he door.

But Hallam had not been so fast asleep as he seemed, and he demanded
whither Fayette was bound.

"It's nothin' to worry about, Master Hal. Just a little matter o'
business 'twixt me gineral here an' meself. Can't a body wear out her
shoes without so much ado?" she asked, thrusting into view her great
foot with its still unbroken, stout, calfskin brogan upon it.

Hallam smiled. "You can't deceive me, dear old Scrubbub. It's not you
that's wanting new shoes, and if Fayette is going millward, I am going
too."

"Master Hal, what for now? An' what'll the master be sayin' if he's
wantin' you betimes? Isn't it bad enough to keep him content without
Amy, let alone yerself? No, no; go up by. It's warmer in the paintin'
room, an' sure a body's still as you can't bother nobody, even a
artist."

But the cripple limped across the room and took from a recess his cap
and the short top-coat he wore when he rode Balaam. It was as warm as it
was clumsy, and gave his slender figure a width that was quite becoming.
Like Amy's, his headgear was always a Scotch Tam, and when it crowned
his fair face Cleena thought him exceeding good to look upon.

"Arrah musha, but you're the lad for me! An' after all, no matter if the
winds be cold, a ride'll do ye fine, an' make the oatmeal taste sweet in
your mouth."

"It's time something did. Oatmeal three times a day is a trifle
monotonous. Heigho! for one of your chicken pies, Goodsoul."

He was sorry as soon as he said that. Not to be able to give her
"childer" what they desired was always real distress to Cleena. So he
laughed her regret away, with the question:--

"If I bring home a pair of fowls, will you cook them?"

"Will I no? Fetch me the birds, an' I'll show you. Go on, Fayetty, an'
saddle the beast."

But Fayette was not, at that moment, inclined to do this office for the
other lad. He had resolved upon a kindly deed, one which involved
self-sacrifice on his part, and like many other wiser people he was
inclined to let the one generous act cover several meaner ones.

It was his heart's desire to own Balaam. If he took some of the money
which the superintendent was keeping for him and gave it to Cleena for
the housekeeping, he lessened his chance of obtaining his object by just
that much. If he gave Cleena the money, he wanted everybody to
understand that he fully realized, himself, how magnanimous he was.

However, in many respects Hallam was his hero, and between th