"Yes, Sir," said Laura, with a curtsy, not quite so large as those that grow in dancing schools, but, nevertheless, very pretty. "Well, Miss Birch," said Chip, blandly advancing and taking her nice little hand, half covered with her working-mitts,--whereat the aforesaid outposts promptly did their duty,--"or shall I call you Miss Susan Birch?" "No, Sir, my name is Laura," said the girl, shrinking a little from a contact which rather took her by surprise. "Oh, Laura!--that is better yet," proceeded Chip. "Now, Miss Laura, I have got myself into a terrible scrape; can you help me out of it?" "I can't tell, indeed, Sir, till I know what it is," said Laura, with a bright twinkle of reassurance. "Well, it is this:--I have mortally offended your brother,--for so I take him to be by his looks,--and I most sincerely repent it, for he owns the only team left in Waltham. If I cannot hire that team for an hour, I lose money enough to buy this house twice over. I want you to reconcile us. Will you offer my apology and prevail on him to take this and be my coachman for an hour?" asked Chip,--slipping a gold eagle into her hand with the most winning expression at his command. "Oh, yes, Sir,--I'm sure I'll try without that, Sir. He will be glad to oblige you, when he knows how you need it," she said, offering to return the coin. "No, no, Miss Laura, I want to pay him well; and if you succeed,--why, no money can pay _you_, Miss Laura; I don't profess to be rich enough to do it." Here the outposts gave another alarm, and again the hosts of the ruby uniform were gathering hurriedly in their two muster-fields. "Why, I will go and try, Sir," said Laura, so much confused by the novelty and magnitude of the circumstances that she opened the closet-door before opening the only one that led out of the room. Fairly out of Chip's presence, she saw instantly and instinctively the worthlessness of that gold eagle, however genuine, compared with her sisterly love, in her mission to Frank. So she ran directly to her mother in the long kitchen, and, planking the American eagle upon the sloppy little table where the eels were rapidly getting dressed, said,-- "Why, mother, that gentleman wants to hire Frank to carry him to Captain Grant's, and I'm sure he ought to go without hiring. I'll go right out and see him." "That's right, Laury; tell him he ought to be ashamed of himself!" "Oh, no, mother, I won't tell him any such thing," said Laura, laughingly, as she hopped and skipped towards the barn. "Well, Frank, how's Nell Gwyn, this morning?" cheerily cried Laura to Frank, who seemed to be getting his harness into a worse snarl, in his grouty attempts to get it out of one. "The mare's well enough, if she hadn't been insulted." "Why, that's abominable, Frank! But let me get that snarl out." "You get it out! You get out yourself, Laule."