her sobs.

"And about Lucy?"

"No, I could not."

Martha leaned forward and laid her hand on
Jane's shoulder.

"Poor lassie!" she said, patting it softly. "Poor
lassie! That was the hardest part. He's big and
strong and could 'a' comforted ye. My heart aches
for ye both!"




CHAPTER VIII



AN ARRIVAL


With the departure of Jane and Lucy the old
homestead took on that desolate, abandoned look
which comes to most homes when all the life and
joyousness have gone from them. Weeds grew in the
roadway between the lilacs, dandelions flaunted themselves
over the grass-plots; the shutters of the porch