ly liked to be neat. I guess dust doesn't worry men so much as it
does women."

"Why?"

"Oh, 'cause there's so much of it here; don't you think so? I'll help
you clean up by and by, if you want to."

"YOU will?"

"Yes, sir. I used to dust sometimes when mamma was out sewing. And once
I swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me any more. She
said 'twas like trying to blow out a match with a tornado."

Later on he found her standing in the sitting room, critically
inspecting the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on the walls. He
stood watching her for a moment and then asked:

"Well, what are you lookin' for--more dust? 'Twon't be hard to find it.
'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Every time I go outdoor
and come in again I realize how true that is."

Emily shook her head.

"No, sir," she said; "I was only looking at things and thinking."

"Thinkin', hey? What about? or is that a secret?"

"No, sir. I was thinking that this room was different from any I've ever
seen."

"Humph! Yes, I presume likely 'tis. Don't like it very much, do you?"

"Yes, sir, I think I do. It's got a good many things in it that I never
saw before, but I guess they're pretty--after you get used to 'em."

Captain Cy laughed aloud. "After you get used to 'em, hey?" he repeated.

"Yes, sir. That's what mamma said about Auntie Oliver's new bonnet that
she made herself. I--I was thinking that you must be peculiar."

"Peculiar?"

"Yes, sir. I like peculiar people. I'm peculiar myself. Auntie used to
say I was the most peculiar child she ever saw. P'raps that's why I came
to you. P'raps God meant for peculiar ones to live together. Don't you
think maybe that was it?"

And the captain, having no answer ready, said nothing.

That evening when Asaph and Bailey, coming for their usual call, peeped
in at the window, they were astounded by the tableau in the Whittaker
sitting room. Captain Cy was seated in the rocking chair which had been
his grandfather's. At his feet, on the walnut cricket with a haircloth
top, sat a little girl turning over the leaves of a tattered magazine,
a Godey's Lady's Book. A pile of these magazines was beside her on the
floor. The captain was smiling and looking over her shoulder. The cat
was curled up in another chair. The room looked more homelike than it
had since its owner returned to it.

The friends entered without knocking. Captain Cy looked up, saw them,
and appeared emb