nd the mantels were of beautifully
grained walnut, prepared by Abner during winter evenings.

The house was to "set with the sun;" and on the second day, by the time
the sun's rays shone squarely across the newly laid threshold, walls
were raised, rafters laid, and door and window frames adjusted. The
noon recess was a merry time. Lunches were eaten with greater relish,
and cider and whisky circulated even more freely than on the previous
day. Nevertheless, by four o'clock the work was completed, and the last
helper had departed homeward.

The cabin was, of course, not yet fit for occupancy; the walls were not
chinked, nor the hearthstone laid. Doors were still unhung and windows
unglazed; but as Abner stood alone that evening in his doorway, leaning
on his ax and looking across his rich lands, his heart swelled with a
feeling of proud proprietorship. He pictured how inviting this
wilderness home would look when its interior walls should shine with a
plentiful coat of whitewash, and when hop vines and morning-glories
should cover the rough exterior, and convert doorways and window frames
into bowers of beauty.

"In a few years," he mused, "if I am as prosperous as I see reason to
hope, this log cabin will be replaced by a mansion as commodious as any
in Bourbon County. Flowers will bloom in my trim gardens; and my broad
fields will whiten with a wealth of grain. A home that shall be a fit
setting for the jewel of my love shall make her forget her former
luxurious life in Virginia, as well as the toils and privations of the
first days with me; and our children shall take their places with the
highest in the land."

From that October day when Abby Patterson had raised her veil in the
old church and revealed the features of the beautiful girl who had
entranced his boyish fancy at the Assembly ball four years before, a
veil seemed lifted from his own vision. Love had dawned, and in its
light life was invested with a deeper and more beautiful significance.
"What if she is a few years older than I?" he would ask himself. "Is
she not above me in everything else as well? So that, if she accepts my
love, it will be through no worthiness of mine."

CHAPTER VIII.

LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM

"Like ships that sailed for sunny isles,
But never came to shore."--_Hervey._

All through the early spring Abner toiled with the might of a hopeful
heart--love lightening every task and enduing him with the strength of
tw