Nevada--probably did not. She stopped short where she stood. Johnnie tipped his hat politely and went on. Later that day Henrietta sat in the cool parlor of the boarding-house trying to think what to do. She had gone over her slender assets and had found them all too scant to permit her to leave Riverbank, taking Lem or not taking him. To her came Miss Susan bearing a soiled envelope. “A boy fetched this. He said there was n't any answer,” Miss Susan said. “He was that Swatty boy, and I gave him a good piece of my mind about thieving, while I had the chance.” Henrietta tore open the envelope. The note was from Harvey Redding. It asked her to come, if she could, to see him, at the junkyard of Moses Shuder. “About Lemuel,” the note said. Henrietta went. She found the late saint in the junkyard tossing old iron into Shuder's wagon. “I would n't have asked you to come here,” Harvey said, wiping his face, which was streaked with perspiration and rust, “only on account of Lem yonder. Lem's scared. Lem's afraid, now that I've come back, his aunt'll get word that I'm back an' come an' fetch him an' jail him. He's mortal afraid of that aunt, Lem is. Don't know as I blame him so dod-basted much, either. I'm sort of scared of her myself.” “No reason, Mr. Redding,” Henrietta said. “She's cross--sometimes--but her heart is kind.” “Lem don't feel so,” said Harvey. “Seems like she's dead set against Lem. Well, what I asked you to come for--seein' how I was scared to go up to Susan's house--was about somethin' Lem said about you wantin' to have him. I don't know but I'm willin'--” “But don't you want him yourself?” asked Henrietta with a leap of her heart. “I might want him, dod-baste it,” said Harvey, “but I ain't got him. She's got him. I pawned him to her, an' since I've went into pardnership with this here Shuder--” “What?” “Well, he ain't so dod-basted bad, at that, when you come to know him,” said Harvey. “He is sort of set against ham, but if other food is plenty I can git along. An' the dicker I made with him, as I was sayin', is goin' to take all my spare cash for quite a while. I guess him an' me, when we git things goin' right, is goin' to con-troll the junk business of this town, an' no mistake. We got a good combination in him an' me. He's a hard worker an' me--I've got the brains.” “But about Lem?” “Well, that's it. Accordin' to these here terms of pardnership I'm goin' to have to put in all the spare cash I can get for quite some time, an' it looks like it would be years before I could git Lem out o' pawn, an' he does hate dod-bastedly to be pawned to his Aunt Susan, he does. So if you want to unpawn him an' git him pawned to you, I ain't got no objections.” “And you, Lem?” asked Henrietta. “Would you rather be pawned to me?” “I bet you!” the boy said eagerly. “I'd like it.” “I don't know! I 'll see what I can do,” Henrietta said. “I would love to have him. It is the greatest--the only desire of my heart.”