"Are you tired, father? It is late."
"And you are worn out, poor child! It was selfish in me to forget. Good-night, dear!"
Margret kissed him, laughing cheerfully, as she led him to his room-door. He lingered, holding her dress.
"Perhaps it will be easier for you to-morrow than it was to-day?" hesitating.
"I am sure it will. To-morrow will be sure to be better than to-day."
She left him, and went away with a step that did not echo the promise of her words.
Joel, meanwhile, consulted apart with his mistress.
"Of course," she said, emphatically.—"You must stay until morning, Lois. It is too late. Joel will toss you up a bed in the loft."
The queer little body hesitated.
"I can stay," she said, at last. "It's his watch at the mill to-night."