at pore Chile,"
he was saying. "I sutenly do feel sorry fer he's maw. I ain't got
much, but I tole Maria I guess we could do without somethin' to gib
a quahter."

So it continued. Old and young, rich and poor, paid their
substantial tribute of respect to Jimmy Wiggs.

Lucy counted up the long line of figures. "Three hundred and
sixty-five dollars!" she exclaimed; "and food, clothes, and coal
enough to last them a year!"

It was like a direct answer to her prayer, and yet this poor little
suppliant, instead of being duly exalted, put her head on the desk
and wept bitterly. Now that the need of the Wiggs family had been
met, another appeal, silent and potent, was troubling her heart.

Redding had neither come nor written, and she was beginning to
realize the seriousness of their misunderstanding.

CHAPTER IV

THE ANNEXATION OF CUBY

"They well deserve to have,
That know the strongest and surest way to get."

ALMOST a year rolled over the Cabbage Patch, and it was nearing
Christmas again. The void left in Mrs. Wiggs's heart by Jim's death
could never be filled, but time was beginning to soften her grief,
and the necessity for steady employment kept her from brooding over
her trouble.

It was still needful to maintain the strictest economy, for half the
money which had been given them was in Miss Olcott's keeping as a
safeguard against another rainy day. Mrs. Wiggs had got as much
washing as she could do; Asia helped about the house, and Billy did
odd jobs wherever he could find them.

The direct road to fortune, however, according to Billy's ideas,
could best be traveled in a kindling-wagon, and, while he was the
proud possessor of a dilapidated wagon, sole relic of the late Mr.
Wiggs, he had nothing to hitch to it. Scarcely a week passed that he
did not agitate the question, and, as Mrs. Wiggs often said, "When
Billy Wiggs done set his head to a thing, he's as good as got it!"

So she was not surprised when he rushed breathlessly into the
kitchen one evening, about supper-time, and exclaimed in excited
tones: "Ma, I 've got a horse! He was havin' a fit on the commons
an' they was goin' to shoot him, an' I ast the man to give him to
me!"

"My land, Billy! What do you want with a fit-horse?" asked his
mother.

"'Cause I knowed you could cure him. The man said if I took him I'd
have to pay fer cartin' away his carcass, but I said, 'All right, I
'll take him, anyway.' Come on, ma, an' see him!"