mill, Mr. Elmer invited them to walk up there through the woods. On
their way they passed the sulphur spring, which had been cleaned out
and walled in, and over which a neat bath-house had been built. Uncle
Christopher was delighted with it, and declared that, to an old
"rheumatizy" man like him, that spring was worth all the lumber in
"Floridy."

Mark had asked Edna and Ruth to go up to the mill by water with Frank
and him in the canoe, and they accepted the invitation. At first Edna
was very timid in the frail craft, but she soon gained confidence, and
said "she thought it was the very nicest little boat, on one of the
prettiest rivers she had ever seen."

As they neared the mill its busy machinery seemed to Mark to say,
"Welcome, Mr. President, welcome, Mr. President, welcome Mr. President
of the Elmer Mills"; and when he drew the attention of the others to
it, they declared that they, too, could distinguish the words quite
plainly. The mill looked just as it had when they last saw it, but at
one side were great piles of sawed lumber that Uncle Christopher and
the Aroostook gentlemen were examining carefully.

That afternoon Mark handed Frank thirty dollars as his share of the
money the former had received from their otter-skins, which he had
carried North and sold. Frank had several more that he had caught
during the summer, but their skins were of little value compared with
those caught during the earlier months of the year.

Mr. Elmer had invited all the gentlemen to dine with him that evening,
much to the consternation of Aunt Chloe, who said "she was sho' she
couldn't see how she was gwine fin' time to po'wide vittles fo' so many
guesses; an' dem po' hung'y Norfeners too. 'Specs dey'll be powerful
tickled to git a squar' meal."

The "guesses" spent the afternoon in crossing the river to Wakulla, and
in driving several miles into the great pine forests, which pleased
them greatly.

The dinner turned out to be a most bountiful meal, in spite of Aunt
Chloe's fears; and at half-past six a very merry company gathered
around the long table, which, for want of space elsewhere, had been set
in the wide hall that ran through the house from front to rear. The
evening was so warm that the front door stood wide open, and when
dinner was nearly over, the whole party were laughing so heartily at
one of Uncle Christopher's funny stories, that no one heard the sound
of wheels at the gate, nor noticed the figure that, wi