say! here's Cilly off the
hooks to get hold of the new teacher. Whereabouts do you s'pose he is?"

"Really Squire!" said Jem Williams, with a silly little laugh, "I
couldn't testify! Reckon he knows Miss Cilly 'd keep hold on him _ef_
she got a chance!"

"Sha'n't speak to you in a month, Jem!" said the lady with a toss of
her head and some heightening of the really pretty colour in her
cheeks. "You may fix it as you've a mind to, among you, and let anybody
that likes bring him in to supper! _I'm_ going in, out of the way,
myself."

Whither she went, on the spur, as good as her word; nor shewed her
pretty face again outside.

Meanwhile Reuben and Faith had worked on through their basket of clams,
and now the last were sputtering on the stove. The work had been done
almost in silence, for though the excitement now and then made Reuben
break into a low whistle of some tune or other, he always checked
himself the next moment with a very apologetic look. For the rest, if
he had not done all the work himself, it certainly was not his fault.
Now, watching quietly the opening shells of that last dozen of clams,
Reuben remarked,

"I _hope_ Mr. Linden won't forget about supper!"

"Why what about it?" said Faith. "Why should he forget? or what if he
does?"

The last sentence seemed to puzzle Reuben.

"I don't know, ma'am," he said,--"it's better before everybody eats it
up."

"Who's going to eat it up?" said Faith. "Where is he?"

"He went down on the sands with me," said Reuben, "but he didn't come
up again. Maybe he has now. He liked it down there, real well."

Faith went to the shutter window and flung it open, and looked to see
whether or no the missing gentleman had returned to the shore. It was a
fair view that lay spread before her. The low beams of the sun gave a
cool afternoon look to everything; the sloop sails shone and gleamed in
the distance; down by the muscle rocks one little boat lay rocking on
the advancing tide, which was fast covering the sand banks and
connecting the strips of water; and the freshening breeze curled the
little waves as they came dancing in, and brought a low sweet murmur to
the shore. One or two gulls sailed floatingly about, and a brown
mink--perceiving that the company had retreated to higher ground--came
out and aired himself on one of the rocks.

But Faith saw none of these things,--for in swinging open her shutter
(which the wind caught and clapped up against the house) sh