She opened the gate, and young Mr. Elmer Franklin of New York entered. A man to respect: an open, manly face, clear blue eyes, and a wiry, compact, and vigorous frame. A man with a sound mind in a sound body. He was dressed in a gray travelling suit, and had a knapsack strapped to his back; in his hand a stout stick looking as if just cut from the roadside, and at his side a field glass in a leather case. Immediately behind him came a man bending under the load of an immense trunk. Alma smiled her best, and the young stranger bowed gallantly. "Mr. Denny, I presume?" "Welcome, cousin Franklin," said Mr. Denny from his chair. "I knew you at once, though it is years since any members of our families have met. Pardon me if I do not rise. I'm an old man, and confined to my chair." Mr. Franklin offered his hand and said politely: "Thank you, sir, for your kind reception. I am greatly pleased to---- Hullo! Look out there, boys! That baggage is precious and fragile." Another man appeared, and the two brought in trunks and boxes, bundles and parcels, till there was quite a large heap of baggage piled up on the grass. Alma and Lawrence were properly amazed at this array of things portable, and Mr. Denny laid aside the breakfast things to look at the rather remarkable display. The young man seemed to think apologies essential. "I do not wonder that you are alarmed. I do not often take such a load of traps. I wrote you that my visit would be one of study and scientific investigation, and I was obliged to bring my philosophical apparatus and books with me." "It is indeed a wonderful train of luggage for a man. One would have thought you intended to bring a wife." Then Mr. Denny bethought him of his duty, and he introduced his newly found relative to his daughter and to Mr. Lawrence Belford, and then bade him draw up to the table for breakfast. The young man made the motions suitable for such an occasion, and then he turned to pay his expressman. This trifling incident deserves record as happily illustrating the young man's noble character. "Thank you, sir. Breakfast will be a cheerful episode. I've a glorious appetite, for I walked up from the station." "There's a coach, Mr. Franklin, and it passes our door." "I knew that, sir, but I preferred to walk and see the country. Fine section of conglomerate you have in the road cutting just above the station." "Eh! What were you saying?" "I said that I observed an interesting section of conglomerate--water-worn pebbles, I should say--mingled with quartz sand, on the roadside. I must have a run down there and a better look at it after breakfast." Mr. Denny was somewhat overwhelmed at this, and said doubtfully, "Ah, yes, I remember--yes, exactly." "Are you interested in geology, Miss Denny?" Alma was rather confused, and tried hard to find the lump of sugar that had melted away in her coffee, and said briefly, "No. I didn't know that we had any in this part of the country."