telephone in the bank to all of Riverfield, and make a
consultation about it. Now who do you suppose gave it?"

"Who?" we all asked in chorus.

"Nobody less than the governor of the State called up Silas, me answering
for him on account of his deafness, and asked everybody to come in to town
next Saturday night to hear this new commissioner of agriculture that he is
going to appoint make the opening address of his office, I reckon you could
call it. You know Silas is the leading Democrat of this district, and the
governor has opened riz biscuits with me many a time. I told him 'Thank
you, sir,' we would all come and hear the young man talk about what he
didn't know, and he laughed and rang off. Yes, we are all going in a kind
of caravan of vehicles, and I want you to go, Nancy, in the family coach
and take Mrs. Tillett with you on account of her having to take all the
seven little Tilletts, because there won't be a minder woman left to look
after 'em. Bud will drive so as not to disturb Cradd or William in their
Heathen pursuits or discommode Rufus' disposition. Now, won't it be nice
for the whole town to go junketing in like that?" As she spoke Aunt Mary
beamed upon us all with pure delight.

"But Saturday evening is the night that Mr. Matthew is going to have that
dance for me, Mother," said Polly, with the violets becoming slightly
sprinkled underneath the long black lashes.

"Well, dancing can wait a spell," answered Aunt Mary, comfortably. "The
governor said that all the folks at Cloverbend and Providence and Hillsboro
are going, and Riverfield has got to shake out a forefoot in the trip and
not a hind one."

"Oh, we'll have the dance next week, Corn-tassel," promised Matthew,
promptly enough to prevent the drenching of the violets. "It will be great
to hear Baldwin accept his portfolio, as it were."

"And after his term begins I suppose he'll have offices at the capitol and
will be in town most of the time. Then we can have him at all the dances.
Polly, he dances like nothing earthly. Still Matthew won't let him come
near you; he's deadly to women. We are all positively drugged by him,"
exclaimed Bess, delighted at the idea of Hayesville society acquiring the
new commissioner of agriculture for a permanent light.

"Then I can count on you to help Mrs. Tillett and the children in and out,
Nancy?" continued Aunt Mary, with the light of such generalship in her eye
that I was afraid even to mention my one-sided