ndered what her father had meant by them. It was not
like him to waste time in empty words.

But she was soon to learn. One evening the doctor came over to the
store to repeat to her some rumors he had heard and which he thought
she ought to know.

"Tillie! your pop's workin' the directers to have you chased off
William Penn till the April election a'ready!"

"Oh, Doc!" Tillie gasped, "how do you know?"

"That's what the talk is. He's goin' about to all of 'em whenever he
can handy leave off from his work, and he's tellin' 'em they had ought
to set that example to onruly children; and most of 'em's agreein' with
him. Nathaniel Puntz he agrees with him. Absalom he talks down on you
since you won't leave him come no more Sundays, still. Your pop he says
when your teachin' is a loss to him instead of a help, he ain't leavin'
you keep on. He says when you don't have no more money, you'll have to
come home and help him and your mom with the work. Nathaniel Puntz he
says this is a warnin' to parents not to leave their children have too
much education--that they get high-minded that way and won't even get
married."

"But, Doc," Tillie pleaded with him in an agony of mind, "you won't let
them take my school from me, will you? You'll make them let me keep it?"

The doctor gave a little laugh. "By golly, Tillie, I ain't the
President of America! You think because I got you through oncet or
twicet, I kin do ANYthing with them directers, still! Well, a body
can't ALWAYS get ahead of a set of stubborn-headed Dutchmen--and with
Nathaniel Puntz so wonderful thick in with your pop to work ag'in' you,
because you won't have that dumm Absalom of hisn!"

"What shall I do?" Tillie cried. "I can never, never go back to my old
life again--that hopeless, dreary drudgery on the farm! I can't, indeed
I can't! I won't go back. What shall I do?"

"Look-ahere, Tillie!" the doctor spoke soothingly, "I'll do what I
otherwise kin to help you. I'll do, some back-talkin' myself to them
directers. But you see," he said in a troubled tone, "none of them
directers happens to owe me no doctor-bill just now, and that makes it
a little harder to persuade 'em to see my view of the case. Now if only
some of their wives would up and get sick for 'em and I could run 'em
up a bill! But," he concluded, shaking his head in discouragement,
"it's a wonderful healthy season--wonderful healthy!"

In the two months that followed, the doctor worked hard to coun