He could not surely be so insane as to go to the mill--and John was there.
Terribly was my heart divided, but my duty lay with my father.
Jael sat down in the shed, or marched restlessly between the tan-pits.
I went to the end of the yard, and looked down towards the mill.

What a half-hour it was! At last, exhausted, I sat down on the bark heap where John and I had once sat as lads.

He must now be more than twenty; I wondered if he were altered.
"Oh, David! David!" I thought, as I listened eagerly for any sounds abroad in the town; "what should I do if any harm came to thee ?" This minute I heard a footstep crossing the yard.

No, it was not my father's--it was firmer, quicker, younger.

I sprang from the barkheap.
"Phineas!" "John!" What a grasp that was--both hands! and how fondly and proudly I looked up in his face--the still boyish face.