led the way to the spot where the
boys were stretched out on the grass.

There was an unwonted gentleness in her voice, for she had been quick
to discover the impish intention of her brothers, and was anxious to
atone for their lack of courtesy towards an acquaintance whom she had
always regarded as an old man, on the down-hill side of life. In spite
of herself she had been amused at the doctor's frantic efforts to keep
up with her own firm, quick pace, and at his urgent entreaties that she
should tell him if he walked too fast for her. Nevertheless, as she
seated herself beside her young brothers, she was resolving to give them
a lecture upon the sins of the afternoon, so soon as she could get them
in a place of safety.

In the mean time, the doctor appeared to be strangely annoyed over
something, although she was unable to discover the cause of his trouble.
In obedience to her inviting gesture, he had spread out his large blue
silk handkerchief on the ground by her side, and seated himself upon it.
Then he started to remove his hat; but he had no sooner raised it a
little from his head than he hastily clapped it on again, with a little
exclamation of surprise and displeasure.

"I do hope that these bad boys haven't given you too hard a climb,
doctor," Louise was saying politely, while she turned to frown down any
fresh demonstrations on the part of Grant, who was evidently plotting
some new mischief.

"Um--m--ah--no--at least, I beg your pardon, but what was it you said?"
inquired the doctor, so abstractedly that Louise looked at him in
astonishment.

The Reverend Gabriel sat with his face slightly turned away from her. He
was tilting his hat so that, on the farther side, it was raised an inch
or two from his head, while, with his disengaged hand, he was feeling
carefully about underneath it, as if in search of some missing object.
His face, meanwhile, was rapidly assuming every appearance of trouble
and distress, which became more and more acute with every fresh motion
of his hand. Louise watched him compassionately, sure that something was
amiss, but not daring to offer to come to his assistance; then, thinking
to spare him any added mortification, she looked away towards the
valley.

A lovely picture lay at her feet, for the canon opened out before her
eyes in all the grandeur of its mountainous surroundings, while the
little town in its bosom was softened and beautified by the kindly
autumnal haze, which