"I should like to take him West with me; and your friend Jabez Ainsworth as well. They are bound to go there first or last." "Oh, but you must not think of such a thing! His father would not like it. Amos is going to please his father now, he says, and go to college. Don't speak of his going West, please." "Well, no; not just at present; but when these boys are `thoroughly furnished,' as there is good hope they may be in time, the great West is the place for them, and for many more of their sort. They are needed there now, and will be needed still more in the future." "I like Amos. He will do his part well wherever he is," said Fidelia. "Yes, I am sure he will." "And Jabez, too, in a different way. Jabez and I have always been good friends." "Yes, I know. You have helped them both." "I have helped Jabez with his arithmetic and grammar, and with good advice, too, sometimes," added she, laughing; "but as for Amos, if I have ever helped him, it has been without knowing it." "That is the best kind of help to give, I think," said Dr Justin, smiling. The Austin family was a safe subject to discuss, and they held to it for awhile. Fidelia told about her good fortune in having Nellie for her room-mate at the seminary, and of the many pleasant things they had enjoyed together during the year. When she thought about it afterwards, she wondered at the ease with which she had talked with him, and hoped she had not talked too much. As they drew near to the last stopping-place before reaching Halsey, Dr Justin stooped to lift his handbag, saying,-- "My brother is waiting for me here, I think. We are going to M--to see a patient of his, about whom he is anxious. Have you a message to send to any one in Eastwood: I go back there to-night." "I shall send a message to-morrow by mail, I thank you," said Fidelia a little stiffly. She was indignant with herself in feeling a little disappointed that he was not going on to Halsey. "Well, good-bye. We ought to be friends, you and I, and we shall be friends in time." And then he was gone. CHAPTER SEVEN. HOME AGAIN. Fidelia did not have to take her homeward way through fields and woods this time. Jabez was waiting with his grandfather's "team," which was more than capable of taking her and all her belongings. "All well, Jabez?" said Fidelia, as she caught sight of his smiling sunburnt face.