CHAPTER XIV.
The Crest of Eastbrooke "Sow;--and look onward, upward, Where the starry light appears,-- Where, in spite of coward's doubting, Or your own heart's trembling fears, You shall reap in joy the harvest You have sown to-day in tears." "Any objections to my beginning to break ground on the west eighty to-day ?" asked Laddie of father at breakfast Monday morning.
"I had thought we would commence on the east forty, when planning the work." "So had I," said Laddie.

"But since I thought that, a very particular reason has developed for my beginning to plow the west eighty at once, and there is a charming little ditty I feel strongly impelled to whistle every step of the way." Father looked at him sharply, and so, I think, did all of us.

And because we loved him deeply, we saw that his face was a trifle pale for him; his clear eyes troubled, in spite of his laughing way.

He knew we were studying him too, but he wouldn't have said anything that would make us look and question if he had minded our doing it.

That was exactly like Laddie.