ger yet another day. But Cousin Charley began
bidding them good-bye, the crocodile tears coursing down his cheeks as
he sobbed:

"I'll never fergit you two. You've always been good to me." (As a matter
of fact, Lin threatened to scald him that morning.) "I know I may be
half starved to death before I git work but I'll stand it. And durn them
all, I'll show them I'm somebody afore they see me agin."

At the reference to starving, Lin rushed to the big kitchen cupboard.
The larger part of a roasted chicken, a dozen doughnuts, pickles,
rusks, enough to feed an ordinary man several times, was done up in a
neat package and handed to Charley by Lin as she pityingly remarked:

"Ef the bakin' was done I'd gin ye more fer I'll warrant it'll be a long
time 'fore ye'll eat cooking like ye've hed here. Fer vagrants never
know what they're eatin'."

Charley's leave-taking was most affecting. "Al-f-u-r-d" begged to be
permitted to accompany him a little ways on his journey. Five minutes
the boys walked hand in hand.

Into Sammy Steele's deserted tannery, through a long, dark room with
dust and rubbish covering the floor, into a smaller room, more dismal if
imaginable than the larger room but much cleaner.

[Illustration: The Exile]

Three boxes, the larger used as a table, the two smaller ones as seats,
made up the furniture in the room. A small blaze of fire in the
old-fashioned soft coal grate gave a faint light. Cousin Charley
whistled a time or two, and Lint Dutton, the son of the leading dry
goods merchant of the town; and Tod Livingston, the son of the dry goods
man's head clerk, put in an appearance.

It was not long until "Al-f-u-r-d's" sympathetic heart was touched with
the wrongs of the three exiles. It seemed the trio had all been driven
from home and were going out into the world to dig for themselves.
Charley explained there were many things to adjust ere the exiles
departed and the room in the old tannery would be their retreat until
they left the town for good.

To impress "Al-f-u-r-d" with the fact that provisions were the one thing
necessary, Lin's contribution was spread out on the larger box and all
proceeded to devour the viands. Even "Al-f-u-r-d" enjoyed the repast.

"Al-f-u-r-d" was sworn to secrecy as to the retreat of the exiles and
adjured to bring all the eatables he could secure. The sight of Cousin
Charley consuming a dried apple pie such as were made in those days,
plenty of lemon peel and cid