She left the kitchen and went into the tiny parlor where the old man was seated. It was his fashion to get up early and go straight to the parlor and read or talk softly to himself. For a couple of months now he had never sat in the kitchen; he said it caused a buzzing in his head. Mrs. Craven brought him his meals into the little parlor. He had finished his breakfast when Ruth, in her neat Sunday dress, entered the room. There was an exalted feeling in her heart, caused by the narrative which her grandmother had told her of her father. "Well, little woman," said the old man, "and you are off to school? Or is it school? Perhaps it is Sunday morning and you are off to church." "No, grandfather; it is Saturday morning--quite a different thing." "Well, my love, I am as pleased as Punch about that school. I can't tell you how I think about it, and love to feel that my own little lass is doing so well there. And if you get the scholarship, why, we will be made; we won't have another care nor anxiety; we won't have another wrinkle of trouble as long as we remain in the world." Ruth went straight over to the old man, knelt down by his side, and looked into his face. "Stroke my hair, granddad," she said. He raised his trembling hand and placed it on her head. "That is nice," she said, and caught his hand as it went backwards and forwards over her silky black hair, and kissed it. "Granddad," she said after a pause, "is it the best thing--quite the best thing--always to come out on the right side of the ledger?" "Eh? Listen to the little woman," said the old man, much pleased and interested by her words. "Why, of course, Ruth; it is the only thing." "But does it mean sometimes, grandfather--dishonor?" "No, it never means that," said Mr. Craven gravely and thoughtfully. "But I will tell you what, Ruthie. It does mean sometimes all you have got." "Yes," said Ruth, "I understand." She rose to her feet. Do you think my father would have come out on the right side of the ledger?" "Ah, child! when he lay dead on the field of battle he came very much out on the right side, to my thinking. But why that melancholy note in your voice, Ruth? And why are your cheeks so flushed? Is anything the matter?" "Kiss me," said Ruth. "I am glad you have said what you did about father. I am more glad than sorry, on the whole, this morning. Good-bye, grandfather." She kissed him; then she raised her flower-like head and walked out of the room with a gentle dignity all her own. "What has come to the little woman?" thought the old man. But in a minute or two he forgot her, and called to his wife to bring him the account-books. "Why do you bother yourself about them?" she asked. "It has come over me," he replied, "that I have counted things wrong, and that I'll come out on the right side if I am a bit more careful. Put the books on this little table, and leave me for an hour or two. That's right, old woman."