The nutting party she found a little further on in the same edge of woodland. It seemed that they had pitched upon a great chestnut for her tree; and Faith was half concerned to see what a quantity of work they had given themselves on her account. However, the proverb of 'many hands' was verified here; the ground under the chestnut tree was like a colony of ants, while in the capacious head of the tree their captain, established quite at his ease, was whipping off the burrs with a long pole. Faith took a general view as she came up, and then fell upon the chestnut burrs like the rest of them; and no boy there worked more readily or joyously. There seemed little justification of Mr. Linden's doubts of the boys or fears for her. Faith was everywhere among them, and making Reuben's prophecy true, that 'they would all enjoy themselves a great deal better' for her being there; throwing nuts into the baskets of the little boys and pleasant words at the heads of the big ones, that hit softly and did gentle execution; giving sly handfuls to Reuben, and then hammering out for some little fellow the burrs that her hands were yet more unfit to deal with than his; and doing it all with a will that the very spirit of enjoyment seemed to have moved. _She_ in any danger of rude treatment from those boys! Nothing further from the truth. And so her happy face informed Mr. Linden, when he at last descended to terra firma out of the stripped chestnut tree. He did not say anything, but leaning up against the great brown trunk of the chestnut took a pleased survey of the whole--then went to work with the rest. "Boys!" he said--"aren't there enough of you to open these burrs as fast as Miss Derrick can pick out the nuts? You should never let a lady prick her fingers when you can prick yours in her place." There was a general shout and rush at this, which made Faith give way before it. The burrs disappeared fast; the brown nuts gathered into an immense heap. That tree was done. "Hurrah! for Mr. Simlins!" shouted all the boys, throwing up their caps into the air,--then turning somersets, and wrestling, and rolling over by way of further relief to their feelings. "The chestnut beyond that red maple for him," said Mr. Linden, flinging a little stone in the right direction; at which with another shout the little tornado swept away. "Will you follow, Miss Faith? or are you tired?" "No, I'm not tired yet. I must do something for Mr. Simlins." "Well don't handle those burrs--" he said. "They're worse than darning needles." "Have you seen Kildeer river yet, Mr. Linden?" "I have had a bird's eye view." Faith looked a little wistfully, but only said, "We must look at it after the nutting is done. That's a bit of reading hereabout you ought not to pass over." "I mean to read 'everything I can,' too," he said with a smile as they reached the tree. "Now Mr. Linden," said Joe Deacon, "_this_ tree's a whapper! How long you suppose it'll take you to go up?"