hand. Sometimes he dozed heavily in his
chair. But he did not go to bed; and the
next morning he hitched up his horses and
rode to town. He went to the bank which
held his notes.

"I'll confess judgment as soon as you
like," he said. "It's all up with me."

It was done as quickly as the law would
allow. And the things in the house were
sold by auction. All the farmers were there
with their wives. It made quite an outing
for them. Jim moved around impassively,
and chatted, now and then, with some of
the men about what the horses ought to
bring.

The auctioneer was a clever fellow. Be-
tween the putting up of the articles, he sang
comic songs, and the funnier the song, the
livelier the bidding that followed. The
horses brought a decent price, and the ma-
chinery a disappointing one; and then, after
a delicious snatch about Nell who rode the
sway-backed mare at the county fair, he
got down to the furniture, -- the furniture
which Jim had bought when he was expect-
ing Annie.