露易丝和约翰叔叔去汤普森家邀请埃塞尔，碰巧遇到她祖父发狂，露易丝和约翰叔叔壮着胆绕到了房子后面的花园。在那里，露易丝从埃塞尔那儿打探到了一些信息，她会解开前农场主——维格船长身上的疑团吗？
Dan balked only twice on the journey，but even this moderate rebellion so annoyed Uncle John that he declared he would walk back rather than ride behind this "mulisha antiquityb"again.
When they came to the Thompson dwelling it at ？rst sight seemed deserted.A knock on the front door failed to produce any response.
"Perhaps they're away from home，"suggested Louise.
"There's a path around to the back，"said Uncle John."Let's explore in that direction."They made their way leisurely toward the rear and had almost passed the house，when a deep roar broke the stillness.It was succeeded by another，and another，like the bellowing of a mad bull，and the intruders stopped short and Louise clung to her uncle in sudden panic.
"Be still，Will！Stop，I say—stop！"
A sharp crack，as of a lash，accompanied the words，and a moan or two was followed by absolute silence.
Uncle John and Louise looked at one another with startled eyes.
"He must be worse，"said the old gentleman，moppinghis forehead with a handkerchief.
With one accord they started softly to retrace their steps when a new sound halted them again.It was a clear，freshyoung voice singing a plaintivea ditty in a nonchalantb，careless tone.
"That's Ethel，I'm sure，"exclaimed Louise，grasping heruncle's arm.
"Well，what shall we do？"he demanded.
"Mr.—the crazy man seems quiet now，"she whispered."Let us ？nd the girl，if we can."So again they traversedc the path and this time came to the pretty garden behind the house.Ethel was tending a ？ower bed.She wore her gingham dress and a sunbonnet，and，kneelingin the path，stretched out her slim brown arm to uproot theweeds.But the crunching of the gravel aroused her attention，and，observing her visitors，she sprang up and hastened toward them.
Louise introduced her uncle and herself in her most pleasant and gracious way，and the school teacher led them to a garden bench and begged them to be seated.
"The day is lovely，"she said，"and I always find mygarden more cheerful than the house.Grandfather's illness makes the house unpleasant for strangers，too."Louise was surprised at this frank reference，and Uncle John coughed to hide his embarrassment.
"I—I hope the invalidd is—is improving，"he said，doubtful whether he should say anything on the delicate subject or not.
"He is always the same，sir，"was the quiet response."Isuppose they have told you that grandfather is a madman？Our great trouble is well known in this neighborhood.""He is not dangerous.I suppose？"hazarded Uncle John，remembering the brutal bellowinga.
"Oh，not at all.He is fully paralyzed from his waist down，poor grandfather，and can do no harm to anyone.But often his outbreaks are unpleasant to listen to，"continued the girl，deprecatinglyb，as if suddenly conscious that they had overheard the recent uproar.
"Has he been—this way—for long？"inquired Louise."His mind has been erraticc and unbalanced since I canremember，"answered Ethel，calmly，"but he first becameviolent at the time Captain Wegg died，some three years ago.Grandfather was very fond of the Captain，and happened to be with him at the time of his sudden death.The shock drove him mad.""Was he paralyzed before that time？"asked Louise，earnestly.
"No；but the paralysis followed almost immediately.The doctor says that a blood vessel which burst in the brain isresponsible for both af？ictionsa."The pause that followed was growing awkward when Uncle John said，with an evident effort to change the subject：
"This is a ？ne old homestead."
"It is，indeed，"responded Ethel，brightly，"and it enjoys the distinction of being one of the first houses built in the foothills.My great—grandfather was really the first settler in these parts and originally located his cabin where the mill now stands.'Little Bill Thompson，'he was called，for he was a small，wiryb man—very different from grandfather，who in his prime was a powerful man of over six feet.Little Bill Hill and Little Bill Creek were named after this pioneer great—grandsire，who was quite successful raising ？ocks of sheep on the plateau.Before he died he built this house，preferring the location to his ？rst one.""The garden is beautiful，"said Louise，enthusiastically.
"And do you teach in the little brick school—house across the way？""Yes.Grandfather built it years ago，without dreaming I would ever teach there.Now the county supports the school and pays me my salary.""How long have you taught？""For two years.It is necessary，now that grandfather is disabled.He has a small income remaining，however，and with what I earn we get along very nicely.""It was very good of you to assist in getting our house ready for us，"said Louise."We might have found things in sorry condition but for your kindness.""Oh，I enjoyed the work，I assure you，"replied Ethel.
"As it is my vacation，it was a real pleasure to me to have something to do.But I fear my arrangement of your pretty furniture was very ungraceful.""We haven't altered a single thing，"declared Louise.
"You must have found it a tedious task，unpacking and getting everything in shape.""Tom and Nora were good help，because they are fondof me and seem to understand my wishes；and Peggy McNutt brought me some men to do the lifting and rough work，"explained Ethel.
"Have you known Hucks and his wife long？"asked UncleJohn.
"Since I can remember，sir.They came here many years ago，with Captain Wegg.""And has Thomas always smiled？"Louise inquired.
"Always ，"washelaughingreply."It'sanodd expression—isn't it？—to dwell forever on a man's face.But Tom is never angry，or hurt or excited by anything，so there is no reason he should not smile.At the time of Captain Wegg's death and poor grandfather's terrible af？iction，Old Hucks kept right on smiling，the same as ever；and perhaps his pleasant face helped to cheer us all."Louise drew a long breath.
