made any secret of it. He will cut in now and do his level best, but he told

Edith Carr did not understand herself. She went to her room after her goodbye to Henderson, lay on her bed

"It is all my selfishness, my unrestrained temper, my pride in my looks, my ambition to be first," she said.

"How does it happen that I am so selfish, that I never controlled my temper, that I thought beauty and social

position the vital things of life?" she muttered. "I think that goes a little past me. I think a mother who allows

a child to grow up as I did, who educates it only for the frivolities of life, has a share in that child's ending. I

think my mother has some responsibility in this," Edith Carr whispered to the night. "But she will recognize

none. She would laugh at me if I tried to tell her what I have suffered and the bitter, bitter lesson I have

learned. No one really cares, but Hart. I've sent him away, so there is no one! No one!"

"He is gone!" she whispered at last. "He would go at once. He would not see me again. I should think he

never would want to see me any more. But I will want to see him! My soul! I want him now! I want him

every minute! He is all I have. And I've sent him away. Oh, these dreadful days to come, alone! I can't bear it.

Hart! Hart!" she cried aloud. "I want you! No one cares but you. No one understands but you. Oh, I want

"Get me some one at the Henderson cottage," she said to Central, and waited shivering.

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 204

"No! He came in late and began to talk about starting to California. He hasn't slept in weeks to amount to

anything. I put him to bed. There is time enough to start to California when he awakens. Edith, what are you

Hart was not gone. Edith fell asleep. She arose at noon the next day, took a cold bath, ate her breakfast,

dressed carefully, and leaving word that she had gone to the forest, she walked slowly across the leaves. It

was cool and quiet there, so she sat where she could see him coming, and waited. She was thinking deep and

Henderson came swiftly down the path. A long sleep, food, and Edith's message had done him good. He had

dressed in new light flannels that were becoming. Edith arose and went to meet him.

They passed the old Catholic graveyard, and entered the deepest wood of the Island, where all shadows were

green, all voices of humanity ceased, and there was no sound save the whispering of the trees, a few bird

notes and squirrel rustle. There Edith seated herself on a mossy old log, and Henderson studied her. He could

detect a change. She was still pale and her eyes tired, but the dull, strained look was gone. He wanted to hope,

but he did not dare. Any other man would have forced her to speak. The mighty tenderness in Henderson's

"What have you thought of that you wanted yet, Edith?" he asked lightly as he stretched himself at her feet.

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Henderson sat up suddenly, leaning toward her with questioning eyes. Not knowing what he dared say, afraid

of the hope which found birth in his heart, he tried to shield her and at the same time to feel his way.

"I am more thankful than I can express that you feel so," he said. "I would be of use, of comfort, to you if I

"You are my only comfort," she said. "I tried to send you away. I thought I didn't want you. I thought I

couldn't bear the sight of you, because of what you have seen me suffer. But I went to the root of this thing

last night, Hart, and with self in mind, as usual, I found that I could not live without you."

"I faced the fact that all this is my own fault," continued Edith, "and came through my own selfishness. Then

I went farther back and realized that I am as I was reared. I don't want to blame my parents, but I was

carefully trained into what I am. If Elnora Comstock had been like me, Phil would have come back to me. I

can see how selfish I seem to him, and how I appear to you, if you would admit it."

"Edith," said Henderson desperately, "there is no use to try to deceive you. You have known from the first

that I found you wrong in this. But it's the first time in your life I ever thought you wrong about

anythingand it's the only time I ever shall. Understand, I think you the bravest, most beautiful woman on

"I don't grant that, but if I did, you, must remember how I compare with Phil. He's my superior at every point.

There's no use in discussing that. You wanted to see me, Edith. What did you want?"

She slightly extended one hand to him. Henderson took that hand, kissing it again and again.

"Anything you want, Edith," he said brokenly. "Just as you wish it. Do you want me to stay here, and go on

"First, I want you to know that you are the dearest thing on earth to me, right now. I would give up

everything else, before I would you. I can't honestly say that I love you with the love you deserve. My heart is

too sore. It's too soon to know. But I love you some way. You are necessary to me. You are my comfort, my

shield. If you want me, as you know me to be, Hart, you may consider me yours. I give you my word of

Henderson kissed her hand passionately. "Don't, Edith," he begged. "Don't say those things. I can't bear it. I

understand. Everything will come right in time. Love like mine must bring a reward. You will love me some

