Show ONE al mir OM L op v am I 1 JENNETTE LEE pictures by A copyright 1006 by J JD 13 lt gincott co reserve vz all rights reserve reser SYNOPSIS In richard ichard derring returning from a win tr er in the woods to hla his mothers far farm m home is overtaken by ills his uncle accompanied by his eccentric wife coming to pay a visit at the farm aunt Jerus has questions u about emily hutton supposed to 0 be richards sweetheart bring out the fact that she Is to marry a merchant edwards Dei rings disappointment stimulates his ambition and under the advice of both kinney a hermit of the woods lie he resolves to fit himself for college kinney promises to teach him greek derring tells his mother his resolve and in his grandfathers old laboratory begins the study of greek seth kinney hears richards greek recitation in the woods while he and alid tom bishop ply the crosscut saw CHAPTER VI when the snow began melting from the partridge berries the wood had been cut and hauled only scattered chips remained to tell the winte winters rs work woric and although all the village knew that richard was learning greek it did not know that in the woods he had learned so something methin 9 harder than greek no one but he and seth seta knew that with every blow of the ax he had made a stroke at his trouble and cut it and sawed it and split it and piled it high and sledded it 11 to town and sold it at so much a cord till his hia heart was as sound a as a drum and when one morning he passed emily in her new spring array tripping along the country road he could lift his hat and smile at her proudly and emily fingering the ribbons that fell from her throat called him in her heart a fickle thing and rejoiced anew that she was to be mrs edwards he was on its his way to uncle ebens when he met her carrying a message from his mother he found the old za r you come with me richard sho said mildly as she waddled away man in the side garden pottering lottering pott ering about over the half dried earth and warming his stiff back in the sun limy beans scald uncle eben rhen ahen lie he heard the request have to go into the house and ask her she faint give me mine yet its time for em too she keeps em cm locked up in the secretary chico as gold he rose stiffly from wo his knees and led the way to the house aunt jerusha was burled buried in the depths of the dutch oven a long jong feather duster in her hand with which she whisked its sides she emerged shining and surprised well I 1 declare richard Is that you she readjusted her spectacles and looked at him kindly her skirt was pinned safely up out of harms way and her sleeves were rolled above the elbow A sunbonnet protected her head she beamed out of its depths want some of the limas do you for plant ln well I 1 do know how many well have I 1 got em down for pa yet she glanced at him suspiciously he shifted from one foot to the other it might have been hope or it might have been impatience aunt Jerus has bas look changed to affection fec fee tion he wants some dreadful va she confided to richard but it aint time yet she crossed the room and took from a high nail by the shelf a key it was wa 13 the key to the parlor door you come with me richard she said mildly as she waddled away uncle eben looked wistfully after them he seated himself in a straight backed chair and lifting his feet to the front round rubbed his fingers thoughtfully aunt jerusha opened opened the parlor door into the dim light you can come right in she said proudly never mind your feet women were made to sweep up dirt ive ave got to clean here next week anyway the room was not a trace of dust rested on any object thought aunt jerusha gave an ostentatious puff to the plush album as she lifted lift edit it she opened it with a little gesture of pride it was half filled with pictures and in the hole left vacant in the other half reposed a key 1 I keep it in here she whispered he ever think of looking in there she chuckled softly as she drew it out she snapped the heavy clasps safely and returned the album to the table 1 I thought I 1 well show you she stood in the dim light watching batchin 9 him mysteriously out of her sunbonnet it if anything should happen to me liev hev to know and he have no more care an a child she directed her nod towards the kitchen uncle eben looked up hopefully as they returned the key to the secretary borne in aunt Jerus has palm mounting a chair in front of the high secretary she inserted the key in the lock the doors swung open uncle eben feasted his eyes there were packages of seeds and velvet bonnets and a string of gold beads and a high shell comb she touched a package of papers that lay at the left my will she said significantly antly to richard ive left everything to him A glow of appreciation overspread uncle ebens face why Jerus jerusha ba his boot heels dame came down with a clatter to the floor why jerusha not a word she said sternly turning on him 1 I dont want to hear a word she turned back to tho the open space and searched among the packages here they be she gide gave a fat sigh and descended from the chair closing the mysterious doors she emptied the package in her lap uncle eben eyeing it enviously from afar 1 I shall divide even she said with a calm air just even she counted out the beans one by one each in its separate pile and handed one of the piles to richard there tell your mother I 1 divided equal ill tell her said richard stowing away the bag in his pocket he knew better than to hurt aunt Jerus lias feelings by refusing any proffered favor she sat leaning comfortably back in her chair looking at him they say bay