m the old witch, I have changed so. The
others do not know--it is better that way. I think it was the Lord
that brought me here. He has a way of taking care of some people,
my boy. Do you remember when I began to call you my boy--you were
very little. It is long, long ago since I first saw you in your
father's dooryard--you said you were going to mill on a butterfly's
back. You looked just as I thought my boy would look. You gave me a
kiss. What a wonderful gift it was to me then! I began to love you.
I have no one else to think of now. I hope you won't mind my
thinking so much of you.

"God bless you,
KATE FULLERTON."

I understood now why the strong will and singular insight of this woman
had so often exercised themselves in my behalf. I could not remember the
far day and the happy circumstance of which she spoke, but I wrote her a
letter which must have warmed her heart I am sure.

Silas Wright arrived in Canton and drove up to our home. He reached our
door at eight in the morning with his hound and rifle. He had aged
rapidly since I had seen him last. His hair was almost white. There were
many new lines in his face. He seemed more grave and dignified. He did
not lapse into the dialect of his fathers when he spoke of the ancient
pastimes of hunting and fishing as he had been wont to do.

"Bart," he said when the greetings were over, "let's you and me go and
spend a day in the woods. I'll leave my man here to help your uncle
while you're gone."

We went by driving south a few miles and tramping in to the foot of the
stillwater on our river--a trail long familiar to me. The dog left us
soon after we took it and began to range over thick wooded hills. We sat
down among small, spire-like spruces at the river's edge with a long
stretch of water in sight while the music of the hound's voice came
faintly to our ears from the distant forest.

"Oh, I've been dreaming of this for a long time," said the Senator as he
leaned back against a tree and filled his lungs and looked out upon the
water, green with lily-pads along the edge and flecked with the last of
the white blossoms. "I believe you want to leave this lovely country."

"I am waiting for the call to go," I said.

"Well, I'm inclined to think you are the kind of man who ought to go,"
he answered almost sadly. "You are needed. I have been waiting until we
should meet to congratulate you on your behavi