en, lo! he was not in the County Almshouse, but in a
beautiful bright bedchamber with a wreath of immortelles over the
mantel, alone with Angy.

Afterward, it all seemed the blur of a dream to him, a dream which ended
when he had found his head upon a cool, white pillow, and had felt glad,
glad--dear God, how glad!--to know that Angy was still within reach of
his outstretched hand; and so he had fallen asleep. But when he awoke in
the morning, there stood Angeline in front of the glass taking her hair
out of curl papers; and then he slowly began to realize the tremendous
change that had come into their lives, when his wife committed the
unprecedented act of taking her crimps out _before_ breakfast. He
realized' that they were to eat among strangers. He had become the guest
of thirty "women-folks." No doubt he should be called "Old Gal
Thirty-one." He got up and dressed very, very slowly. The bewildered
gratitude, the incredulous thanksgiving of last night, were as far away
as yesterday's sunset. A great seriousness settled upon Abe's lean face.
At last he burst forth:

"One to thirty! Hy-guy, I'm in fer it!" How had it happened, he
wondered. They had given him no time to think. They had swooped down
upon him when his brain was dulled with anguish. Virtually, they had
kidnapped him. Why had they brought him here to accept charity of a
women's institution? Why need they thus intensify his sense of shame at
his life's failure, and, above all, at his failure to provide for
Angeline? In the poorhouse he would have been only one more derelict;
but here he stood alone to be stared at and pitied and thrown a
sickly-satisfying crumb. With a sigh from the very cellar of his being,
he muttered:

"Aye, Mother, why didn't yew let me go on ter the County House? That
air's the place fer a worn-out old hull like me. Hy-guy!" he ejaculated,
beads of sweat standing out on his forehead, "I'd ruther lay deown an'
die th'n face them air women."

"Thar, thar!" soothingly spoke Angy, laying her hand on his arm. "Thar,
thar, Father! Jest think haow dretful I'd feel a-goin' deown without
yer."

"So you would!" strangely comforted. "So you would, my dear!" For her
sake he tried to brighten up. He joked clumsily as they stood on the
threshold of the chamber, whispering, blinking his eyes to make up for
the lack of their usually ready twinkle.

"Hol' on a minute; supposin' I fergit whether I be a man er a woman?"

Her love gave inspiratio