"Neither can I. That's the dreadful part of it! They say he hadn't made a will, that though he was sharper than anybody else in the whole world about any other matter of business, that was the one thing he put off. And we're all the kin he had in the world, grandfather and I. And they say"--her voice sank to a whisper of excitement--"they say he was richer than anybody knew, and that this last business with Judge Pike, the very thing that killed him--something about grain--made him five times richer than before!" She put her hand on the boy's arm, and he let it remain there. Her eyes still sought his with a tremulous appeal. "God bless you, Ariel!" he said. "It's going to be a great thing for you." "Yes. Yes, it is." The tears came suddenly to her eyes. "I was foolish last night, but there had been such a long time of WANTING things; and now--and now grandfather and I can go--" "You're going, too!" Joe chuckled. "It's heartless, I suppose, but I've settled it! We're going--" "_I_ know," he cried. "You've told me a thousand times what HE'S said--ten times a thousand. You're going to Paris!" "Paris! Yes, that's it. To Paris, where he can see at last how the great ones have painted,--where the others can show him! To Paris, where we can study together, where he can learn how to put the pictures he sees upon canvas, and where I--" "Go on," Joe encouraged her. "I want to hear you say it. You don't mean that you're going to study painting; you mean that you're going to learn how to make such fellows as Eugene ask you to dance. Go ahead and SAY it!" "Yes--to learn how to DRESS!" she said. Joe was silent for a moment. Then he rose and took the ragged overcoat from the back of his chair. "Where's that muffler?" he asked. She brought it from where she had placed it to dry, behind the stove. "Joe," she said, huskily, "can't you wait till--" "Till the estate is settled and you can coax your grandfather to--" "No, no! But you could go with us." "To Paris?" "He would take you as his secretary." "Aha!" Joe's voice rang out gayly as he rose, refreshed by the coffee, toast, and warmth she had given him. "You've been story-reading, Ariel, like Eugene! 'Secretary'!" "Please, Joe!" "Where's my tin dinner-pail?" He found it himself upon the table where he had set it down. "I'm going to earn a dishonest living," he went on. "I have an engagement to take a freight at a water-tank that's a friend of mine, half a mile south of the yards. Thank God, I'm going to get away from Canaan!" "Wait, Joe!" She caught at his sleeve. "I want you to--" He had swung out of the room and was already at the front-door. She followed him closely. "Good-bye, Ariel!" "No, no! WAIT, Joe!" He took her right hand in his own, and gave it a manly shake. "It's all right," he said. He threw open the door and stepped out, but she sought to detain him. "Oh, have you GOT to go?" she cried.