as Blinks and Holly went out of it.

"Ef it hadn't been fur dat little dog," said Aunt Matilda, grimly, "he'd
a gone on. Them little dogs is always a-doin' mischief."

CHAPTER X.

A MEETING ON THE ROAD.

Some weeks before the little affair between Blinks and Holly, related in
our last chapter, Harry and Kate took a ride over to the railroad
station.

During the winter Harry had frequently gone over on horseback to attend
to the payments for his wood; and now that the roads were in fit
condition for carriage travel, he was glad to have an opportunity to
take the buggy and give Kate a ride.

For some days previously, Crooked Creek had been "up;" that is, the
spring rains had caused it to overflow, and all travel across it had
been suspended. The bridges on such occasions--and Crooked Creek had a
bad habit of being "up" several times in the course of a year--were
covered, and the lowlands were under water for a considerable distance
on each side of the stream. There were so few boats on the creek, and
the current, in time of freshets, was so strong, that ferriage was
seldom thought of. In consequence of this state of affairs Harry had not
heard from his wood-cutters for more than a week, as they had not been
able to cross the creek to their homes. It was, therefore, as much to
see how they were getting along as to attend to financial matters that
he took this trip.

It was a fine, bright day in very early spring, and old Selim trotted on
quite gayly. Before very long they overtook Miles Jackson, jogging along
on a little bay horse.

Miles was a black man, very sober and sedate who for years had carried
the mail twice a week from a station farther up the railroad to the
village. But he was not a mail-carrier now. His employer, a white man,
who had the contract for carrying the mails, had also gone into another
business which involved letter-carrying.

A few miles back from the village of Akeville, where the Loudons lived,
was a mica mine, which had recently been bought, and was now worked by a
company from the North. This mica (the semi-transparent substance that
is set into stove doors) proved to be very plentiful and valuable, and
the company had a great deal of business on their hands. It was
frequently necessary to send messages and letters to the North, and
these were always carried over to the station on the other side of
Crooked Creek, where there was a daily mail and a telegraph office. The
contr