ny damage by rain, except in
case of severe storm. The broken lock was, of course, useless, and as
the mill lad saw the cripple fingering it, he remarked:--

"You needn't be scared. I'll stay an' watch. I won't march to-night. Oh,
I can do it all right. I often stay with the watchmen round the mill,
an' I've got a good muscle, if anybody wants to tackle it," with which
he glared invitingly toward the late prisoner.

A protesting groan was the only reply; and the lad received this with a
snort of disdain.

"Druther let old scores rest, had ye? All right. Suits me well enough
now, but I ain't forgot the lickin's you've given me, an' I ain't goin'
to forget, neither."

Fayette's look was again so vindictive that Hallam interposed, fearing
another battle between these uninvited guests.

"Well, I wish you _would_ watch here for a while. As soon as Cleena can
be spared, she shall bring you a blanket. And anyway, if you'll keep
everything safe, I'll try to find something to pay you for your
trouble."

"Hmm, I'd take your donkey an' give back considerable to boot."

"My donkey? Balaam? Well, I guess not."

"I could do it. I could, first rate. I've got money. It's in the savings
bank. 'Supe' put it in for me."

"I couldn't think of it, not for a second. Mr. Wingate--is it?"

"Archibald Wingate, and your kinsman, young sir."

"So I heard my mother say. She would wish you to come to the house with
me, and we'll try to make you comfortable. I must go--I am wild to know
what is wrong with my father."

"We will, at once," answered the other, coldly. "Your father was always
weak--was never very rugged, and he hasn't lived in a way to make
himself more robust. A man's place is in the open; not penned like a
woman behind closed doors and windows."

"Beg pardon, but you are speaking of my father."

"Exactly, and of my cousin. Oh, I've known him since we sat together
under our grandmother's table, munching gingerbread cakes. Ah, she was a
famous cook, else the flavor of a bit of dough wouldn't last that long."

"I've heard of my great-grandmother's talent for cookery. Father and
mother often speak of it, and some of her old recipes are in use in our
kitchen to-day."

Mr. Wingate had kept an even pace with Hallam's eager swings upon his
crutches, and they were speedily at the old house door, with a kindly
feeling toward one another springing into life within the heart of each;
though but a little while before Hallam had