He sobbed quietly once or twice, then cleared his throat, and wiped his eyes with the old silk handkerchief.

"Poor ol' father," he said, simply.

"It seems kind o' hard that nobody ever believed him, an' we let him die thinkin' he was crazy.

That takes holt on me; it does, Marm Lucy, now I tell ye! Seems like's if I'd been punished for not havin' faith, and now I git the reward without havin' deserved it." "As if you _could_ have reward enough!" cried Hildegarde, laying her hand on his affectionately.

"But, oh! do just look at them, dear Farmer Hartley! Aren't they beautiful?
But what is that peeping out of the cotton-wool beneath?
It is something red." Farmer Hartley felt beneath the cotton which lined the box, and drew out--oh, wonderful! a chain of rubies! Each stone glowed like a living coal as he held it up in the lamp-light.