youre learning greek richard she said at last rocking a little uncle uben tipped eagerly forward in his chair she ignored him are ye yes maam and youre going to college yes maam hows amanda derring going to pay for it she asked severely im going to pay my own way she nodded slowly 1 I thought like enough but you cant do it im going to she looked at him more approvingly the lord helps them that helps themselves she said solemnly and I 1 and the lord do the same she rose majestically and opened the secretary doors once more she took down a broken nosed teapot and extracted a roll ot of bills holding it out to him theres she said slowly 1 I shall give you that every year till you get through and if anything happens to me ebens to give it to you same as it I 1 was alive 11 of course I 1 began uncle eben from his chair she stopped him swiftly dont say a word his open mouth collapsed he rubbed his fingers thoughtfully she turned to the boy run along home richard dont forget to tell your mother I 1 divided the beaus beans with her even CHAPTER VII who chos s the farmer whispered the boy on the back seat to his neighbor it was the examination in greek richards ears reddened to the tips he sat two seats away but the ears accustomed to note the falling of a leaf were keen and the whisper was loud he would have it out with the fellow at noon now he merely shrugged his shoulders a little and devoted himself anew to his verb he had chosen it first to coy conjugate as being the easiest thing on the paper but it was unexpectedly difficult he was confused emiles saucy eyes were coming between him and the page snatching away its meaning 1 I have loved you have loved his pen scratched desperately on how pretty she had looked that morning and he had thought he was over it he shook himself 1 I shall love he glanced despairingly at the clock the time was nearly up it be the coming away from home that had bad upset him she was not worth a thought he gathered himself for a fresh start and wrote rapidly farmers getting rattled whispered the boy on the back seat richard made another mental note and plunged on time it was the voice of the assistant si richard dropped his pen and gathered up his scattered notes running his eyes hastily over them they were enough to flunk him he could see that at a glance he handed them in with sullen face in half an hour the oral examination will be held in this room announced 1 0 the assistant in a stereotyped voice the boys plunged into the open richard sought out the boy of the back seat and salved calved his wounded feelings by hand to hand measures youve got muscle he said enviously two upperclassmen upper classmen passing had stopped for a moment to watch the contest hell have a try for the team said one they strolled on its the shoulders that count partly and muscle and grit did you see his face looked as it if he was chewing iron richard and the boy shook hands and went back to the classroom the professor was on the platform he had mild brown hair and a large nose surmounted by spectacles he glared through them at the hapless youth he had a sensitive ear for greek accents and the entrance examinations wore on it the assistant had been showing him tho written work it was very poor his face was pro pared for the worst the oral exam would consist of reading to iv the original greek the boys subsided beneath his glare glar and thare was omIn ominous oits silence next growled the professor he ha surveyed richard lits his heavy ders and big hands and groaned IV ia he resigned himself to ate fate richard struggled to his feet ate face was red and his throat dry the words came with rasping hoarseness then the swing or of the rhythm caught him his voice opened and deepened and he wan off on the lines the si oi 77 62 professor on the platform start started a little lence of the woods was about him and the sound of the crosscut cross cut sa saw rose upon it he swayed to its tune the words rolling out rising and falling to a kind of heavy chant the tha professor on the platform started a little he pushed his spectacles high on his forehead and rubbed his great nose the wrinkles smoothed from his brow and the peace of days settled upon his face the boy on the back seat nudged his neighbor farmers getting there he whispered Hs H s h hf growled the professor richard came to a stop looking up he had forgotten the class clas and the professor he and tom had been swaying back and forth to tho tha sound of the crosscut cross cut saw chanting the deep monotonous sounds the professor beamed bea med on him A faint half scared cheer went up from the class the spectacles descended and glared at them time to cheer wh when en you are out of the woods he said next the next youth rose and blundered on tho the hour wore away and the class escaped but bruised and sore the professor detained richard by a gesture where did you fit he ha asked brusquely at home where in ashton massachusetts yes theres no school there no sir I 1 studied d by myself and with an old man 00 the spectacles regarded him and did lie he read greek the way you do the boys face reddened not exactly we did it that way sawing logs I 1 got into the swing of it and forgot f the professor leaned forward tapping the odyssey with his spectacles you recited greek in the woods yes sir the professors face grow grew light he chuckled and we think we can teach them indoors Indoor sl Is it all right sir all right growled the professor its the way they did it in greece years ago go home and thank your lucky stars you had something besides boards over your head while you learned it TO BE CONTINUED |