ant lot. As for David
Townsend, he spent a good deal of his time in the lot watching the
shadows, but he came to no explanation, although he strove to satisfy
himself with many.

"I guess the shadows come from the smoke from our chimneys, or else the
poplar tree," he said.

"Why do the shadows come on Monday mornings, and no other?" demanded
his wife.

David was silent.

Very soon new mysteries arose. One day Cordelia rang the dinner-bell
at their usual dinner hour, the same as in Townsend Centre, high noon,
and the family assembled. With amazement Adrianna looked at the dishes
on the table.

"Why, that's queer!" she said.

"What's queer?" asked her mother.

Cordelia stopped short as she was about setting a tumbler of water
beside a plate, and the water slopped over.

"Why," said Adrianna, her face paling, "I--thought there was boiled
dinner. I--smelt cabbage cooking."

"I knew there would something else come up," gasped Cordelia, leaning
hard on the back of Adrianna's chair.

"What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Townsend sharply, but her own face began
to assume the shocked pallour which it was so easy nowadays for all
their faces to assume at the merest suggestion of anything out of the
common.

"I smelt cabbage cooking all the morning up in my room," Adrianna said
faintly, "and here's codfish and potatoes for dinner."

The Townsends all looked at one another. David rose with an
exclamation and rushed out of the room. The others waited tremblingly.
When he came back his face was lowering.

"What did you--" Mrs. Townsend asked hesitatingly.

"There's some smell of cabbage out there," he admitted reluctantly.
Then he looked at her with a challenge. "It comes from the next
house," he said. "Blows over our house."

"Our house is higher."

"I don't care; you can never account for such things."

"Cordelia," said Mrs. Townsend, "you go over to the next house and you
ask if they've got cabbage for dinner."

Cordelia switched out of the room, her mouth set hard. She came back
promptly.

"Says they never have cabbage," she announced with gloomy triumph and a
conclusive glance at Mr. Townsend. "Their girl was real sassy."

"Oh, father, let's move away; let's sell the house," cried Adrianna in
a panic-stricken tone.

"If you think I'm going to sell a house that I got as cheap as this one
because we smell cabbage in a vacant lot, you're mistaken," replied
David firmly.

"It isn't the cabbage alo