feel to be glad I've been company for you, livin' alone as you do,
with no husband nor nothin' belongin' to you."

"Good-by, Delia," replied Anne Peace, cheerfully. "Don't you fret
about me. I'm used to being alone, you know; and it's been a
privilege, I'm sure, to do what I could for you, so long as we've been
acquainted. My love to David, and don't forget to give him the syrup I
put in the bottom of your trunk for him."

"'Twon't do him any good!" cried Mrs. Means, as the wagon drove away,
turning her head to shout back at her hostess. "He's bound to die,
David is. He'll never see another spring, I tell him, and then I shall
be left a widder, with four children and--"

"Oh, gerlang! gerlang, _up_!" shouted Calvin Parks, the stage-driver,
whose stock of patience was small; the horse started, and Mrs. Means's
wails died away in the distance.

In this instance the predictions of the doleful lady seemed likely to
be verified; for David Means continued to "fail up." Always a slight
man, he was now mere skin and bone, and his cheerful smile grew
pathetic to see. He was a distant cousin of Anne Peace's, and had
something of her placid disposition; a mild, serene man, bearing his
troubles in silence, finding his happiness in the children whom he
loved almost passionately. He had married Delia Case because she was
pretty, and because she wanted to marry him; had never known, and
would never know, that he might have had a very different kind of
wife. Perhaps Anne Peace hardly knew herself that David had been the
romance of her life, so quickly had the thought been put away, so
earnestly had she hoped for his happiness; but she admitted frankly
that she "set by him," and she was devoted to his children.

"Can nothing be done?" she asked the good doctor one day, as they came
away together from David's house, leaving Delia shaking her head from
the doorsteps. "Can nothing be done, doctor? it doos seem as if I
couldn't bear to see David fade away so, and not try anything to stop
it."

Doctor Brown shook his head thoughtfully. "I doubt if there's much
chance for him, Anne," he said kindly. "David is a good fellow, and if
I saw any way--it might be possible, if he could be got off to Florida
before cold weather comes on--there is a chance; but I don't suppose
it could be managed. He has no means, poor fellow, save what he
carries in his name."

"Florida?" said Anne Peace, thoughtfully; and then she straightway
forgot the do