use family--and some of the neighbors--gathered to
greet the little girls' new pet. Scalawag stood very placidly and
accepted all the petting that they wished to shower upon him.

"He eats it up!" laughed Neale, poking the pony in his fat side. "You
old villain! you've certainly struck a soft snap now."

Scalawag brushed flies and wagged his ears knowingly. Tom Jonah came up
to him and they companionably "snuffed noses," as Sammy said. But Billy
Bumps had to be kept at a distance, for he showed a marked desire to
butt the new member of the Corner House family of pets.

Louise and her father were entertained very nicely by the little girls
and Sammy. Cap'n Bill Quigg was a simple-minded man, after all; he did
not seem to deserve the bad name that the crabbed old lock-keeper had
given him. He might have been slow and shiftless; but he was scarcely
any more grown up than little Louise herself.

Ruth Kenway, now that her mind was less disturbed than it had been the
evening when they had been searching for Sammy and Dot, gave more of her
attention to the neglected canalboat girl. She planned then and there to
do something worth while for Louise Quigg; and in time these plans of
the oldest Corner House girl bore fruit.

On Saturday the Shepards went back to Grantham, for the next week Cecile
and Luke would go to their respective schools. Luke bade Ruth good-bye
in public. He sought no opportunity of speaking to her alone. If the
girl felt any surprise at this she did not show her feeling--or anything
save kindly comradery--while speeding the parting guests.

Again on Saturday night the young folks gathered for study in the Corner
House sitting-room. There had been very little time during this last
week of the long vacation to look at school books.

It is pretty hard to settle down to study after so long an absence from
textbooks. Agnes actually wrinkled her pretty forehead in a scowl when
she opened her school books.

"What does the doctor say is mostly the matter with you, Aggie?"
demanded Neale O'Neil, chuckling at her somber expression of
countenance.

"I don't know," growled Agnes--if a girl with such a sweet voice could
be said to growl. "It must be something awful. He asked to see my tongue
and then he said, 'Overworked!'"

"He was perfectly correct, dear child," Ruth said. "Do give it a rest."

"And we'll all rest if you do," Neale added.

"You're all so smart!" cried Agnes. "And Neale O'Neil never did
ap