ohn Crawford was
over not findin' that chart? If he'd lost his watch or his purse, he
couldn't have put himself to more pains to find it. There never was a
more accommodatin' neighbor than Mary, and John's just like her. You
don't often see a couple as well matched. Generally, if one's
accommodatin' and neighborly, the other's stingy and mean. But Mary
wasn't a bit more anxious to find that chart for me than John was."

That night after supper John seated himself on the front porch. The warm
spring air was sweet with the perfume of May bloom, and from every pond
there was a chorus of joy over the passing of winter. He heard the
voices of his children and his wife talking together as Mary washed the
dishes, Lucy Ellen wiped them, and little John placed them on the table.
Home, wife, children, and the spring of the year! The heart of the man
was glad and he smiled at the thought of the deed he had done that
afternoon.

"John," said Mary, coming out on the porch with the dish towel over her
arm, "hadn't you better be looking for that chart? You know you promised
Sally, and I don't want her to be disappointed again."

The light from one of the front windows shone full on John's face, and
something about his eyes and mouth gave Mary a sudden revelation.

"John," she said severely, "do you know where that chart is?"

John returned her gaze with unflinching eyes. "Mary," he said slowly and
deliberately, "I do not know where that chart is."

Another lie? Oh, no! When a thing is dust and ashes, who knows where it
is?

But the answer did not satisfy Mary. She continued to look at him as a
mother might look at a naughty child.

"John," she said, "did you--I believe--yes, I know you did. Oh, John!
How could you? What made you do it?"

"Yes, I did, and I'd do it again," said John doggedly. "Do you think I'm
goin' to have the neighbors tormentin' the life out of you on account of
that--"

He stopped short, for a damp towel was against his face, and Mary's bare
arms were around his neck.

"Oh, John! And that was the reason you asked Sally to come back. I've
been feeling so hurt, for I thought it looked as if you didn't care for
me. I might have known better. Please forgive me. I'll never think such
a thing of you again."

There was something damp on the other side of his face now, and reaching
around John drew the tired wife down on the bench beside him and let her
sob out her joy and her weariness on his shoulder.

"