“Where are you ciphering?” asked Jonas.

“In fractions,” said the girl.

“If you will let me look at your sum, perhaps I can tell you how to do it,” replied Jonas.

The girl handed her book to him, and showed him the sum in it.  She also let him see the work upon her slate.  Jonas looked it over very carefully, and then said,—­

“You have done very well indeed, with such a hard sum.  There is only one mistake.”

And Jonas pointed out the mistake to her, and she corrected it, and then the answer was right.  She then went and put away her slate and book, with an appearance of great satisfaction.  As she passed by the window, aunt Lucia whispered to her, to say,—­

“I think you had better thank that young man, and give him a mug of coffee.”

“Well,” said the little girl, “I will.”  So she went to a cupboard at the side of the room, and took down a tin mug.  She poured out some coffee from a coffee-pot, and put in some milk and sugar, and then brought it to Jonas, and asked him if he wouldn’t like a little coffee.  Jonas thanked her, and took the coffee; and he liked it very much.

After this, Jonas harnessed his horses again, and went on.  He traveled until nearly noon, and then he arrived at the town where he was to leave his load.  He had a letter to a merchant, who had bought the produce of the farmer, and, in a very short time, his load was taken out, and the other articles put in, which he was to carry back in exchange.  He had some money given him by the merchant, in part payment for his load of produce.  It was in bank-notes, and he put it into his waistcoat pocket, and pinned it in.

Then he set out on his return.  His load was light, the road was smooth, and his horses, though they had traveled fast, had been driven carefully, and they carried him rapidly over the ground.  It was the middle of the afternoon, however, before he set out, and the days were then so short, that the sun soon began to go down.  He had to ride quite into the evening, before he reached the place where he was to stop for the night.

He put up his horses, and then went into the house.  He called for some supper, for his own provisions had long since been exhausted.  After supper, he carried out something for Franco, whom he had left in the sleigh in the barn, lying upon a good warm buffalo, to watch the property.

“Franco,” said he, “here is your supper.”

Franco jumped up when he heard Jonas’s voice, and leaped out of the sleigh.  He took his supper, and Jonas, after once more feeding his horses, went out, and shut the door, leaving Franco to finish his bone by himself.

Jonas went back into the tavern, and took his seat by the fire.  There was a table before the fire, with a lamp upon it; and there were one or two books and an old newspaper lying upon another table, in the back part of the room.  Jonas looked at the books, but they were not interesting to read.  One was a dictionary.  He read the newspaper for some time, and then he took the lamp up, and began to look at some pictures of the prodigal son, which were hung up upon the wall over the mantel-piece.