constant source of anxiety to Sam. Many a night the unhappy father
lingered in the neighborhood of the hotel, seeking for an opportunity
to see his daughter and talk with her; not that he had much to say, but
that he hoped by his presence to keep more congenial company away from
her. When he heard any village gossip in the house, he always could
trace it to his daughter Jane. Whenever Mary broke out with some new
and wild expression of longing, he understood who put it into her mind.
Whenever his wife complained that she was not so well dressed as some
other women whose husbands were plain workmen, and expressed a wish for
some tawdry bit of finery, Sam could trace the desire, by very little
questioning, back to his daughter Jane.

He prayed about it, thought about it, groaned over it, wept over it,
and still saw no means within his power to bring the girl back to an
interest in her family and to bring her up so that she should not
disgrace the name which he was trying to rehabilitate. But the more
thought and effort he gave to the subject, the less seemed his chance
of success.




CHAPTER VIII.


Eleanor Prency was the handsomest girl in all Bruceton. Indeed, she so
far distanced all other girls in brilliancy and manners, as well as in
good looks, that no other young woman thought of being jealous of her.
Among her sex she occupied the position of a peerless horse or athlete
among sporting men; she was "barred" whenever comparisons were made.