ered
some from his hiding out in the mine without much to eat. Although he
was haggard and bewhiskered, his eyes had that look in them that Janice
so clearly remembered. When she awoke and lit her lamp in the early
morning, there he was looking at her from the bureau; and when she
retired she kissed the picture in lieu of having his real presence to
bid good-night.

Those gray eyes of Broxton Day reminded her always of his oft-spoken
motto: "Do something!" He seemed to be saying that to Janice from his
photograph; therefore the girl was not likely to lose her interest in
such a momentous affair as the new schoolhouse.

There was another interest that held Janice's mind and sympathy. This
was the condition of poor little Lottie Drugg. As she had been quite
blind when Janice first met her, now her hearing had departed entirely.
She could seldom now distinguish the notes of her father's violin as he
played to her. She would sit on the store counter and put her hand
often on Hopewell's bow-hand as he dragged the more or less harmonious
sounds out of the wood and strings. Otherwise she could not know that
he was playing at all!

Nelson Haley had been touched by the case of the storekeeper's little
girl, and had discussed the matter with Janice. Nelson had even
written to a Boston specialist who treated the eyes, and who had been
very successful in such cases as Lottie's. The fee the surgeon
demanded was from five hundred to a thousand dollars for an operation.
And poor Hopewell Drugg, although he strained every effort, had
succeeded in saving less than two hundred dollars during all these
months!

Nevertheless, Janice would not let the storekeeper lose heart. "It
will come in time, Mr. Drugg," she told him, cheerfully. "And Lottie
will be able to go to that wonderful school, too, where she will be
taught many things."

For if the child could once obtain her sight, lip-reading would be
possible for her, and through that the little girl might gradually
become as well educated as any one, and have a fair chance for
happiness in the world after all!

Although Nelson Haley was touched by Lottie's sad condition, and by
anything else going on about him that had the personal note in it,
Janice thought the Poketown school-teacher showed very little public
spirit.

She began to realize that his overseeing of the reading-room and
library was inspired by his wish to please _her_ instead of his actual
interest in th