Her thin face shone with a beautiful light, and the eyes she turned on Azalea were full of lovely tears. The girl crept a little closer to her on the broad rock. The long day passed in silence, to the humming of bees, to the shifting of shadows, to the call of birds. They watched the sun set and the stars rise. They felt the dew fall on their hands, and saw the blackness drop like soft veils. Again they crept into their den, this time quite without fear, and slept in each other’s arms. CHAPTER IV NEW CLOTHES It was about sundown and Pa McBirney and Jim were sitting on the porch of their cabin, feeling lonesome and deserted, when Dick Bab, a bachelor who had a house about halfway between the McBirney house and the foot of the mountain, came driving up on his yellow mule. He grinned when he saw the two sitting there, silent. “Listening to the whippoorwills?” he asked teasingly. “Nope,” said Pa McBirney shortly. “Had your supper?” “Such as it was.” “Suppose you wouldn’t have minded a little set-to with them there show folks, would ye?” “Well, if they’d come, I reckon we-all wouldn’t have run away. “Well, the neighbors thought I’d better ride up and let you know that there won’t be nothing doing. They was all hanging around looking for a little amusement too. In fact so many of them came down to see what kind of a lay-out them folks had, that the show raked in a good deal of money—more than they’ve had for a long time, to all appearances. Then Elder Mills, he spoke up and said he reckoned they’d made a pretty good thing out of this community and the best they could do was to be a-moving on. He said so emphatic. And the others spoke up and said they thought so too. So that’s the last any of us will see of that outfit. They’ve packed up bag and baggage, and if they had any idea of coming up here and making trouble for you they concealed it mighty well. So your missus may as well come out of hiding and enjoy the comforts of her own rooftree.” “They didn’t show much spirit, did they?” asked pa in rather a disappointed voice. “Not much. But if they’d showed more you might have been punctured full of holes by this time. I reckon it’s better for your health the way it is.” “Like as not; like as not,” said pa. “You ’light, Dick, and spend the night. Me and Jim’s bunking together, so you can sleep in Jim’s bed.” “I reckon you-all are wanting ma,” said Dick. And this time pa showed no resentment. “I reckon we be,” he admitted. So, the next day, about noon, down the steep trail walked Pa McBirney with a forked stick in his hand. Behind him came ma, who had had enough of “sitting” and was ready to go to work again. After her came Azalea, whose feet seemed fairly to touch the rocks and bound off again, and whose little head turned this way and that with a birdlike way of trying to see and hear all that there was to be seen and heard. Last of all came Jim, his arms full of laurel blossoms.