d right. When
would he be back? How could she tell? She didn't know how fast he was
going to drive, that is, if he was driving at all. Mebby he was
walking. People knew Mrs. Munn of old, and did not waste much time on
her. They passed the office door and went on to the stable, where
information, though often highly colored, and tinged with the product
of David's imagination, was at least easily procured.

Granny Long was the one reliable source of supply. As soon as the
doctor drove out of the gate the telescope was turned upon him, and
bulletins as to his movements issued at various intervals. He was
sighted turning the corner at Cameron's Crossing, and was likely going
down to see old Mrs. McKitterick; or he had turned around at Long John
McLeod's old clearing, and would be back in fifteen minutes, maybe
less, at the rate he was going; so it was only a drive. And one
morning, when he started off early and drove so swiftly down the Lake
Simcoe road that every one was sure some one must be dying, public
opinion was much relieved when Granny Long sent Ella Anne out with the
news that it wasn't a patient, after all, but that the doctor had just
been down to Lake Simcoe, and was coming back. And she could not be
quite sure yet, but his hair looked damp and shiny, and she suspected
he had been in swimming; she could tell for certain in a few minutes.

And while the village discussed him, Dr. Allen drove up and down the
Oro hills to exercise his horse, and wished with all his heart that he
had more to do. One evening, when time was hanging more heavily than
usual on his hands, he went for a stroll down the village street. As
he passed out to the gate Davy Munn was mowing the lawn. His groom's
assiduous attention to this one branch of industry, to the exclusion of
all other labor, still remained a mystery. "He's got a dark-blue
necktie on this time," was the whispered remark made in Granny Long's
bedroom, "and it looks as if he was growing a mustache. He's comin'
this direction."

"Sakes alive! I wonder if he's comin' here!" cried Ella Anne's mother,
all in a flutter.

Ella Anne flew down the stairs. She softly opened the front door, and
seating herself at the organ, pulled out all the stops. Miss Long was
organist in the church, and had the loudest voice in the township of
Oro. She had a favorite solo, which she had sung at three tea-meetings
the winter before.

"_Oh, meet me! Oh, meet me!
When