Now Albert, as he sat there by the window, was gloomy enough. The wind, howling and wailing about the gables of the old house, was not an aid to cheerfulness and he needed every aid. He had sworn to go away, he was going away--but where should he go? He had a little money put by, not much but a little, which he had been saving for quite another purpose. This would take him a little way, would pay his bills for a short time, but after that--Well, after that he could earn more. With the optimism of youth and the serene self-confidence which was natural to him he was sure of succeeding sooner or later. It was not the dread of failure and privation which troubled him. The weight which was pressing upon his spirit was not the fear of what might happen to him. There was a rap upon the door. Then a voice, the housekeeper's voice, whispered through the crack. “It's me, Al,” whispered Mrs. Ellis. “You ain't in bed yet, are you? I'd like to talk with you a minute or two, if I might.” He was not anxious to talk to her or anyone else just then, but he told her to come in. She entered on tiptoe, with the mysterious air of a conspirator, and shut the door carefully after her. “May I set down just a minute?” she asked. “I can generally talk better settin'.” He pulled forward the ancient rocker with the rush seat. The cross-stitch “tidy” on the back was his mother's handiwork, she had made it when she was fifteen. Rachel sat down in the rocker. “Al” she began, still in the same mysterious whisper, “I know all about it.” He looked at her. “All about what?” he asked. “About the trouble you and Cap'n Lote had this afternoon. I know you're plannin' to leave us all and go away somewheres and that he told you to go, and all that. I know what you've been doin' up here to-night. Fur's that goes,” she added, with a little catch in her breath and a wave of her hand toward the open trunk and suitcase upon the floor, “I wouldn't need to know, I could SEE.” Albert was surprised and confused. He had supposed the whole affair to be, so far, a secret between himself and his grandfather. “You know?” he stammered. “You--How did you know?” “Laban told me. Labe came hurryin' over here just after supper and told me the whole thing. He's awful upset about it, Laban is. He thinks almost as much of you as he does of Cap'n Lote or--or me,” with an apologetic little smile. Albert was astonished and troubled. “How did Labe know about it?” he demanded. “He heard it all. He couldn't help hearin'.” “But he couldn't have heard. The door to the private office was shut.”