Mabel held up her hand. "Hush, papa," she says. "Hush. I know all about
it. Come away, quick; I've got something very important to say to you."

And she took her dad's arm and went off down the hill, mopping her
pretty eyes with her handkerchief and smiling back, every once in a
while, through her tears, at Asaph.

Now, it happened that there was a selectmen's meeting that afternoon
at four o'clock. I was on hand, and so was Zoeth Tiddit and most of the
others. Cap'n Poundberry and Darius Gott were late. Zoeth was as happy
as a clam at high water; he'd sold the poorhouse property that very day
to a Colonel Lamont, from Harniss, who wanted it for a summer place.

"And I got the price we set on it, too," says Zoeth. "But that wa'n't
the funniest part of it. Seems's old man Lamont and his daughter was
very much upset because Debby Badger and Ase Blueworthy would be turned
out of house and home 'count of the place being sold. The colonel was
hot foot for giving 'em a check for five hundred dollars to square
things; said his daughter'd made him promise he would. Says I: 'You
can give it to Debby, if you want to, but don't lay a copper on that
Blueworthy fraud.' Then I told him the truth about Ase. He couldn't
hardly believe it, but I finally convinced him, and he made out the
check to Debby. I took it down to her myself just after dinner. Ase was
there, and his eyes pretty nigh popped out of his head.

"'Look here,' I says to him; 'if you'd been worth a continental
you might have had some of this. As it is, you'll be farmed out
somewheres--that's what'll happen to YOU.'"

And as Zoeth was telling this, in comes Cap'n Benijah. He was happy,