had happened since she saw her face.

The boys had been thrown into a state of great excitement by a proposal
made to them by their friend Mr Snow. He had offered to give them
sixty of the best trees in his sugar place, with all the articles
necessary to the making of sugar, on terms that, to them, seemed easy
enough. They were to make their own preparations, gather the sap, cut
their own wood, in short, carry on the business entirely themselves;
and, nothing daunted, they went the very first fine day to see the
ground and make a beginning. Graeme and the other girls went with them
as far as Mr Snow's house, and Janet was left alone. The minister was
in his study as usual, and when they were all gone, uncomfortable with
the unaccustomed quietness of the house, she arose and went to the door
and looked rather sadly down the street. She had not long to indulge
her feelings of loneliness, however. A sleigh came slowly grating along
the half-bare street, and its occupant, Mr Silas Spears, not one of her
favourites, stopped before the door, and lost no time in "hitching" his
horse to the post. Janet set him a chair, and waited for the accustomed
question whether the minister was at home, and whether he could see him.

"The body has some sense and discretion," said Janet to herself, as he
announced instead that he "wa'ant a going to stay but a minute, and it
wouldn't be worth while troubling the minister." He did stay, however,
telling news and giving his opinion on matters and things in general in
a way which was tolerable to Janet in her solitude. He rose to go at
last.

"I've got a bucket of sugar out here," said he. "Our folks didn't seem
to want it, and I thought I'd fetch it along down. I took it to Cook's
store, but they didn't want it, and they didn't care enough about it at
Sheldon's to want to pay for it, so I thought I might as well turn it in
to pay my minister's tax."

So in he came within a minute.

"There's just exactly twenty-nine pounds with the bucket. Sugar's been
sellin' for twelve and a-half this winter, and I guess I ought to have
that for it, then we'll be about even, according to my calculation."

"Sugar!" ejaculated Janet, touching the solid black mass with her
finger. "Call you _that_ sugar?"

"Why, yes, I call it sugar. Not the best, maybe, but it's better than
it looks. It'll be considerable whiter by the time you drain it off, I
expect."

"And weigh considerable lighter, I