d at him for an instant and then burst into a hearty laugh.

"Mercy on me!" she cried. "WHAT an idiot I am! When I saw you come
into the yard with your head bandaged--at least I thought it was
bandaged--and your face--But what IS the matter with your face?"

"My face? Why, nothing."

"Nonsense! It's a sight to see. You look the way Erastus Beebe's boy did
when the cannon-cracker went off too soon. Primmie, hand me that little
lookin'-glass."

Primmie snatched the small mirror from the wall.

"See, Mr. Bangs," she cried, holding the mirror an inch from his nose.
"Look at yourself. You're all broke out with a crash--rash, I mean.
Ain't he, Miss Martha?"

Galusha regarded his reflection in the mirror with astonishment.

"Why, I--I seem to be--ah--polka-dotted," he said. "I never saw anything
so--Dear me, dear me!"

He drew his fingers down his cheek. The speckles promptly became
streaks. He smiled in relief.

"I see, I see," he said. "It is the lichen."

This explanation was not as satisfying as he evidently meant it to be.
Martha looked more puzzled than ever. Primmie looked frightened.

"WHAT did he say 'twas?" she whispered. "'Tain't catchin', is it, Miss
Martha?"

"It is the lichen from the tombstones," went on Galusha. "Most of them
were covered with it. In order to read the inscriptions I was obliged to
scrape it off with my pocketknife, and the particles must have blown in
my face and--ah--adhered. Perhaps--ah--some soap and water might improve
my personal appearance, Miss Phipps. If you will excuse me I think I
will try the experiment."

He rose briskly from the sofa. Primmie stared at him open-mouthed.

"Ain't there NOTHIN' the matter with you, Mr. Bangs?" she asked. "Is the
way your face is tittered up just dirt?"

"Just dirt, that's all. It came from the old tombstones in the
cemetery."

Primmie's mouth was open to ask another question, but Miss Phipps closed
it.

"Stop, Primmie," she said. Then, turning to Galusha who was on his way
to the stairs, she asked:

"Excuse me, Mr. Bangs, but have you been spendin' this lovely forenoon
in the graveyard?"

"Eh? Oh, yes, yes. In the old cemetery over--ah--yonder."

"Humph!... Well, I hope you had a nice time."

"Oh, I did, I did, thank you. I enjoyed myself very much indeed."

"Yes, I should think you must have.... Well, come down right away
because dinner's ready when you are."

Galusha hastened up the stairs. His hostess gazed after him a