The Major sprawled himself back with a laugh. Mrs. Cranceford, standing on the door sill, gave Gid a cool stare. "Won't you please come in?" he asked, courteously waving his hand over the chair which he had just quitted. "No, I thank you." "Ah, I see you are surprised to see me in here. There was a time when it would have strained my boldness, but now it is a pleasure. I am here on business. To me business is a sweet morsel, and I delight myself with rolling it under my tongue. Ma'am, I have just signed a check. My dear old uncle, one of the most humane and charming of men, has been cruelly snatched from this life; and as he found it impossible to take his money with him, he left it to me." "I hope you will make good use of it," she replied, with never a softening toward him. "I am beginning well," he rejoined, surprised that she did not give him a kindlier look. "I am discharging my obligations, and before night I'll call on the rector and give him a check." She smiled, but whether in doubt as to his sincerity or in commendation of his purpose he could not determine. But he took encouragement. "Yes, ma'am, and as I have now become a man of some importance, I am going to act accordingly. I am free to confess that my first endeavor shall be to gain your good opinion." "And I'll freely give it, Mr. Batts, when I believe you merit it." "To desire it, ma'am, is of itself a merit." She laughed at this, and the Major laughed, too, for he saw that no longer should he be compelled to defend his fondness for the old fellow. "I am more than willing to confess my mountain of faults," Gid went on, smiling, and his smile was not disagreeable. "I am more than willing to do this, and when I have--and which I now do--your Christian heart must forgive me." She laughed and held out her hand, and with a gallantry that would have been reminiscent, even in old Virginia, he touched it with his lips. "Come here, Margaret," said the Major, and when she turned toward him, smiling, he put his arms about her, pressed her to his breast and fondly kissed her. CHAPTER XVIII.