njoy them; and Mr. Nimblet will
take pains, I know, to make the fields more lovely, if he can."

"Then I may say to Mr. Nimblet, he can have the north fields?" asked
Fabens.

"O, wait a little while," said Fanny, "and see if we cannot keep them.
It looks so beautiful in the middle field in the spring, when the
dandelions blow; and the strawberries blossom; and the butter-cups wave
in the wind; and the bobolinks light on the red clover and sing;--there
would be more comfort in knowing it was all ours as we enjoyed the
sight!"

"But we cannot have everything, Fanny, as we wish in this world," said
Mrs. Fabens. "Let it go. I am willing, if you think best. As Fanny
says, the landscape will be ours as much as ever. And after all, how
much better off are we without that strip of land than many of our
neighbors! Think of the poor laborers and mechanics that Fairbanks
owes for work! How much more ought we to think of their loss than our
own!"

"Yes, but, how much good we could have done with that thousand
dollars," said Fabens; "giving some of it to the poor, and lending the
rest to worthy young men who are struggling against hope to get
something, and would be set on their feet by a little lift. But it is
of no use to cry for spilt milk."

"And what is this trouble, compared with the loss of poor little
Clinton, and our grief for him?" asked Mrs. Fabens.

"Dear me,--I would give the beauty of the world to see my brother
Clinton!" cried Fanny, her blue eyes sparkling with tears. "I cannot
remember seeing him; but how could I help loving him when you have said
so much about him, and wept so many sad hours for his loss? O what
would we not give to see Clinton? And how foolish it will be to mourn
for a small deception and a thousand dollars! _Don't_ let us mourn any
more for that!"

"Clinton!" said Fabens, kindling to a glow, and rising and pacing the
room. "Give all the world to see Clinton? I think we would, and we
would be rich and happy, if Clinton were alive and here, though we were
without money and handsome fields, and had no more than a bark shanty
to shelter our heads."

"Indeed we would!" added Mrs. Fabens, rocking more earnestly in her
chair. "And let us pay up the debt, sell the land and pay it, and
thank the Lord that he has been so good to us, and taught us how to
bear our troubles."

George Ludlow was present to sympathize and counsel, and he said "Let
the land go;" and Fanny repeated, "Le