old legs would
have carried her.

She went back to her cabin, after a while, and she continued to have her
three meals a day all the same as usual; but if she could have seen, as
Kate saw, how steadily the little fund for her support was diminishing
day by day, she would have had some reason for her apprehensions.

It was on a pleasant Saturday in early September, that Harry stood
looking over the front gate in his father's yard. Kate was at the
dining-room window, sewing. Harry was thinking, and Kate was wondering
what he was thinking about. She thought she knew, and she called out to
him: "I expect old Mr. Matthews would lend you a gun, Harry."

"Yes, I suppose he would," said Harry, turning and slowly walking up
toward the house; "but father told me not to borrow a gun from Truly
Matthews. It's a shame, though, to stay here when the fields are just
chock full of partridges. I never knew them so plenty in all my life.
It's just the way things go."

"It is a pity about your gun," said Kate. "There's some one at the gate,
Harry. Hadn't you better go and see what he wants? Father won't be home
until after dinner, you can tell him."

Harry turned.

"It's Mr. Martin," said he, and he went down to the gate to meet him.

"How do you do, Mr. President?" said Mr. Martin. "I rode over here this
morning, and thought I would come and see you."

Harry shook hands with his visitor, and invited him to walk into the
house; but after Mr. Martin had dismounted and fastened his horse, he
thought that the seat under the catalpa-tree looked so cool and
inviting, that he proposed that they should sit down there and have a
little chat.

"I have been thinking about the extension of your telegraph line," said
the manager of the mica mine, "and have talked it over with our people.
They agree with me that it would be a good thing, and we have
determined, if it suits you and your company, that we will advance the
money necessary to carry out the scheme."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Harry; "but, as I said before, you'll have
to bear the whole expense, and it will cost a good deal to carry the
line from the creek all the way to Hetertown."

"Yes, it will cost some money," said Mr. Martin "but our idea is that
you ought to have a complete line while you are about it, and that it
ought to run from our mine to Hetertown."

"From your mine to Hetertown!" exclaimed Harry, in astonishment.

"Yes," said Mr. Martin, smiling. "That is th