"Why not? Don't I look clever enough?" "Oh, that ain't it, but--" "Some day, when you and Philip are real busy," suggested Grace, "perhaps you'll let me help you behind the counter." "Mrs. Somerton is a great joker," explained Philip, as Caleb continued to look incredulous. "But I wasn't joking," said Grace. "I'll really help in the store some day when--" "When your husband lets you, you said," remarked Philip. "Well," drawled Caleb, slowly regaining his customary expression, "I shouldn't wonder if Mrs. Somerton's the kind that's let to do pretty much as she likes." Philip laughed, and replied:-- "You're a quick judge of human nature, Mr. Wright. But before we talk business I want some advice and assistance. We can't live at that hotel; for my wife would have to sit in a cold room all day, which isn't to be thought of. Can't you suggest a boarding place, in a private family?" "Scarcely, I'm afraid," Caleb replied after a moment of thought. "I don't b'lieve any families here ever took boarders, or would know how to do it to your likin'. What's the matter with your takin' your uncle's house an' livin' in it? It's plain, but comfortable, an' just as he left it." "Is there a servant in it?" "Oh, no; there hasn't been since his wife died, an' _she_ wasn't what you city folks call a servant. 'Helper' is what you want to say in these parts. They're hard to get, too, an' if they're not treated same as if they was members of the family, they won't stay. About your uncle,--well, you see he took his meals at the hotel, an' done his own housework, which didn't amount to much except makin' his bed ev'ry mornin' an' makin' fire through the winter. S'pose you take a look at it, when you're good and ready. It's on the back of the store-lot, and the key is in the desk here. Your furniture an' things, that come by rail, I had put in the warehouse behind the store, not knowin' just what you'd want to do." Philip and Grace looked at each other, and exchanged a few words about possible housekeeping. Caleb looked at both with great interest, and improved the first moment of silence to say:-- "An' she's--you've--been a shop-girl!" Philip frowned slightly, and Caleb hastened to add, "I ort to have said a saleswoman. But who would have thought it!" "Caleb is a character," Grace said as soon as she and her husband left the store. "I'm going to be very fond of him."