“Oh, yes, I am,” protested Prudence with strange shyness.

He turned to the other girls, and greeted them easily.  He was entirely self-possessed.  “Miss Starr told me so much about you that I know you all to begin with.”  He smiled at Fairy as he added, “In fact, she predicted that I am to fall in love with you.  And so, very likely, I should,—­if I hadn’t met your sister first.”

They all laughed at that, and then he walked back and stood by Prudence once more.  “Was it a bad sprain?  Does it pain you very badly?  You look tired.  I am afraid it was an imposition for me to come this afternoon.”

[Illustration:  “She predicted I’m to fall in love with you.”]

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” put in Connie anxiously.  “She wanted you to come.  She’s been getting us ready for you ever since the doctor left.  I think it was kind of silly for me to wear my blue just for one caller.”

The twins glared at her, realizing that she was discrediting the parsonage, but Jerrold Harmer laughed, and Prudence joined him.

“It is quite true,” she admitted frankly.  “The mule and I disgraced the parsonage this morning, and I wanted the rest of you to redeem it this afternoon.”  She looked at him inquiringly.  “Then you had another coat?”

“No, I didn’t.  I saw this one in a window this morning, and couldn’t resist it.  Was the ride very hard on your ankle?”

Mr. Starr was puzzled.  Evidently it was not lack of funds which brought this man on foot from Des Moines to Mount Mark,—­half-way across the state!  He did not look like a man fleeing from justice.  What, then, was the explanation?

“You must have found it rather a long walk,” he began tentatively, his eyes on the young man’s face.

“Yes, I think my feet are a little blistered.  I have walked farther than that many times, but I am out of practise now.  Sometimes, however, walking is a painful necessity.”

“How long did it take you coming from Des Moines to Mount Mark?” inquired Carol in a subdued and respectful voice,—­and curious, withal.

“I did not come directly to Mount Mark.  I stopped several places on business.  I hardly know how long it would take coming straight, through.  It would depend on one’s luck, I suppose.”

“Well,” said Lark, “taking it a little at a time it might be done, but for myself, I should never dream of undertaking so much exercise.”

“Could you walk from here to Burlington at one stretch?” asked Connie.

He looked rather surprised.  “Why, perhaps I could if I was in shape, but—­seven miles was all I cared about this morning.”

“Well, I think it was mighty brave of you to walk that far,—­I don’t care why you did it,” announced Connie with emphasis.

“Brave!” he repeated.  “I have walked three times seven miles, often, when I was in school.”

“Oh, I mean the whole thing—­clear from Des Moines,” explained Connie.