For he wull."

"No!"

"Yes, I tell 't ye. I seen it in the gleam of his hard eye when he went.
I gave him nae satisfaction as tae when ye might be home, not knowin'
who he was nor what he wanted o' ye."

"Oh, Mrs. MacCall, don't you remember?" and Ruth recounted the incident
at the railroad crossing nearly a month before.

"Huh, that's why he was so cur'ous, then. You saved his life," went on
the housekeeper dropping the broad Scotch burr, now that her excitement
was cooling.

"I don't know that I did. But perhaps he came to thank me for what I
tried to do."

"It seems as though he must want to know every little thing about you,"
the housekeeper declared. "And how he could corner you with his
questions! He should ha' made a lawyer-body. He made me tell him more
than I should about the family's private affairs, I have no doot."

"Oh, Mrs Mac! what do you suppose he wants!"

"To see you, belike. And he'll be back again."

"Goodness! I'm not sure I want to talk with him. He looked very odd to
me that day I met him. And so cross!"

"No doot of it. He's an ugly looking man. And from his speech it's easy
to see he's no friend of womenkind."

"He must be like that Neighbor Cecile was telling us about," sighed Ruth
and with that dropped the subject of the strange old man with the green
umbrella.

Ruth had heard from Cecile Shepard since she had gone back to the
preparatory school--in fact, had received two letters. They were not
such bright epistles as Cecile usually wrote; but they were full of her
brother. Not that Cecile mentioned Luke's differences with Neighbor, or
the reason thereof; but she seemed unable to keep from writing about
Luke.

Ruth was secretly as anxious to hear about the young man as his sister
was to write about him.

Ruth was heart-hungry. She felt that Luke might have taken her into his
confidence to a greater degree; and yet she suspected why he had not
done so.

Mr. Howbridge's talk of dowries for the sisters was always in Ruth's
mind. Of course, she knew that the Stower estate was rapidly increasing
in value. In a few years property that Peter Stower had purchased for a
song would be worth a fortune. The Kenways were likely to be very rich.

What if Luke Shepard had no money when he graduated from college? That
seemed a very small thing to Ruth. She would have plenty when she came
of age, and why could not her money set Luke up in some line of business
that he was fitted for?

Y