But she was very kind to the invalid, and as she grew thinner and paler and finally kept her bed altogether the Potter blood was forgotten, and it was Roger’s wife whom she nursed so tenderly and to whom she gave her promise to care for Roger and the boys. All through the summer and autumn Lucy lingered, but when the winter’s snows were piled upon the ground and the cold wind swept down the deep gorges she died, and they buried her on a knoll behind the church where the light from the chancel window erected for her husband could fall upon her grave. Then Miss Hansford took matters into her own hand. The whole family should go East with her in the spring. There was a vacancy in St. Luke’s parish. She would apply for the place for Roger and give something herself towards his salary. He could stay with her a while. She wasn’t overfond of boys, but she could stand Roger’s a spell. She called them little bears to herself, but had a genuine liking for them, especially for Rob, who knew how to manage her. He was to go to college and be a minister,—Methodist, she hoped. Thede, who was always drawing pictures and had made a very fair one of her with her far-see-ers on the end of her nose, and her shoulders squared as they usually were when she was giving him what he called “Hail Columbia,” was to be an artist. George was to be a lawyer, though she didn’t think much of that craft after her experience with them, while Artie,—well, she didn’t know what he’d be. He only cared for horses. Maybe he’d keep a livery stable, or be a circus rider. Artie decided for the latter, which Miss Hansford took as an indication that the Potter blood, as represented by the actress, predominated in Artie’s veins. Elithe’s marriage must take place in Oak City, and if they wanted a splurge such as Clarice was to have had, they should have it, and a bigger one, too. She could afford it better than Mrs. Percy, and it would give her a chance to wear her gray silk, the making of which had cost so much and which was lying useless in her bureau drawer. “Not for the world will we be married in Oak City,” both Paul and Elithe said, when the proposition was made to them. They would be married quietly in Samona, among Elithe’s people and the miners, the latter of whom had lamented loudly when they heard they were to lose their rector, who had shared their joys and sorrows and been to them like a brother. “But if we must, we must, and we won’t whimper like children, but give him a good send-off,” they said.