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 206

"But I must say it," cried Edith. "II think, Hart, that I have been on the wrong road to find happiness. I

planned to finish life as I started it with Phil; and you see how glad he was to change. He wanted the other

sort of girl far more than he ever wanted me. And you, Hart, honest, nowI'll know if you don't tell me the

truth! Would you rather have a wife as I planned to live life with Phil, or would you rather have her as Elnora

"Of course, you can't say it in plain English," said the girl. "You are far too chivalrous for that. You needn't

say anything. I am answered. If you could have your choice you wouldn't have a society wife, either. In your

heart you'd like the smaller home of comfort, the furtherance of your ambitions, the palatable meals regularly

served, and little children around you. I am sick of all we have grown up to, Hart. When your hour of trouble

comes, there is no comfort for you. I am tired to death. You find out what you want to do, and be, that is a

man's work in the world, and I will plan our home, with no thought save your comfort. I'll be the other kind

of a girl, as fast as I can learn. I can't correct all my faults in one day, but I'll change as rapidly as I can."

"God knows, I will be different, too, Edith. You shall not be the only generous one. I will make all the rest of

"Don't you dare!" said Edith Carr, taking his head between her hands and holding it against her knees, while

the tears slid down her cheeks. "Don't you dare change, you bighearted, splendid lover! I am little and

Henderson was not talking then, so they sat through a long silence. At last he heard Edith draw a quick

breath, and lifting his head he looked where she pointed. Up a fern stalk climbed a curious looking object.

They watched breathlessly. By lavender feet clung a big, pursy, lavendersplotched, yellow body. Yellow

and lavender wings began to expand and take on colour. Every instant great beauty became more apparent. It

was one of those doublebrooded freaks, which do occur on rare occasions, or merely an Eacles Imperialis

moth that in the cool damp northern forest had failed to emerge in June. Edith Carr drew back with a long,

shivering breath. Henderson caught her hands and gripped them firmly. Steadily she looked the thought of

"By all the powers, you shall not!" swore the man. "You have done enough. I will smash that thing!"

"Oh no you won't!" cried the girl, clinging to his hands. "I am not big enough yet, Hart, but before I leave this

forest I shall have grown to breadth and strength to carry that to her. She needs two of each kind. Phil only

"You may go with me. I know where the O'More cottage is. I have been there often."

"I hope he is! I should like him to see me do one decent thing by which to remember me."

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"`Not necessary!'" cried the girl, her big eyes shining. "Not necessary? Then what on earth is the thing doing

here? I just have boasted that I would change, that I would be like her, that I would grow bigger and broader.

As the words are spoken God gives me the opportunity to prove whether I am sincere. This is my test, Hart!

Don't you see it? If I am big enough to carry that to her, you will believe that there is some good in me. You

will not be loving me in vain. This is an especial Providence, man! Be my strength! Help me, as you always

Henderson arose and shook the leaves from his clothing. He drew Edith Carr to her feet and carefully picked

the mosses from her skirts. He went to the water and moistened his handkerchief to bathe her face.

"All gone!" cried Henderson, critically studying her. "You look almost half as lovely as you really are!"

"Hold tight, Hart!" she said. "I know they handle these things, but I would quite as soon touch a snake."

Henderson clenched his teeth and held steadily. The moth had emerged too recently to be troublesome. It

climbed on her fingers quietly and obligingly clung there without moving. So hand in hand they went down

the dark forest path. When they came to the avenue, the first person they met paused with an ejaculation of

wonder. The next stopped also, and every one following. They could make little progress on account of

marvelling, interested people. A strange excitement took possession of Edith. She began to feel proud of the

"Do you know," she said to Henderson," this is growing easier every step. Its clinging is not disagreeable as I

thought it would be. I feel as if I were saving it, protecting it. I am proud that we are taking it to be put into a

collection or a book. It seems like doing a thing worth while. Oh, Hart, I wish we could work together at

something for which people would care as they seem to for this. Hear what they say! See them lift their little

"Edith, if you don't stop," said Henderson, "I will take you in my arms here on the avenue. You are

"Don't you dare!" laughed Edith Carr. The colour rushed to her cheeks and a new light leaped in her eyes

"Oh, Hart!" she cried. "Let's work! Let's do something! That's the way she makes people love her so. There's

"You darling!" whispered Henderson as they passed up the walk. Her face was roseflushed with excitement

"Hello, every, one!" she cried as she came on the wide veranda. "Only see what we found up in the forest!

She held out the moth as she walked straight to Elnora, who arose to meet her, crying: "How perfectly

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Elnora took the moth. Edith shook hands with all of them and asked Philip if he were improving. She said a

few polite words to Freckles and the Angel, declined to remain on account of an engagement, and went away,

"Well bully for her!" said Mrs. Comstock. "She's a little thoroughbred after all!"

