But against this all exclaimed at once. She was too tired, the mother
said. She must lie down and rest, while Helen suggested that she had not
yet told them about her trip, and Uncle Ephraim remarked that she would
not find Morris home, as he was going that afternoon to Spencer. This
last settled it. Katy must stay at home; but instead of lying down or
talking much about her journey, she explored every nook and crevice of
the old house and barn, finding the nest Aunt Betsy had so long looked
for in vain, and proving to the anxious dame that she was right when she
insisted that the speckled hen had stolen her nest and was in the act of
setting. Later in the day, and a neighbor passing by spied the little
maiden riding in the cart off into the meadow, where she sported like a
child among the mounds of fragrant hay, playing her jokes upon the sober
deacon, who smiled fondly upon her, feeling how much lighter the labor
seemed because she was there with him, a hindrance instead of a help, in
spite of her efforts to handle the rake skillfully.

"Are you glad to have me home again, Uncle Eph?" she asked, when once
she caught him regarding her with a peculiar look.

"Yes, Katy-did, very glad," he answered. "I've missed you every day,
though you do nothing much but bother me."

"Why did you look funny at me just now?" Katy continued, and the deacon
replied: "I was thinking how hard it would be for such a highty-tighty
thing as you to meet the crosses and disappointments which lie all along
the road which you must travel. I should hate to see your young life
crushed out of you, as young lives sometimes are."

"Oh, never fear for me. I am going to be happy all my life long. Wilford