"Why?" asked 'Phemie, trying to appear interested, while Lyddy swiftly read her letter. "Oh, I reckon you two gals--bein' only granddaughters of the old doctor--never heard much about Jud Spink--Lemuel Judson Spink he calls hisself now, an' puts a 'professor' in front of his name, too." "Is he a professor?" asked 'Phemie. "I dunno. He's been a good many things. Injun doctor--actor--medicine show fakir--patent medicine pedlar; and now he owns 'Diamond Grits'--the greatest food on airth, _he_ claims, an' I tell him it's great all right, for man _an'_ beast!" and the mail-carrier went off into a spasm of laughter over his own joke. "Diamond Grits is a breakfast food," chuckled 'Phemie. "Do you s'pose horses would eat it, too?" "Mine will," said the mail-carrier. "Jud sent me a case of Grits and I fed most of it to this critter. Sassige an' buckwheats satisfy me better of a mornin', an' I dunno as this hoss has re'lly been in as good shape since I give it the Grits. "Wa-al, Jud's as rich as cream naow; but the old doctor took him as a boy out o' the poorhouse." "And yet you say he talks against grandfather?" asked 'Phemie, rather curious. "Ain't it just like folks?" pursued the man, shaking his head. "Yes, sir! Dr. Polly took Jud Spink inter his fam'bly and might have made suthin' of him; but Jud ran away with a medicine show----" "He's made a rich man of himself, you say?" questioned 'Phemie. "Ya-as," admitted the mail-carrier. "But everybody respected the old doctor, an' nobody respects Jud Spink--they respect his money. "Las' night Jud says the old doctor was as close as a clam with the lockjaw, an' never let go of a dollar till the eagle screamed for marcy. But he done a sight more good than folks knowed about--till after he died. An' d'ye know the most important clause in his will, Miss?" "In grandfather's will?" "Ya-as. It was the instructions to his execketer to give a receipted bill to ev'ry patient of his that applied for the same, free gratis for nothin'! An' lemme tell ye," added the mail-carrier, preparing to drive on again, "there was some folks on both sides o' this ridge that was down on the old doctor's books for sums they could never hope to pay." As he started off 'Phemie called after him, brightly: "I'm obliged to you for telling me what you have about grandfather." "Beginning to get interested in neighborhood gossip already; are you?" said her sister, when 'Phemie joined her, and they walked back up the lane. "I believe I am getting interested in everything folks can tell us about grandfather. In his way, Lyddy, Dr. Apollo Phelps must have been a great man." "I--I always had an idea he was a little _queer_," confessed Lyddy. "His name you know, and all----" "But people really _loved_ him. He helped them. He gave unostentatiously, and he must have been a very, very good doctor. I--I wonder what Aunt Jane meant by saying that grandfather used to say there were curative waters on the farm?"