promise," said Euphrasia, solemnly.

He was silent for a moment, looking down at her.

"I want you to promise to stay here and take care of the Judge."

Fright crept into her eyes, but his own were smiling, reassuring.

"Take care of him!" she cried, the very mention of Hilary raising the
pitch of her voice. "I guess I'll have to. Haven't I took care of him
nigh on forty years, and small thanks and recompense I get for it
except when you're here. I've wore out my life takin' care of him" (more
gently). "What do you mean by makin' me promise such a thing, Austen?"

"Well," said Austen, slowly, "the Judge is worried now. Things are not
going as smoothly with him as usual."

"Money?" demanded Euphrasia. "He ain't lost money, has he?"

A light began to dance in Austen's eyes in spite of the weight within
him.

"Now, Phrasie," he said, lifting her chin a little, "you know you don't
care any more about money than I do."

"Lord help me," she exclaimed, "Lord help me if I didn't! And as long as
you don't care for it, and no sense can be knocked into your head about
it, I hope you'll marry somebody that does know the value of it. If
Hilary was to lose what he has now, before it comes rightly to you, he'd
ought to be put in jail."

Austen laughed, and shook his head.

"Phrasie, the Lord did you a grave injustice when he didn't make you a
man, but I suppose he'll give you a recompense hereafter. No, I believe
I am safe in saying that the Judge's securities are still secure. Not
that I really know--or care--" (shakes of the head from Euphrasia).
"Poor old Judge! Worse things than finance are troubling him now."

"Not a woman!" cried Euphrasia, horror-stricken at the very thought. "He
hasn't took it into his head after all these years--"

"No," said Austen, laughing, "no, no. It's not quite as bad as that, but
it's pretty bad."

"In Heaven's name, what is it?" she demanded. "Reformers," said Austen.

"Reformers?" she repeated. "What might they be?"

"Well," answered Austen, "you might call them a new kind of
caterpillar--only they feed on corporations instead of trees."

Euphrasia shook her head vigorously.

"Go 'long," she exclaimed. "When you talk like that I never can follow
you, Austen. If Hilary has any worries, I guess he brought 'em on
himself. I never knew him to fail."

"Ambitious and designing persons are making trouble for his railroad."

"Well, I never took much stock in that railroad," said Euphr