"Jess! Skiddy-me-shins! I fergot all about her!"
"You certainly did. And you must have forgotten that it took every cent we could make and scrape together to put her through the Seminary. What will she say and think when she finds out what you have done?"
"Don't let's tell her, Tildy. She needn't know anythin' about it."
"H'm, that's easier said than done. You'll be the first one to tell her, Abner, when you meet her in the morning at the station."
"No, I won't, Tildy. Jess'll not hear it from me, blamed if she will. G'long, Jerry."
CHAPTER II
TEN-CENTERS
Abner was early at the station the next morning, and after he had hitched his horse to a post near the building, he strolled into the waiting-room. Seeing the station agent busily reading The Live Wire he stepped toward the ticket-window and peered through.
"'Mornin', Sam," he accosted. "How's the train?"
"Fifteen minutes late," the agent replied as he lowered his paper. "You're early, Mr. Andrews. You'll have to wait nearly an hour."