"No I hain't," the mother replied shortly; "it wouldn't do no good. But if my talkin' t' you is goin' t' make you say such things, I ain't goin't' talk t' you no more. When folks is married they're married, an' I don't believe in partin', nor talk of partin'." "Well, I think maybe you are right, but if you and pa are going to live together you ought to try and have it out, and be a help to each other instead----" She broke off and thought a moment, "Now Aunt Susan and Uncle Nate----" "Stop right there!" Mrs. Farnshaw cried, afire with jealousy. "That woman's brought more trouble into this house a'ready than She'll ever take out. Your pa's been rantin' about her all winter an'--an' he said you'd be pokin' her ways into our faces th' very day you got home. I 'spect she's th' one that got it into your head to talk of partin', most likely." "Oh, now, ma, don't go on like that. You don't know about Aunt Susan. She's the last person in the world to ever suggest such a thing. That's just what I started out to say--they never have a word about anything. It's the loveliest home to live in, and I was just thinking that they must have found----" "I said I didn't want t' hear nothin' more about them folks, an' I don't," Mrs. Farnshaw cried, caught on the other horn of the argument and even more deeply offended than before. "She'll most likely get all your love just like she got all your father's money last winter. You needn't mention her here no more. Th' school directors 'll be over to see you about fillin' out that term, to-night," Mrs. Farnshaw ended shortly, and turned the subject of conversation to other channels. "Me? To fill out the term?" Elizabeth exclaimed in surprise. "What's gone wrong with the school here? I don't want a piece of a term, and I don't want, ever, to teach in this district where I've gone to school." "Well, you're goin' to," was the brief reply. "Your pa an' me told 'em you'd take it." "But how does it happen that the school is without a teacher?" Elizabeth asked with curiosity, ignoring the curt disposal of her services. She was accustomed to the peremptory measures of her parents. "Jake Ransom run him out. He just piked off after he got his money order cashed last Saturday mornin'." "And you expect me to take a school that's all upside down from that kind of handling--and me without any experience?" "You'll take it an' You'll do your best, an' we won't hear no more about it. Here, ma, tie up this finger," Mr. Farnshaw said. He had just come in from the barn in time to hear his daughter's objections.