A Daughter of the Land

But she never caught a glimpse of Polly's flushed, dissatisfied

face or the tightening of her lips that would have suggested to

her, had she seen them, that Miss Polly felt perfectly capable of

selecting the clothing she was to wear herself. Adam took his

mother's trunk to the station in the afternoon. In the evening

she held Polly on her knee, while they drove to Dr. Gray's. Kate

thought the children would want to wait and see them take the

train, but Adam said that would make them very late getting home,

they had better leave that to Uncle Robert and go back soon; so

very soon they were duly kissed and unduly cautioned; then started

back down a side street that would not even take them through the

heart of the town. Kate looked after them approvingly: "Pretty

good youngsters," she said. "I told them to go and get some ice

cream; but you see they are saving the money and heading straight

home." She turned to Robert. "Can anything happen to them?" she

asked, in evident anxiety.

"Rest in peace, Kate," laughed the doctor. "You surely know that

those youngsters are going to be eighteen in a few weeks. You've

reared them carefully. Nothing can, or will, happen to them, that

would not happen right under your nose if you were at home. They

will go from now on according to their inclinations."

Kate looked at him sharply: "What do you mean by that?" she

demanded.

He laughed: "Nothing serious," he said. "Polly is half Bates, so

she will marry in a year or two, while Adam is all Bates, so he

will remain steady as the Rock of Ages, and strictly on the job.

Go have your good time, and if I possibly can, I'll come after

you."

"You'll do nothing of the kind," said Nancy Ellen, with finality.

"You wouldn't leave your patients, and you couldn't leave dear

Mrs. Southey."

"If you feel that way about it, why do you leave me?" he asked.

"To show the little fool I'm not afraid of her, for one thing,"

said Nancy Ellen with her head high. She was very beautiful in

her smart travelling dress, while her eyes flashed as she spoke.

The doctor looked at her approvingly.

"Good!" he cried. "I like a plucky woman! Go to have a good

time, Nancy Ellen; but don't go for that. I do wish you would

believe that there isn't a thing the matter with the little woman,

she's -- "

"I can go even farther than that," said Nancy Ellen, dryly. "I

KNOW 'there isn't a thing the matter with the little woman,'

except that she wants you to look as if you were running after

her. I'd be safe in wagering a thousand dollars that when she

hears I'm gone, she will send for you before to-morrow evening."