the afternoon was fast giving way to a gray and lowery night. His
heart was full of gratitude and love to Ned, and he stopped more than
once on his homeward walk to read the letter over by the gray glimmer
of twilight. At first he was more than half resolved to return the
money, and bid his friend to buy the pony,--it seemed such a great
denial for horse-loving, mirthful Ned to make,--but as he read the
letter again and again, and pondered over its contents, he began to
think that his friend had more earnestness and love for kind-doing
than he had ever suspected.

"I wronged the poor fellow," he thought to himself, "because he was
so merry and careless all the time. And now he's sent me this great
roll of bills to help those people whom he pretended to hate! Oh, I
wonder if it is best to keep them?"

This question was not decided then. It took more than one day's
thought about the matter before he at last concluded to accept Ned's
bounty, and perhaps he would not have decided thus at all if he had
been quite sure that his friend would not be greatly grieved and
offended at having the money returned.

Meanwhile, the carpenter commenced operations. Dirk's house was the
first to undergo repairs, and Noll took every opportunity to go over
to Culm to see how matters were progressing. It was a great delight to
him to watch John Sampson at his labor, and note how saw and hammer
and plane, guided by his strong and skilful hand, repaired the rents,
brought the shackling doors and windows to comfortable tightness, made
the crooked and twisted roofs to assume something like straight and
even proportions, and righted matters generally. When Dirk's
habitation was thoroughly repaired, it was the wonder and admiration
of all the Culm people.

"It be like what it was when I was a gal, an' all the housen was new,"
said one old fish-wife, who had tottered in with the others.

"Ay, mother," said Dirk, "an' it be time we had new habits to go with
the new housen, eh?"

Noll had not allowed any good opportunities, wherein he might hint to
Dirk that cleanliness and industry should reign in the snug new
quarters, to pass without improving them. Dirk, out of regard and
gratitude to "the young master," as he called him, was willing to make
the attempt, and strove, in his bungling way, to impress his neighbors
with the fact that they were expected to reform their way of living.
But it was up-hill work for people who had lived