f, after she had finished her prayers: "It can't be true that I'm
chosen for the State of Maine! It just CAN'T be true! Nobody could be
good ENOUGH, but oh, I'll try to be as good as I can! To be going to
Wareham Seminary next week and to be the State of Maine too! Oh! I must
pray HARD to God to keep me meek and humble!"

III

The flag was to be raised on a Tuesday, and on the previous Sunday it
became known to the children that Clara Belle Simpson was coming back
from Acreville, coming to live with Mrs. Fogg and take care of the
baby, called by the neighborhood boys "the Fogg horn," on account of his
excellent voice production.

Clara Belle was one of Miss Dearborn's original flock, and if she
were left wholly out of the festivities she would be the only girl of
suitable age to be thus slighted; it seemed clear to the juvenile mind,
therefore, that neither she nor her descendants would ever recover from
such a blow. But, under all the circumstances, would she be allowed to
join in the procession? Even Rebecca, the optimistic, feared not,
and the committee confirmed her fears by saying that Abner Simpson's
daughter certainly could not take any prominent part in the ceremony,
but they hoped that Mrs. Fogg would allow her to witness it.

When Abner Simpson, urged by the town authorities, took his wife and
seven children away from Riverboro to Acreville, just over the border in
the next county, Riverboro went to bed leaving its barn and shed doors
unfastened, and drew long breaths of gratitude to Providence.

Of most winning disposition and genial manners, Mr. Simpson had not
that instinctive comprehension of property rights which renders a man a
valuable citizen.

Squire Bean was his nearest neighbor, and he conceived the novel idea
of paying Simpson five dollars a year not to steal from him, a method
occasionally used in the Highlands in the early days.

The bargain was struck, and adhered to religiously for a twelve-month,
but on the second of January Mr. Simpson announced the verbal contract
as formally broken.

"I didn't know what I was doin' when I made it, Squire," he urged.
"In the first place, it's a slur on my reputation and an injury to my
self-respect. Secondly, it's a nervous strain on me; and thirdly, five
dollars don't pay me!"

Squire Bean was so struck with the unique and convincing nature of
these arguments that he could scarcely restrain his admiration, and he
confessed to himself afterward, t