"You're not Miss Morton, are you?" he essayed, "Miss Celestina Morton?" 

 "I expect I am," owned Celestina nervously. 

 "I'm your brother Elnathan's boy, Bob." 

 Celestina crumpled weakly against the door frame. 

 "Nate's boy!" she repeated.  "Bless my soul! Bless my soul an' body!" 

 The man outside laughed a delighted laugh so infectious that before Celestina or Willie were conscious of it they had joined in its mellow ripple. After that everything was easy. 

 "We can't open the door to let you in," explained Willie, peering out through the rift, "'cause this blasted door ain't moved fur so long that its hinges have growed together; but if you'll come round to the back of the house you'll find a warmer welcome." 

 The guest nodded and disappeared. 

 "Land alive, Willie!" ejaculated Celestina while they struggled to replace the dislocated bars and bolts.  "To think of Nate's boy appearin' here! I can't get over it! Nate's boy! Nate was my favorite brother, you know—the littlest one, that I brought up from babyhood. This lad is so completely the livin' image of him that when I clapped eyes on him it took the gimp clear out of me. It was like havin' Nate himself come back again." 

 With fluttering eagerness she sped through the hall. 

 Robert Morton was standing in the kitchen when she arrived, his head towering into the tangle of strings that crossed and recrossed the small interior. Whatever his impression of the extraordinary spectacle he evinced no curiosity but remained as imperturbable amid the network that ensnared him as if such astounding phenomena were everyday happenings. Nevertheless, a close observer might have detected in his hazel eyes a dancing gleam that defied control. Apparently it did not occur either to Willie or to Celestina to explain the mystery which had long since become to them so familiar a sight; therefore amid the barrage of red, green, purple, pink, yellow and white strings they greeted their guest, throwing into their welcome all the homely cordiality they could command. 

 From the first moment of their meeting it was 

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