er to do. Do you think
Miss Sawyer's condition is serious?"

"Well, the doctor don't seem to know; but anyhow she's paralyzed, and
she'll never walk fur again, poor soul! She ain't lost her speech;
that'll be a comfort to her."

Adam left the church, and in crossing the common came upon Miss Maxwell
doing the honors of the institution, as she passed from group to group
of strangers and guests. Knowing that she was deeply interested in all
Rebecca's plans, he told her, as he drew her aside, that the girl would
have to leave Wareham for Riverboro the next day.

"That is almost more than I can bear!" exclaimed Miss Maxwell, sitting
down on a bench and stabbing the greensward with her parasol. "It seems
to me Rebecca never has any respite. I had so many plans for her this
next month in fitting her for her position, and now she will settle
down to housework again, and to the nursing of that poor, sick, cross
old aunt."

"If it had not been for the cross old aunt, Rebecca would still have
been at Sunnybrook; and from the standpoint of educational advantages,
or indeed advantages of any sort, she might as well have been in the
backwoods," returned Adam.

"That is true; I was vexed when I spoke, for I thought an easier and
happier day was dawning for my prodigy and pearl."

"OUR prodigy and pearl," corrected Adam.

"Oh, yes!" she laughed. "I always forget that it pleases you to pretend
you discovered Rebecca."

"I believe, though, that happier days are dawning for her," continued
Adam. "It must be a secret for the present, but Mrs. Randall's farm
will be bought by the new railroad. We must have right of way through
the land, and the station will be built on her property. She will
receive six thousand dollars, which, though not a fortune, will yield
her three or four hundred dollars a year, if she will allow me to
invest it for her. There is a mortgage on the land; that paid, and
Rebecca self-supporting, the mother ought to push the education of the
oldest boy, who is a fine, ambitious fellow. He should be taken away
from farm work and settled at his studies."

"We might form ourselves into a Randall Protective Agency, Limited,"
mused Miss Maxwell. "I confess I want Rebecca to have a career."

"I don't," said Adam promptly.

"Of course you don't. Men have no interest in the careers of women! But
I know Rebecca better than you."

"You understand her mind better, but not necessarily her heart. You are
considering h