ear!"

Something that was in the girl imparted itself to the wife,
electrically. She pulled herself together, rose silently, and started
toward the house. Her face was rigid, but no longer sullen. Lily
followed her slowly, wonderingly.

As she neared the kitchen door, she saw Sim still sitting at the table;
his face was unusually grave and soft. She saw him start and shove back
his chair--saw Lucretia go to the stove and lift the tea-pot, and heard
her say, as she took her seat beside the baby:

"Want some more tea?"

She had become a wife and mother again, but in what spirit the puzzled
girl could not say.

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PART V.

SATURDAY NIGHT ON THE FARM: BOYS AND HARVEST HANDS

In mystery of town and play
The splendid lady lives alway,
Inwrought with starlight, winds and streams.

SATURDAY NIGHT ON THE FARM.

A group of men were gathered in Farmer Graham's barn one rainy day in
September; the rain had stopped the stacking, and the men were amusing
themselves with feats of skill and strength. Steve Nagle was the
champion, no matter what came up; whether shouldering a sack of wheat,
or raising weights or suspending himself with one hand, he left the
others out of the race.

"Aw! it's no good foolun' with such puny little men as you," he
swaggered at last, throwing himself down upon a pile of sacks.

"If our hired man was here I bet he'd beat you all holler," piped a
boy's voice from the doorway.

Steve raised himself up and glared.

"What's that thing talkun'?"

The boy held his ground. "You can brag when he ain't around, but I bet
he can lick you with one hand tied behind him; don't you, Frank?"

Frank was doubtful, and kept a little out of sight. He was afraid of
Steve, as were, indeed, all the other men, for he had terrorized the
saloons of the county for years. Johnny went on about his hero:

"Why, he can take a sack of wheat by the corners and snap every kernel
of it clean out; he can lift a separator just as easy! You'd better brag
when he's around."

Steve's anger rose, for he saw the rest laughing; he glared around at
them all like a hyena. "Bring on this whelp, let's see how he looks. I
ain't seen him yit."

"Pa says if Lime went to a saloon where you'd meet him once, you
wouldn't clean out that saloon," Johnny went on in a calm voice, with a
sort of undercurrent of glee in it. He saw Steve's anger, and was
d