twenty dollars. I've got some. Say, you talk to Ma an' fix the letter an'
I'll mail it."

The girl looked up. Seth's kindness had banished the ready laugh for the
moment. If her tongue remained silent her eyes spoke. But Seth was
concerned with his food and saw nothing. Rosebud did not even tender
thanks. She felt that she could not speak thanks at that moment. Her
immediate inclination was a childish one, but the grown woman in her
checked it. A year ago she would have acted differently. At last Seth
broke the silence.

"Say, Rosebud," he said. "How'd you like a heap o' dollars?"

But the girl's serious mood had not yet passed. She held out her plate to
General, and replied, without looking at her companion.

"That depends," she said. "You see, I wouldn't like to marry a man with
lots of money. Girls who do are never happy. Ma said so. The only other
way to have money is by being clever, and writing, or painting, or
play-acting. And I'm not clever, and don't want to be. Then there are
girls who inherit money, but----"

"That's jest it," broke in Seth.

"Just what?" Rosebud turned from the dog and eyed her companion
curiously.

"Why, s'pose it happened you inherited them dollars?"

"But I'm not likely to."

"That's so. But we know your folks must a' been rich by your silk fixin's.
Guess you ain't thought o' your folks."

The girl's sunburnt face took on a confident little smile as she looked
out from under the wide brim of her hat.

"Oh, yes, I have. I've thought a lot. Where are they, and why don't they
come out and look for me? I can't remember them, though I try hard. Every
time I try I go back to Indians--always Indians. I know I'm not an
Indian," she finished up naively.

"No." Seth lit his pipe. "Guess if we did find 'em you'd have to quit the
farm."

There was a short silence.

"Seth, you're always looking for them, I know. Why do you look for them? I
don't want them." Rosebud was patting the broad back of General. "Do you
know, sometimes I think you want to be rid of me. I'm a trouble to you, I
know."

"'Tain't that exactly."

Seth's reply sounded different to what he intended. It sounded to the girl
as if he really was seeking her parents to be rid of her. And his manner
was so deliberate, so short. She scrambled to her feet without a word, and
began to gather up the dishes. Seth smoked on for a moment or two. But as
Rosebud showed no sign of continuing the conversation he, too, rose in