"No, she wasn't in the orchard," he said, "for I was there."

"No, I wasn't in the orchard this evening," said Euphronia. "I went
after the cows." She looked down in her plate.

Keith ate the rest of his supper in silence. He could not tell on Ferdy;
that would not be "square." He consulted his mentor, his chief, who
simply laughed at him.

"Leave 'em alone," he counselled. "I guess she knew how to lie before he
came. Ferdy has some sense. And we are going to leave for the mountains
in a little while. I am only waiting to bring the old squire around."

Gordon shook his head.

"My father says you mistake his hospitality for yielding," he said. "You
will never get him to consent to your plan."

Rhodes laughed.

"Oh, won't I! I have had these old countrymen to deal with before. Just
give them time and show them the greenbacks. He will come around. Wait
until I dangle the shekels before him."

But Mr. Rhodes found that in that provincial field there were some
things stronger than shekels. And among these were prejudices. The more
the young engineer talked, the more obstinate appeared the old
countryman.

"I raise cattle," he said in final answer to all his eloquence.

"Raise cattle! You can make more by raising coal in one year than you
can by raising cattle all your life. Why, you have the richest mineral
country back here almost in the world," said the young diplomat,
persuasively.

"And that's the reason I want to keep the railroads out," said the
squire, puffing quietly. "I don't want the Yankees to come down and take
it away from us."

Rhodes laughed. "I'd like to see any one take anything from you. They
will develop it for you."

"I never seen anybody develop anything for another man, leastways a
Yankee," said Squire Rawson, reflectively.

Just then Ferdy chipped in. He was tired of being left out.

"My father'll come down here and show you old mossbacks a thing or two,"
he laughed.

The old man turned his eyes on him slowly. Ferdy was not a favorite with
him. For one thing, he played on the piano. But there were
other reasons.

"Who is your father, son?" The squire drew a long whiff from his pipe.

"Aaron Wickersham of Wickersham & Company, who is setting up the chips
for this railroad. We are going to run through here and make it one of
the greatest lines of the country."

"Oh, you're _goin'_ to run it! From the way you talked I thought maybe
you _had_ run it. Was a man named Aaron once t