"I'm goin' to leave it here," she faltered. "She can pay me for it if
she wants to, in one year, two years, or ten--it don't make no odds to
me. She needn't pay for it at all if she doesn't want to. I never want
to see it on anybody else. She is a good girl--a regular angel of
light."

Therewith the two women fell into each other's arms and began to cry.

A sniff of amusement came from Tom Drake. "Fust it was tittle-tattle,
then a bar-room knock-down-and-drag-out fight, an' now it is a weepin'
camp-meetin'. I wonder what will happen when the wind changes next."





CHAPTER VII




It was a warm, sultry evening in the middle of the week. They had just
finished supper at the farmhouse. Dolly, with a book, a manuscript,
and a pencil, stood in a thoughtful attitude under a tree on the lawn.
She was joined by her uncle, his freckled face beaming with a desire
to tease her.

"What time do you all begin your meetin' to-night?" he inquired,
introductively.