Grant to be so madly anxious to close the bargain.  He did a little regret neglecting the service of his own proper pegs, but it was now entirely too late to walk, and he must ride, and at a good pace, too, or lose the entire benefit of the news which the lightning had so singularly confided to his honest hands.  The feeling with which he flung himself into that quiet, little, economical parlor was, probably, even more desperate than Richard’s, when he offered his kingdom for a horse.  It was, in fact, just the feeling, of all others in the world, to prevent a man’s getting a horse.  Had he carried it into a pasture full of horses, it would have prevented him from catching the tamest of them.  But the good influences of the Universe, that encourage and strengthen the noble martyrs of truth and workers of good in their arduous labors, do sometimes also help on villains to their bad ends.  Never were troubled waters more quickly smoothed with oil, never were the poles of a magnet more quickly reversed, than Chip’s rage and rancor abated after he entered that door.  Not that he relaxed his purpose at all, or felt any essential change of his nature, but his temper was instantly turned the right side up for success.  He was, of course, unconscious of the cause,—­for it is certainly nothing wonderful, even in the neighborhood of Boston, to see a neat Yankee lass, in her second or third best dress, putting things to rights of a morning, with a snowy handkerchief over her head, its corners drawn into a half-knot under her sweet chin, and some little ruddy outposts on her cheeks, ready, on the slightest occasion, to arouse a whole army of blushes.  Laura had just given the finishing touch to her flower culture, changed the water of her fishes, replenished the seed-bucket of the canary, and was about leaving the room.  Almost any man would have been glad of an excuse to speak to her.  Chip could have made an excuse, if one had not been ready-made, that was to him very important, as well as satisfactory.

“Miss Birch, I presume?”

“Yes, Sir,” said Laura, with a curtsy, not quite so large as those that grow in dancing schools, but, nevertheless, very pretty.

“Well, Miss Birch,” said Chip, blandly advancing and taking her nice little hand, half covered with her working-mitts,—­whereat the aforesaid outposts promptly did their duty,—­“or shall I call you Miss Susan Birch?”

“No, Sir, my name is Laura,” said the girl, shrinking a little from a contact which rather took her by surprise.

“Oh, Laura!—­that is better yet,” proceeded Chip.  “Now, Miss Laura, I have got myself into a terrible scrape; can you help me out of it?”

“I can’t tell, indeed, Sir, till I know what it is,” said Laura, with a bright twinkle of reassurance.

“Well, it is this:—­I have mortally offended your brother,—­for so I take him to be by his looks,—­and I most sincerely repent it, for he owns the only team left in Waltham.  If I cannot hire that team for an hour, I lose money enough to buy this house twice over.  I want you to reconcile us.  Will you offer my apology and prevail on him to take this and be my coachman for an hour?” asked Chip,—­slipping a gold eagle into her hand with the most winning expression at his command.