That was precisely what Ham did, however; and Miranda went with him of course.

Mrs. Myers, to the hospitalities of whose cool and roomy-looking house he had been commended by Mr. Hart, was so “crowded full with summer boarders,” liberally advertised for in the great city, that she had hardly a corner left in which to stow away Ham and his bride, for even one night.  She was glad enough, however, that she had made the effort, and found one, after she discovered the nature of the stranger’s errand in Grantley, and that it included “winter board” for a whole boy.

There was a look of undisguised astonishment on the faces of the regular guests when they gathered for the next meal.  It happened to be supper, but they all looked at the table and then at one another.  It was a pity Ham and Miranda did not understand the meaning of those glances, or else that they did not make a longer stay with Mrs. Myers.  They might have learned more about her and her boarding-house, if not about the academy.  As it was, they only gathered a very high opinion of her cookery and hospitality, as well as an increase of respect for the “institution of learning,” and for that excellent gentleman Mr. Hart; with a dim hope that Dabney Kinzer might be permitted to enjoy the inestimable advantages offered by Grantley and Mrs. Myers, and the society of Mr. Hart’s two wonderful boys.

Miranda was inclined to stand up for her brother somewhat, but finally agreed with Ham, that,—­

“What Dabney needs is schooling and polish, my dear.  It’ll be good for him to board in the same house with two such complete young gentlemen as the Hart boys.”

“Of course, Ham.  And then, too, we’ll feel sure of his having plenty to eat.  There was almost too much on the table.”

“Not if the boarders had all been boys of Dab’s age, and with his appetite.  Mrs. Myers is evidently accustomed to provide for them, I should say.”

So she was; and Ham and Miranda left Grantley next morning, after a very early breakfast; and, when the regular boarders came to theirs, they might have guessed at once that the “transient guests” had gone.  They even guessed it out loud at dinner and at supper.

Mrs. Myers had given Ham and his bride a world of interesting information about Grantley, and the things and people in it; but there was one thing she had forgotten or neglected to mention.  She had failed to tell them that the house she lived in, and the outlying farm belonging to it, and nearly all the house-hold effects it contained, were the property of Mr. Joseph Hart, having cost that gentleman very little more than a sharp lawsuit.  Neither did she say a word about how long a time he had given her to pay him his price for it.  All that was her own private affair, and none of Ham’s business, or Miranda’s.  Still, it might have had its importance in their minds, if they had been informed of it.

Perhaps, too, some of their rosy impressions might have been a little modified if they could have been at the breakfast-table of the Hart homestead the morning after Annie Foster’s sudden departure.