Polly gave a sigh. “I miss ye all, Nancy, an’ though I don’t begrutch ye comin’ to yer ain, I’m wishful fur ye ivery morn that comes. Do ye mind how I used to stir ye up wi a stick o’ mornin’s when ye would overslape? Ah,” Polly shook her head, “them was good times we had togither. Ye’ve not set fut on the place sin’ ye lef’ it.” “How could I, Polly, with so much to do?” “Ye could not, fur a fact; it’s the truth ye’re tellin’, fur ye don’t get to meetin’ o’ Sabbaths.” “No, but the minister has been here several times, and every one is so kind.” “Why wouldn’t they be? Was ye iver anythin’ else but kind yersel’? I tell ye, though, the men were all cross-eyed wid mad, an’ grumpy as bears whin they come back from huntin’ Hump Muirhead. They beeta say that ye was a blessed lass fur returnin’ good fur evil, an’ they says, Jimmy tells me, that ye put them all to shame by gettin’ him to go, along o’ yer gentle coaxin’s an’ pleadin’s.” “How could they know that?” “Can ye see through a millstone wid a hole in it? They beeta know, fur they puts this and that together, an’ gets a holt o’ it.” “It was Carter that told, I do believe.” “If he did, it was no till the settlemint was shet o’ Hump, an’ then he couldn’t houd his blather. He said ye’d made him give a promise not to tell, but that it was no saycret an’ why should he thry to kape what was common property? He’s a great wan to talk, is Carter, an’ he sang yer praises to the tune av half an hour at the shop, that I know. So be, Nancy, as ye know it’s no saycret anny longer, jist tell me the rights av it.” And Agnes gave an account of her interview with her uncle, Polly making her comments freely. “Carter’s a gintleman,” she declared, “an’ I’ll give him a good thwack whin I see him, for he niver told me his part. He was fair achin’ fur a fight, I can see.” Polly spoke in tones of admiration. “Nothin’ would ha’ plazed me better than to know he gave Hump a good lambastin’.” “Imagine Carter trying to whip Hump Muirhead.” “It’s not always the big dog that wins the fight.” “Yes, but I am very glad it did not come out so. I think the best part was that Carter would do nothing belligerent on my account. Well, Polly, it is all done with now, and we are safely here under our own roof.” “Have ye heerd from Archie?” “Not a line.” Polly laughed. “I’ve a notion ye’ll not.” “And why?” Agnes was a little offended. “We hear enough,” was Polly’s reply, given with an air of mystery. She put her hand over her mouth to check the laugh that would come, and at the same time she cast an anxious glance at the windows of Mrs. Kennedy’s room. “Now, Polly, tell me what you mean.” “Go ’long wid ye; I’ll have me saycrits, too; ye’ve had yours, an’ have no call to expect me to tell ye.” With this Agnes had to be satisfied. She parted with Polly at the gate where they had been standing, and promised, as soon as she could, that she would certainly come over to see her old friend.