bliged. Can you tell me if that
cross-road leads to the Elms?" asked the lady, as she went slowly on
with Ben beside her.

"No, ma'am; I'm new in these parts, and I only know where Squire Allen
and Mrs. Moss live."

"I want to see both of them, so suppose you show me the way. I was here
long ago, and thought I should remember how to find the old house with
the elm avenue and the big gate, but I don't."

"I know it; they call that place the Laylocks now, 'cause there's a
hedge of 'em all down the path and front wall. It's a real pretty
place; Bab and Betty play there, and so do I."

Ben could not restrain a chuckle at the recollection of his first
appearance there, and as if his merriment or his words interested her,
the lady said, pleasantly: "Tell me all about it. Are Bab and Betty
your sisters?"

Quite forgetting his intended tramp, Ben plunged into a copious history
of himself and new-made friends, led on by a kind look, an inquiring
word, and sympathetic smile, till he had told everything. At the
school-house corner he stopped and said, spreading his arms like a
sign-post:

"That's the way to the Laylocks, and this is the way to the Squire's."

"As I'm in a hurry to see the old house, I'll go this way first, if you
will be kind enough to give my love to Mrs. Allen, and tell the Squire
Miss Celia is coming to dine with him. I wont say good-by, because I
shall see you again."

With a nod and a smile the young lady cantered away, and Ben hurried up
the hill to deliver his message, feeling as if something pleasant was
going to happen, so it would be wise to defer running away, for the
present at least.

[Illustration: BEN TAKES THE STONE FROM LITA'S FOOT.]

At one o'clock Miss Celia arrived, and Ben had the delight of helping
Pat stable pretty Chevalita; then, his own dinner hastily eaten, he
fell to work at the detested wood-pile with sudden energy, for, as he
worked, he could steal peeps into the dining-room, and see the curly
brown head between the two gray ones as the three sat round the table.
He could not help hearing a word now and then, as the windows were
open, and these bits of conversation filled him with curiosity, for the
names "Thorny," "Celia," and "George" were often repeated, and an
occasional merry laugh from the young lady sounded like music in that
usually quiet place.

When dinner was over, Ben's industrious fit left him, and he leisurely
trundled his barrow to and fro till the guest