ded.
I have plenty of time, and such things interest me. And I have ways of
getting things that make it easier than for some. You will remember this
and surely call upon me?"

"It is verra good you do care," observed Marie, still a good bit amazed.

"You see I have chosen to make my home in Littleton, and I want to be
one with you. I want to be helpful, as well as to get help."

"Zat ees a good way to feel. Littleton--zet ees our new name, I hear. It
do sound strange to me yet. We nevare haf a name before. It was just the
Vorks."

"Do you like the name?"

"Eh, what matters?" flinging out her hands in a way that proved her
Parisian blood and birth. "It will do as well as any other,
Littleton--Lavillotte--How strange that your name does mean 'the little
town,' also! Did you know?"

"Does it?" Joyce felt it was time to flee. This Frenchwoman was too keen
to be easily answered. She nodded brightly, perhaps at the question,
perhaps to say adieu, and crying back over her shoulder, "Remember my
request!" hurried away, laughing within herself at her narrow escape.

CHAPTER XVI.

ON A TRAIL.

Dan Price was not a guest either opening night at the social house. On
the contrary, the first evening, the events of which have been related,
he took his dinner pail and tackle, and despite the somewhat showery
state of the atmosphere, pedaled out of the settlement towards his
woodland haunt as fast as will and muscle could carry him. He had a
supreme contempt for all these new "notions" at the Works, which he
looked upon as the somewhat crazy hobbies of a man too young to realize
what they meant, and too rich to care how he squandered his money. He
knew that to go back to the old ways, after a taste of the new, would
make that state of slavery seven times worse than before. Better let
them alone in what they had become used to; and, for his own part, he
wanted no patronizing, he told himself, nor anybody laying down the law
as to how he should spend his leisure, either. Out of hours he was his
own master, at least, and nobody need interfere. There were things in
life worse than physical hardships--experience had sternly taught him
that.

He would scarcely fling a glance in the direction of the well-lighted
building, towards which already the younger tide of humanity was
setting, and his dark face took on a sneer when he noted their evident
excitement over the event.

"Always caught with something new!" he muttered t