Margaret Sinton smiled at him bravely.

An hour later when Billy was ready to climb the stairs to his room, he went to Margaret to say good night.  He leaned against her an instant, then brought his lips to her ear.  “Wish I could get your little girls back for you!” he whispered and dashed toward the stairs.

Down at the Comstock cabin the violin played on until Elnora was so tired she scarcely could lift the bow.  Then Philip went home.  The women walked to the gate with him, and stood watching him from sight.

“That’s what I call one decent young man!” said Mrs. Comstock.  “To see him fit in with us, you’d think he’d been brought up in a cabin; but it’s likely he’s always had the very cream o’ the pot.”

“Yes, I think so,” laughed Elnora, “but it hasn’t hurt him.  I’ve never seen anything I could criticise.  He’s teaching me so much, unconsciously.  You know he graduated from Harvard, and has several degrees in law.  He’s coming in the morning, and we are going to put in a big day on Catocalae.”

“Which is——?”

“Those gray moths with wings that fold back like big flies, and they appear as if they had been carved from old wood.  Then, when they fly, the lower wings flash out and they are red and black, or gold and black, or pink and black, or dozens of bright, beautiful colours combined with black.  No one ever has classified all of them and written their complete history, unless the Bird Woman is doing it now.  She wants everything she can get about them.”

“I remember,” said Mrs. Comstock.  “They are mighty pretty things.  I’ve started up slews of them from the vines covering the logs, all my life.  I must be cautious and catch them after this, but they seem powerful spry.  I might get hold of something rare.”  She thought intently and added, “And wouldn’t know it if I did.  It would just be my luck.  I’ve had the rarest thing on earth in reach this many a day and only had the wit to cinch it just as it was going.  I’ll bet I don’t let anything else escape me.”

Next morning Philip came early, and he and Elnora went at once to the fields and woods.  Mrs. Comstock had come to believe so implicitly in him that she now stayed at home to complete the work before she joined them, and when she did she often sat sewing, leaving them wandering hours at a time.  It was noon before she finished, and then she packed a basket of lunch.  She found Elnora and Philip near the violet patch, which was still in its prime.  They all lunched together in the shade of a wild crab thicket, with flowers spread at their feet, and the gold orioles streaking the air with flashes of light and trailing ecstasy behind them, while the red-wings, as always, asked the most impertinent questions.  Then Mrs. Comstock carried the basket back to the cabin, and Philip and Elnora sat on a log, resting a few minutes.  They had unexpected luck, and both were eager to continue the search.