of weeds and the apples left rotting on the ground all this fall,
so mother writes. William, our colored man, cut down the worst of the
weeds with a scythe last summer and I kept the ground cleared where the
hammock hangs. It's been such a rainy summer, I suppose that's why
things grew so rank, but I'm sorry the old gentleman is neglecting his
property after making such a noble start."

The Professor laughed.

"You have made the acquaintance of the owner, then?" he asked.

"Oh no, we have never even learned his name, but I feel quite sure he is
very old. Sometimes I seem to see him in the orchard, an old, old man
leaning on a stick. I think he is old and eccentric because a young man
would never have bought property he had never seen."

"Can't a young man be eccentric?"

"Oh, yes, but mother and my brothers and sisters, all of us believe
this man is old from something the agent said. He told mother that the
new owner of the orchard had bought it because he was looking for a
retired spot in which to spend his old age."

Again the Professor laughed and the color rose in his face and spread
over his cheeks and forehead.

Presently Miss Green returned with the tea things and the buttermilk.

"Has Miss Fern gone?" asked Molly.

"Oh yes, we finally prevailed on her to go home," answered Miss Green.
"She really need not have been here at all. The infirmary nurse would
have looked after Edwin, but she seemed to think she was indispensable."

"Grace, my dear sister," remonstrated the Professor.

From Miss Fern the talk drifted to many things. Molly told them more of
Jimmy Lufton: how he had charmed everybody and what a wonderful life he
led in New York.

"I should like to be on a newspaper," she said suddenly. "It would be
lots more exciting than teaching school."

The Professor looked up quickly.

"I should be sorry to see you take that step, Miss Molly."

"Well, I haven't taken it yet, but I was only thinking that Mr. Lufton
might be a great deal of help to me."

"You must not," said the Professor sternly. "Don't think of it for a
moment. The _Commune_ is putting ideas into your head, or this Mr.
Lufton."

Molly felt uncomfortable for some reason and Miss Green changed the
subject.

"By the way," she said, "I heard the other day what had become of some
of the luncheon you seniors lost the day the Major took you in and fed
you. The thieves probably took all they could carry with them and dumped
the rest i