"The dame nivver were much of a talker--not to say a _talker_, thoo knows; but mark me, she loves a crack all the same." Matthew acted pretty fully upon his own diagnosis of his old neighbor's seizure.

He came to see her frequently, stayed long, rehearsed for her benefit all the gossip of the village, fired off his sapient proverbs, and generally conducted himself in his intercourse with the invalid precisely as he had done before.

In answer to any inquiries put to him at the Red Lion he invariably contented himself with his single explanation of Mrs.Ray's condition, "She's nobbut a laal bit quieter, and the dame nivver were much of a talker, thoo knows." Rotha Stagg remained at Shoulthwaite in accordance with her promise given to Ralph.

It was well for the household that she did so.

Young as the girl was, she alone seemed to possess either the self-command or the requisite energy and foresight to keep the affairs of the home and of the farm in motion.