t she was a fearless and capable rider.

"I will call my aunt," the young woman said with a courtesy of respect
such as girls gave to elders.

"Tell her it is Madam Wetherill. Nay, I will sit here," as the girl
invited her within; and she took the porch bench.

Lois Henry showed her added cares in the thinness of her face and
certain drawn lines about the mouth, but it had not lost its grave
sweetness.

"I hear you are full of trouble," began Madam Wetherill in her well-bred
tones. What with education on the one side, and equable temperament on
the other, perhaps too, the softness of the climate and the easier modes
of life, voices and manners both had a refinement for which they are
seldom given credit. The intercourse between England and the colonies
had been more frequent and kindly, though the dawning love of liberty
was quite as strong as in the Eastern settlements.

"Yes, there is heaviness and burthens laid upon me, but if we are glad
to receive good at the hands of the Lord we must not murmur against
evil. The spring is a bad time for the head of the house to be laid
aside."

"And you have added family cares. I have come to see if you are willing
to be relieved in some measure. Everyone counts at such a time, while in
a family like ours, with the going and coming, one more never adds to
the work."

"I should be quite willing if we could be assured it was our duty to
shift burthens in times of trouble. James is somewhat disquieted about
the child. Will you come in and talk with him?"

The bed had been brought out to the best room, as it was so much larger
than the sleeping chamber adjoining it. James Henry lay stretched upon a
pallet, his ruddy face somewhat paler than its wont.

"I am pleased to see thee," he said gravely.

"And I am sorry for thy misfortune."

The use of the pronoun "thou" had its old English manner and was not
confined to the Friends alone. The more rigid, who sought to despise all
things that savored of worldliness, used their objective in season and
out. And among the younger of the citified Friends, "you" was not
infrequently heard.

"It is the Lord's will. We are not allowed our choice of times. Though I
must say I have been prospered heretofore, and give thanks for it. I
hear there are other troubles abroad and that those pestilent Puritans,
who were never able to live in peace for any length of time, have
rebelled against the King. I am sorry it hath come to open blows. Bu