f his business, came into my office, where, sometimes
sitting and sometimes walking uneasily about, he seemed to get some sort
of comfort from my presence. He watched the rain, as one seeing visions.

"By morning," said he, "there ought to be ducks in Alderson's pond.
Can't we do our chores early and get into the blind before daylight, and
lay for 'em?"

"I heard Canada geese honking overhead last night," said I.

"What time last night?"

"Two o'clock."

"Well, that lets us out on the Alderson's pond project," said he; "the
boys who hunted there weren't out walking at two. In those days they
slept. It can't be that we're the fellows.... Why, there's Antonia,
coming in through the rain!"

"I wonder," said I, "if la grippe isn't taking a bad turn with her
father."

She came in, shedding the rain from her mackintosh like a water-fowl,
radiant with health and the air of outdoors.

"Gentlemen," said she gaily, "who but myself would come out in anything
but a diving-suit to-day!"

"It's almost an even thing," said Jim, "between a calamity, which brings
you, and good fortune, which keeps you away. I hope it's only your
ordinary defiance of the elements."

"The fact is," said she, "that it's a very funny errand. But don't laugh
at me if it's absurd, please. It's about Mr. Cornish."

"Yes!" said Jim, "what of him?"

"You know papa has been kept in by la grippe for a day or so," she went
on, "and we haven't been allowing people to see him very much; but Mr.
Cornish has been in two or three times, and every time when he went away
papa was nervous and feverish. To-day, after he left, papa asked--" here
she looked at Mr. Elkins, as he stood gravely regarding her, and went on
with redder cheeks--"asked me some questions, which led to a long talk
between us, in which I found out that he has almost persuaded papa
to--to change his business connections completely."

"Yes!" said Jim. "Change, how?"

"Why, that I didn't quite understand," said Antonia, "except that there
was logwood and mahogany and Mexico in it, and--and that he had made
papa feel very differently toward you. After what has taken place
recently I knew that was wrong--you know papa is not as firm in his
ideas as he used to be; and I felt that he--and you, were in danger,
somehow. At first I was afraid of being laughed at--why, I'd rather
you'd laugh at me than to look like _that_!"

"You're a good girl, Antonia," said Jim, "and have done the right thing