sy of Cressy in his present attitude
as a man of position. With affected reluctance and hesitation he put his
hand to his breast-pocket.

"Of course," he said, "if you're kalkilatin' to take up the quar'll on
YOUR rights, and ez Cressy ain't anythin' more to me, YOU orter hev the
proofs. Only don't trust them into that hound's hands. Once he gets 'em
again he'll secure a warrant agin you for stealin'. That'll be his game.
I'd show 'em to HER first--don't ye see?--and I reckon ef she's old
Ma'am McKinstry's darter, she'll make it lively for him."

He handed the letters to the looming figure before him. It seemed to
become again a yielding mortal, and said in a hesitating voice, "P'r'aps
you'd better make tracks outer this, Seth, and leave me yer to put
things to rights and fix up that door and the desk agin to-morrow
mornin'. He'd better not know it to onct, and so start a row about bein'
broken into."

The proposition seemed to please Seth; he even extended his hand in the
darkness. But he met only an irresponsive void. With a slight shrug of
his shoulders and a grunting farewell, he felt his way to the door
and disappeared. For a few moments it seemed as if Uncle Ben had also
deserted the schoolhouse, so profound and quiet was the hush that fell
upon it. But as the eye became accustomed to the shadow a grayish bulk
appeared to grow out of it over the master's desk and shaped itself into
the broad figure of Uncle Ben. Later, when the moon rose and looked in
at the window, it saw him as the master had seen him on the first day
he had begun his lessons in the school-house, with his face bent forward
over the desk and the same look of child-like perplexity and struggle
that he had worn at his allotted task. Unheroic, ridiculous, and no
doubt blundering and idiotic as then, but still vaguely persistent in
his thought, he remained for some moments in this attitude. Then rising
and taking advantage of the moonlight that flooded the desk, he set
himself to mend the broken lock with a large mechanical clasp-knife
he produced from his pocket, and the aid of his workmanlike thumb
and finger. Presently he began to whistle softly, at first a little
artificially and with relapses of reflective silence. The lock of the
desk restored, he secured into position again that part of the door-lock
which he had burst off in his entrance. This done, he closed the door
gently and once more stepped out into the moonlit clearing. In replacing