"That was a mighty big thing for her to be doing," said Freckles in a hushed voice.

"If you knew her as well as I do," said Philip Ammon, "you would have a better conception of what that

"`Never could have done it!'" echoed Freckles. "Why, Angel, dear, that is the one thing of all the world you

"I have to take care of this," faltered Elnora, hurrying toward the door to hide the tears which were rolling

"I must help," said Philip, disappearing also. "Elnora," he called, catching up with her, "take me where I may

"So do I," said Philip. "I think a brave deed like that always makes one feel so. Now are you happy?"

CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR 209

4. CHAPTER I. WHEREIN ELNORA GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL AND LEARNS MANY LESSONS NOT FOUND IN HER BOOKS, page = 6

5. CHAPTER II. WHEREIN WESLEY AND MARGARET GO SHOPPING, AND ELNORA'S WARDROBE IS REPLENISHED, page = 15

6. CHAPTER III. WHEREIN ELNORA VISITS THE BIRD WOMAN, AND OPENS A BANK ACCOUNT, page = 21

7. CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN THE SINTONS ARE DISAPPOINTED, AND MRS. COMSTOCK LEARNS THAT SHE CAN LAUGH, page = 27

8. CHAPTER V. WHEREIN ELNORA RECEIVES A WARNING, AND BILLY APPEARS ON THE SCENE, page = 39

9. CHAPTER VI. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK INDULGES IN "FRILLS," AND BILLY REAPPEARS, page = 47

10. CHAPTER VII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK MANIPULATES MARGARET AND BILLY ACQUIRES A RESIDENCE, page = 57

11. CHAPTER VIII. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST TEMPTS ELNORA, AND BILLY BURIES HIS FATHER, page = 75

12. CHAPTER IX. WHEREIN ELNORA DISCOVERS A VIOLIN, AND BILLY DISCIPLINES MARGARET, page = 78

13. CHAPTER X. WHEREIN ELNORA HAS MORE FINANCIAL TROUBLES, AND MRS. COMSTOCK AGAIN HEARS THE SONG OF THE LIMBERLOST, page = 86

14. CHAPTER XI. WHEREIN ELNORA GRADUATES, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL SEND GIFTS, page = 95

15. CHAPTER XII. WHEREIN MARGARET SINTON REVEALS A SECRET, AND MRS. COMSTOCK POSSESSES THE LIMBERLOST, page = 103

16. CHAPTER XIII. WHEREIN MOTHER LOVE IS BESTOWED ON ELNORA, AND SHE FINDS AN ASSISTANT IN MOTH HUNTING, page = 116

17. CHAPTER XIV. WHEREIN A NEW POSITION IS TENDERED ELNORA, AND PHILIP AMMON IS SHOWN LIMBERLOST VIOLETS, page = 124

18. CHAPTER XV. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK FACES THE ALMIGHTY, AND PHILIP AMMON WRITES A LETTER, page = 131

19. CHAPTER XVI. WHEREIN THE LIMBERLOST SINGS FOR PHILIP, AND THE TALKING TREES TELL GREAT SECRETS, page = 139

20. CHAPTER XVII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT, AND ELNORA MAKES A CONFESSION, page = 144

21. CHAPTER XVIII. WHEREIN MRS. COMSTOCK EXPERIMENTS WITH REJUVENATION, AND ELNORA TEACHES NATURAL HISTORY, page = 152

22. CHAPTER XIX. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON GIVES A BALL IN HONOUR OF EDITH CARR, AND HART HENDERSON APPEARS ON THE SCENE, page = 157

23. CHAPTER XX. WHEREIN THE ELDER AMMON OFFERS ADVICE, AND EDITH CARR EXPERIENCES REGRETS, page = 164

24. CHAPTER XXI. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON RETURNS TO THE LIMBERLOST, AND ELNORA STUDIES THE SITUATION, page = 169

25. CHAPTER XXII. WHEREIN PHILIP AMMON KNEELS TO ELNORA, AND STRANGERS COME TO THE LIMBERLOST, page = 177

26. CHAPTER XXIII. WHEREIN ELNORA REACHES A DECISION, AND FRECKLES AND THE ANGEL APPEAR, page = 186

27. CHAPTER XXIV. WHEREIN EDITH CARR WAGES A BATTLE, AND HART HENDERSON STANDS GUARD, page = 193

28. CHAPTER XXV. WHEREIN PHILIP FINDS ELNORA, AND EDITH CARR OFFERS A YELLOW EMPEROR, page = 201