are Ely didn't come a-drivin' up one mornin' with ten bushel in
the farm wagon! He'd been savin' 'em fer us all winter fer fear we
might run short in the spring. Gals, thar's one thing yew kin depend on,
the foresightedness of the Lord. I hain't afraid ter risk a-stretchin'
the board an' keep o' thirty ter pervide ample fer thirty-one. Naow,
haow many of yew is willin' ter try it?"

Every head nodded, "I am"; every eye was wet with the dew of merciful
kindness; and Mrs. Homan and Sarah Jane, who had flung plates at each
other only that morning, were observed to be holding hands.

"But haow on arth be we a-goin' ter sleep him?" proceeded the matron
uneasily. "Thar hain't a extry corner in the hull place. Puttin' tew
people in No. 30 is out of the question--it's jest erbout the size of a
Cinderella shoebox, anyhow, an' the garret leaks--"

She paused, for Blossy was pulling at her sleeve, the real Blossy,
warmhearted, generous, self-deprecating.

"I think No. 30 is just the coziest little place for one! Do let me take
it, Miss Abigail, and give the couple my great big barn of a room."

Aunt Nancy eyed her suspiciously. "Yew ain't a-gwine ter make a fool o'
yerself, an' jump over the broomstick ag'in?" For Blossy's old suitor,
Samuel Darby, had made one of his semiannual visits only that morning.

The belle burst into hysterical and self-conscious laughter, as she
found every glance bent upon her.

"Oh, no, no; not that. But I confess that I am tired to death of this
perpetual dove-party. I just simply can't live another minute without a
man in the house.

"Now, Miss Abigail," she added imperiously, "you run across lots and
fetch him home."

IV

ONE OF THEM

Ah! but Abraham slept that night as if he had been drawn to rest under
the compelling shelter of the wings of all that flock which in happier
days he had dubbed contemptuously "them air old hens." Never afterward
could the dazed old gentleman remember how he had been persuaded to come
into the house and up the stairs with Angeline. He only knew that in the
midst of that heart-breaking farewell at the gate, Miss Abigail, all out
of breath with running, red in the face, but exceedingly hearty of
manner, had suddenly appeared.

"Shoo, shoo, shoo!" this stout angel had gasped. "Naow, Cap'n Abe, yew
needn't git narvous. We 're as harmless as doves. Run right erlong. Yew
won't see anybody ter-night. Don't say a word. It's all right. Sssh!
Shoo!" And th