"Yes, grandpa, I failed."

They were out of the village and more than a mile on their way home
before Madeline found voice to say so much, and they were nearer home
by half a mile ere the old man answered back:

"And, Maddy, I failed too."




CHAPTER IV.

GRANDPA MARKHAM.


Mrs. Noah, the housekeeper at Aikenside, was slicing vegetable oysters
for the nice little dish intended for her own supper, when the head of
Sorrel came around the corner of the building, followed by the square-
boxed wagon containing Grandpa Markham, who, bewildered by the beauty
and spaciousness of the grounds, and wholly uncertain as to where he
ought to stop, had driven over the smooth-graveled road around to the
front kitchen door, Mrs. Noah's spacious domain, as sacred as Betsey
Trotwood's patch of green.

"In the name of wonder, what codger is that? and what is he doing
here?" was Mrs. Noah's exclamation, as she dropped the bit of salsify
she was scraping, and hurrying to the door, called out: "I say, you,
sir, what made you drive up here, when I've said over and over again,