"I should be perfectly contented to stay at home if we had Whiteface back," said Walter. "I've a great mind to steal her out of the squire's yard. I bet she'd be glad to come."
"Don't speak in that way, Walter," said his father. "I dislike to have you speak of stealing, even in fun."
At this moment there was a knock at the front door. Farmer Nelson's house was an old-fashioned one, and not provided with a bell.
"Go to the door, Sarah," said her father.
Sarah obeyed.
"Good-evening, Nahum," she said to the village expressman.
"I've got a small package for your folks," said Nahum. "It's marked all over. Guess it came from Californy."
"It must be from Tom," exclaimed Sarah, in delight.
"That's what I thought," said the expressman, who knew everybody in the village, and could probably give a fairly correct list of their sisters, cousins, and aunts, with a fair guess at their worldly circumstances.
"Is there anything to pay, Nahum?"