“Howdy, Tally!” he called, a smile brightening the wan, haggard face.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” cried the girl. “I’m going to take you home with me for supper and I know father and mother won’t hear to your coming back to-night.”
The old schoolmaster needed little urging to accompany her, and he did ample justice to the supper Talitha cooked with her own hands. The next morning a drizzling sleet prevented him from leaving. It was almost a week before he finally took his departure, and then it was to respond to an urgent invitation from the Gooch family to visit them. The Shackleys would also be offended if they were neglected, so before the rounds were made, Si Quinn’s face lost its pallor and he was quite like himself again.
One morning Pom Ethers, the wagoner, stopped at the schoolhouse with a goodly sized wooden box. “Talitha Coyle” was painted on it in large black letters. The children gathered around while the man, with much curiosity, opened it.
“Laws-a-massy!” exclaimed Porn Ethers as the cover came off. “If they ain’t all books! What’ll ye ever do with sech a heap of ’em, Tally?” There were two dozen volumes in neat but cheap bindings; some new to the young teacher, and others she had read over and over in the school library at Bentville.
“Read and study them of course,” she answered. “They’re just what we’ve needed all the time. Who could have sent them?”
“Hit beats me,” said the wagoner. “Thar ain’t nothin’ ter show whar they come from; mebbe the schoolmaster can tell ye.”
Si Quinn did not seem to know who the unknown donor might be, although he might have surmised, for the very next day he received a letter containing five dollars wrapped in an unsigned epistle, stating that the sender had found a place at good wages. After Christmas he was going to school—working evenings for his keep.
The schoolmaster smiled and nodded knowingly as he read it over and over to himself, then laid the sheets on the flame in the wide fireplace and watched them turn to ashes.
It took a great deal of scheming on Talitha’s part to bring her plans to maturity. Billy Gooch was her right hand man, who could keep a secret better than some of his elders. Her younger brothers, Rufe and Dock, were too small to be of much service, while most of her other pupils lived too far away to help her after school hours.