"Sit down，Mr.Rogers，"she said，"and tell me why you can't answer my questions？""I guess I'll hev to speak out an'tell all，"said he，his voice trembling a little，"although I thought fer a minnit I could see my way without.I can't sell my vote，miss，'cause I've been plannin't'vote fer Mr.Forbes anyhow.But we wanted some uv th'money that's being wasted，an'we wanted it mighty bad.""Why？""Thet's the hard part uv it，miss；but I'm goin'to tell you.Did ye ever hear o'Lucy？""No，Mr.Rogers.""Lucy's our girl—the on'y chick er child we ever had.She's a pretty girl，is Lucy；a good deal liken her mother；wi'the same high spirits my Nell had afore she broke down.Mostly Nell cries，nowadays.""Yes.Go on.""Lucy had a schoolin'，an'we worked hard to give it her，fer my land ain't much account，nohowa.An'when she grew up she had more boys comin'to see her than any galb this side o'Fairview，an'one o''em caught Lucy's fancy.But she was too young to marry，an'she wanted to be earnin'money；so she got a job workin'fer Doc Squiers，over to Elmwood.He's the dentist there，an'Lucy helped with the housework an'kept the of？ce slicked up，an'earned ev'ry penny she got."He stopped here，and looked vacantlya around.Beth tried to help the old man.
"And then？"she asked，softly.
"Then come the trouble，miss.One day ol'Mis'Squiers，the Doc's mother，missed a di'mon'ring.She laid it on the mantel an'it was gone，an'she said as Lucy took it.Lucy didn't take it，an'after they'd tried to make my gal confess as she was a thief they give 'er three days to hand up the ring or the money it was worth，or else they'd hev her arrested and sent t'jail.Lucy didn't take it，ye know.She jes'couldn't do sech a thing，natcherly.""I know，"said Beth，sympathetically.
"So she comes home，heartbroken，an'told us about it，an'we didn't hev th'money nuther.It were sixty dollars they wanted，or th'ring；an'we didn't hev neither of 'em.""Of course not.""Well，Tom come over thet night to see Lucy，hearin'she was home，an'—""Who is Tom？""Thet's Tom Gates，him thet—but I'm comin'to thet，miss.Tom always loved Lucy，an'wanted to marry her；but his folks is as poor as we are，so the young 'uns had to wait.Tom worked at the mill over t'Fairview—the big saw—mill where they make the lumber an'things.""I know.""He was the bookkeeper，fer Tom had schoolin'，too；an'he took private lessons in bookkeepin'from ol'Cheeseman.So he had got hired at the mill，an'had a likely job，an'was doin'well.An'when Tom heerd about Lucy's trouble，an'thet she had only two days left before goin'to jail，he up an'says：'I'll get the money，Lucy：don'you worry a bit.''Oh，Tom！'says she，'hev you got sixty dollars saved already？''I've gotit，Lucy，'says he，'an'I'll go over tomorrow an'pay Doc Squiers.Don'you worry any more.Forget all about it.'Well o'course，miss，that helped a lot.Nell an'Lucy both felt the disgrace of the thing，but it wouldn't be a public disgrace，like goin'to jail；so we was all mighty glad Tom had that sixty dollars.""It was very fortunate，"said Beth，filling in anotherpause.
