Hannah Sophia remained behind, promising to meet them at the post-office
and hear the news. As the two women walked down the hill she drew the old
envelope from the Bible and read the wavering words scrawled upon it in old
Mrs. Bascom's rheumatic and uncertain hand,--


_the_ _milikins_ _Mills_ _Teecher._


"Well Lucindy, you do make good use o' your winder,"
she exclaimed, "but how you pitched on anything so onlikely
as her is more'n I can see."

"Just because 't was onlikely. A man's a great sight likelier
to do an onlikely thing than he is a likely one, when it comes
to marryin'. In the first place, Rube sent his children to school
up to the Mills 'stid of to the brick schoolhouse, though he had
to pay a little something to get 'em taken in to another deestrick.
They used to come down at night with their hands full o'
'ward o' merit cards. Do you s'pose I thought they got 'em
for good behavior, or for knowin' their lessons? Then aunt Hitty
told me some question or other Rube had asked examination day.
Since when has Rube Hobson 'tended examinations, thinks I. And
when I see the girl, a red-and-white paper doll that wouldn't know
whether to move the churn-dasher up 'n' down or round 'n' round,
I made up my mind that bein' a man he'd take her for certain,
and not his next-door neighbor of a sensible age and a house 'n'
farm 'n' cow 'n' buggy!"

"Sure enough," agreed Hannah Sophia, "though that don't