ercenary human being, even if she had to be buried in the depths of
Harpeth Valley to keep her so." There was banter in Everett's voice
and a smile on his lips, but a bitterness lay in the depths of his
keen dark eyes and an ugly trace of cynicism filtered through the
tones of his voice.

"And wasn't it funny for me to count the little well-chickens before
they were even hatched?" laughed Rose Mary. "That's the way of it, get
together even a little flock of dollars in prospect and they go right
to work hatching out a brood of wants and needs; but it's not wrong of
me to want those false teeth so bad, because it's such a trial to have
your mouth all sink in and not be able to talk plain and--"

"Help, woman! What are you talking about? I never saw such teeth as
you have in all my life. One flash of them would put a beauty show out
of business and--"

"Oh, no, not for myself!" Rose Mary hastened to exclaim, and she
turned the whole artillery of the pearl treasures upon him in mirth at
his mistake. "It's Aunt Viney I want them for. She only has five left.
She says she didn't mind so long as she had any two that hit, but the
hitters to all five are gone now and she is so distressed. I'm saving
up to take her down to the city to get a brand new set. I have eleven
dollars now and two little bull calves to sell, though it breaks my
heart to let them go, even if they are of the wrong persuasion. I
always love them better than I do the little heifers, because I have
to give them up. I don't like to have things I love go away. You see
you mustn't think of going to New York until the spring is all over
and summer comes for good," she continued, with the most delightful
ingenuousness, as she shaped the last of the ten flowers and glanced
from her task at him with the most solicitous concern. "Of course, you
feel as if the smash your lung got in that awful rock slide has healed
all up, and I know it has, but you'll have to do as the doctor tells
you about not running any risks with New York spring gales, won't
you?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose I will," answered Everett, with a trace of
restlessness in his voice. "I'm just as sound as a dollar now and I'm
wild to go with that gang the firm is sending up into British Columbia
to thrash out that copper question. I know they counted on me for the
final tests. Some other fellow will find it and get the fortune and
the credit, while I--I--"

He stared moodily out the door of the milk-house