Tommie winked his right eye several times and replied, "My dear, I see
it coming!"

She flushed with joy. "And what shall I do to hasten it?"

Tommie reflected a moment. "Be pleasant, but not anxious. A lady with
an anxious expression has little chance of winning a lover! Don't
invite him too often; don't talk too much. Now I haven't hurt your
feelings, have I?"

"No, indeed," she said, for she was a young lady of good sense. "And
Tommie, dear, will you take these gold pieces to Mother Huldah. She was
so good to me when I was a little girl, and because I have been so
absorbed in my own affairs I haven't been to see her lately."

"That's the trouble with being in love," said Tommie, "it's apt to make
people selfish, and it should make them love and remember everybody. It
does when it's the real thing."

Little Clara clasped her hands earnestly. "I will come to see Mother
Huldah this afternoon," she said, "and bring her some cakes of my
own baking."

After Clara one person and another came up. Some asked foolish questions,
some wise. Some paid down money, others didn't, but the pile of gold and
silver at Tommie's feet grew steadily.

Now all novelties, even talking cats, soon cease to be novelties, and
towards afternoon when the villagers saw how much of their money lay at