"Dear me! What notions you do have. If you are so anxious for work, as you call it, I suppose there is plenty in the city," said Louise almost pettishly.
"Very likely; but I might not get a chance at it; and don't you remember, Louise, that I always had a way of holding on to things?"
"Yes, I know; and I suppose there's no use in saying any more about it."
It must not be supposed that it cost Mabel Wynn nothing to decline her aunt's flattering invitation to spend six months in her beautiful home. She was fond of society, and the prospect of a whole winter in the city was very delightful; but, as she said, "she could not see her way clear to accept;" and I do not think she ever regretted her sacrifice.
[CHAPTER X.]
HERBERT'S TRIAL.
"Stand by your conscience, your honour, your faith."
IT was a gala day in Westville. The people had gathered in crowds to attend the county fair. From "up the creek" and down the valley, from over the ridge and far up the mountain, from every nook and corner for miles around, they came in waggon-loads and car-loads. Fathers and mothers with troops of children came in family carry-alls; young men and maidens in carriages "just big enough for two," all out for a day's pleasuring.
To some of them, it was the one holiday of the year, to which they had looked forward for months. Many had brought the savings of the summer to spend in necessities or finery. Westville was full to overflowing. The fair grounds were full, the streets were full, the hotels and stores were full.
The speaker of the day announced to the few of the great crowd who could catch the words of wisdom which he poured out for a whole hour, that the "show was a success." And no doubt it was. Surely all the requisites were there—the products of farm and dairy, of orchard and garden, big squashes and overgrown pumpkins, golden butter and creamy cheese, luscious fruits and rare flowers, tidies and bed-quilts, wax fruit and feather flowers, the beautiful and the grotesque, marvels of skill, ingenuity, and patience. All trades and professions were represented; all grades of animals, from the high-bred pride of the dairy to the pet bantam chickens.