CHAPTER XXIII.
ANOTHER OFFER.
The next day Phebe locked up her house and rode down to Riversborough.
As she descended into the valley and the open plain beyond her sorrowfulness fell away from her.

Her social instincts were strong, and she delighted in companionship and in the help she could render to any fellow-creature.

If she overtook a boy trudging reluctantly to school she would dismount from her rough pony and give him a ride; or if she met with a woman carrying a heavy load, she took the burden from her, and let her pony saunter slowly along, while she listened to the homely gossip of the neighborhood.

Phebe was a great favorite along these roads, which she had traversed every week during summer to attend Riversborough market for the last eight years.

Her spirits rose as she rode along, receiving many a kindly word, and more invitations to spend a little while in different houses than she could have accepted if she had been willing to give twelve months to visiting.