“Don’t go till you have looked at the little box,” said Agnes, as he was departing. “I will wait for you under the sycamore,” he said, as she ran in to get it. The girl was not slow in returning and in giving the box into Parker’s hands. He touched the spring and the panel slid back; the compartment was empty. “Humph!” exclaimed Parker. “I wonder what that means! What will Hump Muirhead be up to next?” He shut the slide thoughtfully and handed the box back to Agnes, but there was a puzzled look on his face. “Some one found that copy of the will. I wonder who. We must find out, though it is really of no consequence now, since the true one is safe. Now that they are both out of our possession, we ought to expect no more trouble. I think I’ll hunt up Hump and hear what he has to say. He evidently set those men on David’s track, although I don’t see why he thought David had the will if I had it. The plot thickens. I’ll talk to Dod about it, but don’t bother your head over it, little girl, for all you have to do is to wait till you are free to move into your own home. If I learn anything of importance, I’ll let you know.” He mounted his horse and rode off, a thoughtful look upon his face. CHAPTER XVI A SUPPER AT PARKER WILLETT’S The summer had come upon them before Parker was ready to issue his invitation for his friends to come to take supper with him in his little shanty, for being very comfortable at Dod Hunter’s, and being in no hurry to exchange hearty, cheerful society for utter loneliness, the young man set to work to prepare his garden and plant his corn-field before he should occupy his cabin. Agnes had seen him but once or twice since the wedding, but she had little time to fret over it, for with so many little mouths to feed there was plenty for her to do, and she was too weary at night to lie awake long indulging in girlish dreams. Dod Hunter, as nearest neighbor and oldest friend of Mrs. Kennedy’s father, had been appointed executor, and probably no better choice could have been made. The disappearance of the copy of the will still remained a mystery over which all interested were puzzled. It was June before Parker appeared to bid his friends to his modest attempt at a housewarming. “This is to be strictly a party for ladies,” he said, laughing, to Jimmy O’Neill, “and when I set up for a householder and a benedict, I’ll have a real housewarming. My one room will hardly accommodate all my friends.” “Fergus and me’ll stay at home and look after the young uns,” Jimmy agreed cheerfully, “an’ let the women folk have their frolic. But ye’ll be enlargin’ yer borders an’ takin’ a wife before a year,” he added with a sly smile. “Have ye heerd no more o’ Hump Muirhead?”