gs.
She brought him some water which she dipped from a pail near by, and
held the cocoa-nut dipper which contained it to his lips.

"Thee has come to us from strange parts, I reckon, from thy looks."

"Yes," he answered, absently; "I needed change."

"There has been no change here since the Indians went away. If thee
will look across the road thee can see the ground is strewed with the
bits of shells from their feasts."

He went to the window, and again remarked to himself, "This is the
place for me."

"Could you," he asked, going toward her, "let me stay with you a
while?"

"Did thee come to the Marsh End station this morning?"

"Yes; my valise is there."

"Thy parents are rich?"

"I have none."

"Thee has been well cared for, though."

"I have not left home because of any--" Misfortune, he was about to
say, but that did not seem to be the right word; so he tried to think
of something else to say. She saw his embarrassment, and said,
quickly,

"I never have harbored a stranger; but if Peter likes, he may take
thee."

Osgood thanked her so pleasantly that she determined he should stay.
She asked him his name, his age, his place of residence, his business,
and his intentions. Except in regard to the latter, his answer proved
satisfactory; and when Peter returned at noon from the distant shore
with a load of sea-weed, she introduced Osgood as if he were an old
acquaintance of whom Peter was in a state of lamentable ignorance. He
pushed his hat on the back of his head, shook hands with Osgood, and
said, "Maria, will thee give me my dinner?" taking no further notice
of Osgood till she had placed it on the table. It consisted of stewed
beans, boiled beef, apple-pie, and cheese. Osgood ate half a pie, and
established himself in Peter's good graces.

"Thee will learn that Maria's pie-crust beats all," he said.

"Thee is ready to consent," said his wife, "to keep young Osgood a
while?"

"I don't know yet," answered Peter.

But after dinner he harnessed his horse and went to the depot for
Osgood's valise, which he carried upstairs and deposited in the spare
room. He then invited Osgood to take a look at the premises. He wished
to make his own investigations in regard to Osgood without Maria's
intervention. They lingered by the pig-sty, and while Peter scratched
the pigs with a cord-wood stick, exchanged views of men and things.
Peter saw the capabilities of Osgood's character, and easily divined
the mann