nybody can see that," said the boy, frankly.

"'Tis a smart lad ye ar-re," sneered Mr. Murphy. "Show me how ter kape
the baste at home. The fince is not mine, whativer ye say. If it isn't
strong enough to kape me pig out----"

"I'll fix it for you in half a day--if you'll pay me for it,"
interrupted Neale O'Neil.

"How will ye do ut? and how much will ye tax me?" queried the cautious
cobbler.

"I'd string a strand of barbed wire all along the bottom of the fence.
That will stop the pig from rooting, I'll be bound."

The old Irishman rubbed his chin reflectively. "'Twill cost a pretty
penny," he said.

"Then," said Neale O'Neil, winking at the girls, "let's turn Billy Bumps
loose, and the next time the pig comes in I hope he'll butt his head
off!"

"Hi!" shouted Mr. Murphy. "Who's this Billy Bumps ye air talkin' so fast
about?"

"That's our goat," explained Agnes, giggling.

Mr. Murphy's roving eyes caught sight of the billy, just then
reflectively nibbling an old shoe that had been flung into the pen.

"Is that the baste that shot me pig under the fince?" he yelped.

Billy Bumps raised his head, shook his venerable beard, and blatted at
the cobbler.

"He admits the accusation," chuckled Agnes.

"Shure," said Mr. Murphy, wagging his head, "if that thunderin' ould
pi-_rat_ of a goat ever gits a _good_ whack at me pig, he'd dr-rive him
through a knothole! Kem over and see me by and by, la-a-ad," he added,
to Neale, his eyes twinkling, "and we'll bargain about that barbed wire
job."

"I'll be over to see you, sir," promised the white-haired boy.

For Ruth had nudged his elbow and whispered: "You must stay to breakfast
with us, Neale."

The boy did so; but he successfully kept up that wall between the girls'
curiosity and his own private history. He frankly admitted that he had
gone hungry of late to save the little sum he had hoarded for the
opening of the Milton schools.

"For I'll have to buy some books--the superintendent told me so. And I
won't have so much time then to earn money for my keep," he said. "But I
am going to school whether I eat regularly, or not. I never had a chance
before."

"To eat?" asked Agnes, slily.

"Not like this!" declared Neale, laughing, as he looked about the
abundant table.

But without asking him point-blank just what his life had been, and why
he had never been to school, Ruth did not see how she was to learn more
than the white-haired boy wished to tell them.