When the elder found out who was sending it he tried to thank me, but I made him promise not to tell his family where these things came from, on pain of not getting any more.  I said I had as good right to contribute to the church as any one, and just because I had no money it was tough to have the little I could give made public.  By this time I had worked up quite a case, and was looking like a man injured in his finest feelings and twitted of his poverty.  The elder looked bewildered, and promised that he wouldn’t tell.

“But I’m sure, Jake, that the Lord won’t let your goodness go unrewarded, in the next world, anyhow, and I don’t think in this.”

I don’t think he actually told, but I have reason to believe he hinted.  In fact, Kittie Fleming told me when I went down to their place after some seed oats, that Grandma Thorndyke had said at the Flemings’ dinner table that I was an exemplary boy, in my way, and when I grew up I would make some girl a husband who would be kind and a good provider.

“I was awful interested,” she said.

“Why?” I asked; for I couldn’t see for the life of me how it interested her.

“I’m a girl,” said she, “and I feel interested in—­in—­in such things—­husbands, and good providers.”  Here I grew hot all over, and twisted around like a worm on a hot griddle.  “I didn’t think, when you were playing the needle’s eye with me, that you acted as if you would be a very good husband!”

I peeked up at her through my eyebrows, and saw she was grinning at me, and sort of blushing, herself.  But I had only one word for her.

“Why?”

“You didn’t seem to—­to—­kiss back very much,” she giggled; and as I was struggling to think of something to say (for it seemed a dreadful indictment as I looked at her, so winning to a boy who hadn’t seen a girl for weeks) she ran off; and it was not till I was sitting by the stove at home after washing up the dishes that evening that I thought what a fine retort it would have been if I had offered to pay back then, with interest, all I owed her in the way of response.  I spent much of the evening making up nice little speeches which I wished I had had the sprawl to get off on the spur of the moment.  I grew fiery hot at the thought of how badly I had come off in this little exchange of compliments with Kittie.  Poor Kittie!  She supped sorrow with a big spoon before many years; and then had a long and happy life.  I forgave her, even at the time, for making fun of the Hell Slew Dutch boy.  All the girls made fun of me but Virginia, and she did sometimes—­Virginia and Rowena Fewkes.

Thinking of Rowena reminded me of the fact that I had not seen any of the Fewkeses for nearly two years.  This brought up the thought of Buck Gowdy, who had carried them off to his great farmstead which he called Blue-grass Manor.  Whenever I was in conversation with him I was under a kind of strain, for all the fact that he was as friendly with me as he was with any one else.  I remembered how I had smuggled Virginia away from him; and wondered whether or not he had got intimate enough by this time at Elder Thorndyke’s so that she had given him any inkling as to my share in that matter.