; and
Teague was as ignorant as ever of the cause of the queer change in his
daughter. Perhaps, as becomes a dutiful husband, he should have
retorted upon his complaining wife with complaints of his own; but his
interests and his isolation had made him thoughtful and forbearing. He
had the trait of gentleness which frequently sweetens and equalises
large natures. He remembered that behind whatever complaints--
reasonable or unreasonable--Puss might make, there existed a stronghold
of affection and tenderness; he remembered that her whole life had been
made up of a series of small sacrifices; he knew that she was ready,
whenever occasion made it necessary, to cast aside her snuff-swab and
her complaints, and go to the rack without a murmur.

But Teague was by no means satisfied with the condition of affairs, so
far as Sis was concerned. He said no more to his wife, but he kept his
eyes open. The situation was baffling to the point of irritation, but
Teague betrayed neither uneasiness nor restlessness. He hung about the
house more, and he would frequently walk in quietly when the women
thought he was miles away.

There were times when Sis ignored his presence altogether, but as a
general thing she appeared to relish his companionship. Sometimes at
night, after her mother had gone to bed, she would bring her chair
close to Teague's, and rest her head upon his shoulder, while he smoked
his pipe and gazed in the fire. Teague enjoyed these occasions to the
utmost, and humoured his daughter's slightest wish, responding to her
every mood and fancy. If she talked, he talked; if she was silent, he
said nothing. Once she dropped asleep with her head on his arm, and
Teague sat holding her thus half the night. When she did awake she
upbraided herself so earnestly for imposing on her old pappy (as she
called him) that Teague yawned, and stretched himself, and rubbed his
eyes, and pretended that he, too, had been asleep.

"Lordy, honey! I wuz that gone tell I didn't know whe'er I 'uz rolled
up in a haystack er stretched out in a feather-bed. I reckon ef you'd
'a' listened right clost you'd 'a' heern me sno'. I thes laid back an'
howled at the rafters, an' once-t er twice-t I wuz afeard I mought
waken up Puss."

Sis's response to this transparent fib was an infectious peal of
laughter, and a kiss which amply repaid Teague for any discomfort to
which he may have been subjected.

Once, after Sis had nestled up against Teague, she a