arm and go right on with yer business.
I like the whole plan o' this remarkable courtship o' yours."

"I guess you like it better than I do," was my answer.

"Ah, my lad, I know the heart o' youth! Ye'd like to be puttin' yer arms
around her--wouldn't ye, now? Sure, there's time enough! You two young
colts are bein' broke' an' bitted. Ye've a chance now to show yer
quality--yer faith, yer loyalty, yer cleverness. If either one o' ye
fails that one isn't worthy o' the other. Ye're in the old treadmill o'
God--the both o' ye! Ye're bein' weighed an' tried for the great prize.
It's not pleasant, but it's better so. Go on, now, an' do yer best an'
whatever comes take it like a man."

A little silence followed. He broke it with these words:

"Ye're done with that business in Cobleskill, an' I'm glad. Ye didn't
know ye were bein' tried there--did ye? Ye've stood it like a man. What
will ye be doin' now?"

"I'd like to go to Washington with the Senator."

He laughed heartily.

"I was hopin' ye'd say that," he went on. "Well, boy, I think it can be
arranged. I'll see the Senator as soon as ever he comes an' I believe
he'll be glad to know o' yer wishes. I think he's been hopin', like,
that ye would propose it. Go up to the farm and spend a happy month or
two with yer aunt an' uncle. It'll do ye good. Ye've been growin' plump
down there. Go an' melt it off in the fields."

"How is Deacon Binks?" I asked presently.

"Soul buried in fat! The sparkler on his bosom suggests a tombstone
stickin' out of a soiled snowbank."

A little more talk and we were off to bed with our candles.

Next morning I went down into the main street of the village before
leaving for home. I wanted to see how it looked and, to be quite frank,
I wanted some of the people of Canton to see how I looked, for my
clothes were of the best cloth and cut in the latest fashion. Many
stopped me and shook my hand--men and women who had never noticed me
before, but there was a quality in their smiles that I didn't quite
enjoy. I know now that they thought me a little too grand on the
outside. What a stern-souled lot those Yankees were! "All ain't gold
that glitters." How often I had heard that version of the old motto!

"Why, you look like the Senator when he is just gittin' home from the
capital," said Mr. Jenison.

They were not yet willing to take me at the par of my appearance.

I met Betsy Price--one of my schoolmates--on the street. She was very