"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "Talk about angels and--and they fly
in, so to speak. Real glad to see you, Maud. Sit down, sit down.
There's a chair 'round here somewheres. Now where--? Oh, yes, I'm
sittin' in it. Hum! That's one of the reasons why I didn't see
it, I presume likely. You take it and I'll fetch another from the
kitchen. No, I won't, I'll sit on the bench. . . . Hum . . . has
your pa got any money left in that bank of his?"

Miss Hunniwell was, naturally, surprised at the question.

"Why, I hope so," she said. "Did you think he hadn't?"

"W-e-e-ll, I didn't know. That dress of yours, and that new
bonnet, must have used up consider'ble, to say nothin' of that
woodchuck you've got 'round your neck. 'Tis a woodchuck, ain't
it?" he added, solemnly.

"Woodchuck! Well, I like that! If you knew what a silver fox
costs and how long I had to coax before I got this one you would be
more careful in your language," she declared, with a toss of her
head.

Jed sighed. "That's the trouble with me," he observed. "I never
know enough to pick out the right things--or folks--to be careful
with. If I set out to be real toady and humble to what I think is
a peacock it generally turns out to be a Shanghai rooster. And the
same when it's t'other way about. It's a great gift to be able to
tell the real--er--what is it?--gold foxes from the woodchucks in
this life. I ain't got it and that's one of the two hundred
thousand reasons why I ain't rich."

He began to hum one of his doleful melodies. Maud laughed.

"Mercy, what a long sermon!" she exclaimed. "No wonder you sing a
hymn after it."

Jed sniffed. "Um . . . ye-es," he drawled. "If I was more
worldly-minded I'd take up a collection, probably. Well, how's all
the United States Army; the gold lace part of it, I mean?"

His visitor laughed again. "Those that I know seem to be very well
and happy," she replied.

"Um . . . yes . . . sartin. They'd be happy, naturally. How could
they help it, under the circumstances?"

He began picking over an assortment of small hardware, varying his
musical accompaniment by whistling instead of singing. His visitor
looked at him rather oddly.

"Jed," she observed, "you're changed."

Changed? I ain't changed my clothes, if that's what you mean.
Course if I'd know I was goin' to have bankers' daughters with
gold--er--muskrats 'round their necks come to see me I'd have
dressed up."

"Oh, I don't mean yo