At almost any other time in her life these words would have made Kitty very angry; but this morning she was intent on not letting her tea spill over on the toast, and so paid very little attention to them. Tip marched boldly in with his dish, Kitty following. "Lie still, mother, till you get some of our tea and toast, and I reckon it will cure you." Mrs. Lewis raised herself on one elbow, saw the beautiful brown slices, caught a whiff of the fragrant tea, then asked wonderingly,-- "Who's here?" "Kitty and me," Tip made answer, proudly and promptly. Something very like a smile gathered on Mrs. Lewis's worn, fretful face. "Well, now," she said, "if I ain't beat! It's the last thing on earth I ever expected you to do." What spell had come over Tip? Breakfast was a great success. After it was over he found a great many things to do; the rusty old axe was hunted up, and some hard knots made to become very respectable-looking sticks of wood, which he piled in the wood-box. Kitty, under the influence of his strange behaviour, washed the dishes, and even got out the broom and swept a little. Altogether, that was a day long to be remembered by Tip, a day in which he began his life afresh. He made some mistakes; for he fancied, in his ignorance, that the struggle was over,--that he had only to go forward joyfully over a pleasant road. He found out his mistake: he discovered that Satan had not by any means given him up; that he must yet fight many hard, hard battles. CHAPTER VII. "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee." "They must have had an earthquake down at Lewis's this morning," Howard Minturn said to the boys who were gathered around the schoolroom door. "The first bell has not rung yet, and there comes Tip up the hill." Up the hill came Tip, sure enough, with a firm, resolute step. The summer vacation was over. The fall term was to commence this morning, and among the things which Tip had resolved to do was this one, to come steadily and promptly to school during the term, which was something that he had never done in his life. The public school was the best one in the village, so he had the best boys in town for school companions, as well as some of the worst. "Hallo, Tip!" said Bob Turner, coming partly down the hill to meet him. "How are you, old fellow?" Bob had been away during most of the vacation, and knew nothing of the changes which there had been in his absence. Tip winced a little at his greeting; shivered a little at the thought of the temptation which Bob would be to him. The two had been linked together all their lives in every form of mischief and wrong; they seemed almost a part of each other,--at least, they _had_ seemed so until within these few weeks. Now, Tip _felt_ rather than knew how far separated they must be. The bell rang, and the boys jostled and tumbled against each other to their seats.