had a lively sense of humour, but
the joke of this was lost on her. Her education had been that
getting shot was far from funny.

"Why, I should have thought you would have died, Will!"

"What! For a little crack in the leg!" cried Red, with some
impatience. "You people must quit easy in this country. Die
nothin'. One of our boys came along and took us to camp, and we
was up and doing again in no time. 'Course, Black Wolf has a game
leg for good, but the worst that's stuck to me is a yank or two of
rheumatism in the rainy season. I paid Wolf for his cayuse," he
finished shamefacedly. "I had the laugh on him anyhow."

Miss Mattie told him she thought that was noble of him, which
tribute Red took as medicine, and shifted the subject with speed,
to practical affairs. He asked Miss Mattie how much money she had
and how she managed to make out. Now, it was one of the canons of
good manners in Fairfield not to speak of material matters--perhaps
because there was so little material matter in the community, but
Miss Mattie, doomed to a thousand irksome petty economies, had
often longed for a sympathetic ear, to pour into it a good honest
complaint of hating to do this and that. She could not exactly go
this far with Cousin Will, but she could say that it was pretty
hard to get along, and give some details. She felt that she knew
him so very well, in those few hours! Red heard with nods of
assent. He had scented the conditions at once.

"It ain't any fun, skidding on the thin ice," said he, when they
had concluded the talk. "I've had to count the beans I put in the
pot, and it made me hate arithmetic worse than when I went over
yonder to school. Well, them days have gone by for you, Mattie."
He reached down and pulling out a green roll, slapped it on the
centre table. "Blow that in, and limber up, and remember that
there's more behind it."

Miss Mattie's pride rose at a leap.

"Will!" she said, "I hope you don't think I've told you this to get
money from you?"

He leaned forward, put his hand on her shoulder and held her eyes
with a sudden access of sternness and authority.

"And I hope, Mattie," said he, "that you don't think that I think
anything of the kind?"

The cousins stared into each other's eyes for a full minute. Then
Miss Mattie spoke. "No, Will," said she, "I don't believe you do."

"I shouldn't think I did," retorted Red. "What in thunder would I
do with all that money? Why, good L