ere full of a
great trouble. Seth's next remark came in the form of an uncompromising
question.

"Then Ma wrote an' told her?"

"Why, yes, if it comes to that I guess she must have."

Seth rose wearily from his seat, and ranged his lean figure beside the old
man's bulk. "All right, dad," he said, in his quiet, sober way. "I'm glad
you've told me. But it don't alter nothin', I guess. Meanwhile I'll git
round, an' quit whinin'."

The arrival of Rosebud's cousin and her maid somewhat disorganized the
Sampsons' simple household. Rosebud's love of mischief was traceable in
this incongruous descent upon the farm. Her own coming was a matter which
no obstacle would have stayed. Ma's letter had nearly broken her heart,
and her anxiety was absolutely pitiable until the actual start had been
made.

That Seth was ill--wounded--and she had not known from the first, had
distracted her, and her mind was made up before she had finished reading
the letter. Her obligations to her new life were set aside without a
second thought. What if there were invitations to social functions
accepted? What if her cousin's household were thrown into confusion by her
going? These things were nothing to her; Seth might be dying, and her
heart ached, and something very like terror urged her to hasten.

She had long since learned that Seth, and Seth alone, was all her world.
Then the old mischievous leaning possessed her, and she resolved,
willy-nilly, that Mrs. Rickards, whose love she had long since won, as she
won everybody's with whom she came into contact, should accompany her.

This old lady, used only to the very acme of comfort, had welcomed the
idea of visiting Rosebud's home in the wilds. Moreover, until the final
stage of the journey, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. It was not until
traveling from Beacon Crossing, and the camping out at the half-way house,
that the roughness of the country was brought home to her. Then came the
final miring of the wagon, and she reviled the whole proceeding.

But the ultimate arrival at the farm, and the meeting with its homely
folk, soon restored her equanimity. She at once warmed to Ma, whose gentle
practical disposition displayed such a wealth of true womanliness as to
be quite irresistible, and, in the confidence of her bedchamber, which she
shared with Rosebud, she imparted her favorable impressions. She assured
the girl she no longer wondered that she, Rosebud, with everything that
money could p