Paint don't cost much, nohow." He stumped away, but on his return preferred to let Kate carry the soiled, torn envelope up to the young folks.

The letter had palpably been tampered with.

It had been opened and doubtless read, and the flap clumsily glued down again.
But Ethel had it now, and even after three years her sweet eyes dimmed as she read the tender words that Joe had written because he lacked the courage to speak them.

"My one great ambition is to win a home for us, dear," he had declared, and with this before her eyes Ethel reproached herself for ever doubting his love or loyalty.
When she rode her pony over to the Wegg farm next day Ethel's bright face was wreathed with smiles.

She told her girl friends that she and Joe had had a "good talk" together, and understood each other better than ever before.