"Well, they tol' me what you said about lyin'. Ye know a man in the hoss business is apt t' git a leetle careless, but I ain't no such dum fool as I used t' be. Have you heard that Teesey Tower was married?"
"The old maid?"
"Yes, sir; the ol' maid, to Deacon Haskins, an' he lives with 'em, an' now they're jes like other folks. Never was so surprised since I was first kicked by a hoss."
Tunk's conscience revived suddenly and seemed to put its hand over his mouth.
"Joe Beach is goin' to be a doctor," Tunk went on presently.
"I advised him to study medicine," Trove answered.
"He's gone off t' school at Milldam an' is workin' like a beaver.
He was purty rambunctious 'til you broke him to lead."
They rode then to the foot of the hill in silence.
"Seems so everything was changed," Tunk added as he left the cutter. "Ez Tower has crossed the Fadden bridge. Team run away an' snaked him over. They say he don't speak to his hosses now."
Trove went on thoughtfully. Some of Tunk Hosely's talk had been as bread for his hunger, as a harvest, indeed, giving both seed and sustenance. More clearly than ever he saw before him the great field of life where was work and the joy of doing it. For a time he would be a teacher, but first there were other things to do.