hand, turning promptly and walking away, not even vouchsafing
him a backward look when she turned the corner, although she knew very
well that he was still standing, watching her.

"He may be a very nice young man," thought Lyddy; "but, then----"

Sunday the two girls spent a long hour with their father. They found him
prepared for the move in prospect for the family--indeed, he was cheerful
about it. The house physician had evidently taken time to speak to the
invalid about the change he advised.

"Perhaps by fall I shall be my own self again, and we can come back to
town and all go to work. We'll worry along somehow in the country for one
season, I am sure," said Mr. Bray.

But that was what troubled Lyddy more than anything else. They were all
so vague as to what they should do at Hillcrest--how they would be able
to live there!

Father said something about when he used to have a garden in their
backyard, and how nice the fresh vegetables were; and how mother had once
kept hens. But Lyddy could not see yet how they were to have either a
garden or poultry.

They were all three enthusiastic--to each other. And the father was sure
that in a fortnight he would be well enough to travel alone to Hillcrest;
they must not worry about him. Aunt Jane was to remain in town all that
time, and she promised to report frequently to the girls regarding their
father's condition.

"I certainly wish I could help you gals out with money," said the old
lady that evening. "You're the only nieces I've got, and I feel as kindly
towards you as towards anybody in this wide world.

"Maybe we can get a chance to sell the farm. If we can, I'll help you then
with a good, round sum. Now, then! you fix up the old place and make it
look less like the Wrath o' Fate had struck it and maybe some foolish
rich man will come along and want to buy it. If you find a customer, I'll
pay you a right fat commission, girls."

But this was "all in the offing;" the Bray girls were concerned mostly
with their immediate adventures.

To set forth on this pilgrimage to Hillcrest Farm--and alone--was an event
fraught with many possibilities. Both Lyddy and 'Phemie possessed their
share of imagination, despite their practical characters; and despite
the older girl's having gone to college for two years, she, or 'Phemie,
knew little about the world at large.

So they looked forward to Monday morning as the Great Adventure.

It was a moist, sweet morning, e