ncle say about Cap'n Nat's meeting me the other day?"

"Uncle Eben doesn't know. Nat didn't tell anyone but me. He doesn't
boast. And uncle would be glad he helped you. As I told you before, Mr.
Ellery, I'm not ashamed of my uncle. He has been so good to me that I
never can repay him, never! When my own father was drowned he took me
in, a little orphan that would probably have been sent to a home, and
no father could be kinder or more indulgent than he has been. Anything
I asked for I got, and at last I learned not to ask for too much. No
self-denial on his part was too great, if he could please me. When he
needed money most he said nothing to me, but insisted that I should be
educated. I didn't know until afterwards of the self-sacrifice my four
years at the Middleboro Academy meant to him."

The minister had listened eagerly to this defense of the man whom he had
been led to consider his arch enemy. It was given with spirit and the
girl's head was uplifted and her eyes flashed as she spoke. Ellery's
next remark was uttered without premeditation. Really, he was thinking
aloud.

"So you went away to school?" he mused. "That is why--"

"That is why I don't say 'never done nothin'' and 'be you' and
'hain't neither.' Yes, thank you, that's why. I don't wonder you were
surprised."

The young man blushed.

"You misunderstand me," he protested. "I didn't mean--"

"Oh! yes, you did. Not precisely that, perhaps, but pretty near it. I
suppose you expected me to speak like Josiah Badger or Kyan Pepper. I
try not to. And I try not to say 'immejitly,' too," she added, with a
mischievous twinkle.

Ellery recognized the "immejitly" quotation and laughed.

"I never heard but one person say that," he observed. "And he isn't a
Come-Outer."

"No, he isn't. Well, this lesson in English can't be very interesting
to you, Mr. Ellery, and I must go. But I'm very glad Nat helped you the
other day and that you realize the sort of man he is. And I'm glad I
have had the opportunity to tell you more about Uncle Eben. I owe him
so much that I ought to be glad--yes, glad and proud and happy, too, to
gratify his least wish. I must! I know I must, no matter how I--What
am I talking about? Yes, Mr. Ellery, I'm glad if I have helped you to
understand my uncle better and why I love and respect him. If you knew
him as I do, you would respect him, too. Good-by."

She was going, but the minister had something to say. He stepped forward
and wal