respectfully. "Later, of course, I shall have my own special work.
At present I'm doing some of the assaying, and have charge of the
sluice-gang. They want me to make myself generally useful, make
suggestions, take hold in every way!"

"That's the way to get on," the older man said, approvingly.
Cherry looked admiringly, with all her heart in her eyes, at her
husband-to-be; the other girls were impressed, too. Martin brought
a new element, something masculine and modern, to their quiet
dinner table. Dad and Peter were men, to be sure, but they were
different. They were only a little more dear and amusing and real
than the men in Dickens' novels, long familiar and beloved in the
household. But Martin made the girls feel suddenly in touch with
real life.

He had kissed Alix and Anne, upon arriving, and they liked it.
Both the older girls, in fact, were so impressed with the
brilliancy of Cherry's prospects, with the extraordinary
distinction she possessed in having a promised husband, with whom
to walk about the woods and to talk of the future, that they could
forgive Cherry for being wrapped in a sort of dream. Her new name,
her new state, her new clothes, and home and position filled her
thoughts, and theirs. Martin had not been with them more than a
few hours before the engagement was openly discussed, and there
were constant references to Cherry's marriage.

It was a cool evening, and after dinner they all gathered about
the fire; Martin and Cherry murmuring together in the ingle seat,
and the others only occasionally drawing them into the general
conversation. Peter and the Norths had come in for coffee, Mrs.