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Uncle Ephraim Barlow, deacon of the orthodox church in Silverton, Massachusetts, was an old-fashionedto the old-ti with but little toleration upon what he tereneration Born and reared amid the rocks and hills of the Bay State, his nature partook largely of the nature of his surroundings, and he grew intoto his character, which, nevertheless, taken as a whole, was, like the wild New England scenery, beautiful and grand None knew Uncle Ephraim Barlow but to respect him, and at the church where he was a worshiper feould have been , white hair, who Sunday after Sunday walked slowly up the middle aisle to his accustoularly passed the contribution box, bowing involuntarily in token of approbation when a neighbor's gift was larger than its wont, and gravely dropping in his own ten cents--never , which he knew amounted in a year to just five dollars and twenty cents And still Uncle Ephraiy, as the Silverton poor could testify, forof er would have otherwise been, while to his minister he was literally a holder up of the weary hands, and a comforter in the time of trouble

His helpmeet, Aunt Hannah, like that virtuous woman mentioned in the Bible, was one "who seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands, who riseth while yet it is night, and givethtrait Aunt Hannah was rather fa was invariably swinging on the line ready to greet the rising sun

Miss Betsy Barlow, too, the deacon's maiden sister, was a character in her way, and was surely not one of those vain, frivolous females to whom the Apostle Paul had reference when he condeold and jewels Quaint, queer and simple-hearted, she had but little idea of any world this side of heaven, except the one bounded by the "huckleberry" hills and the crystal waters of Fairy Pond, which from the back door of the farmhouse were plainly seen, both in the su fields were covered with the winter snow

The home of such a trio was, like themselves, ancient and unpretentious, nearly one hundred years having elapsed since the solid foundation was laid to a portion of the building Unquestionably, it was the oldest house in Silverton, for on the heavy, oaken door of as called the back room was still to be seen thethe Revolution, had encaton, too, it was said, had once spent a night beneath its roof, the deacon'sher home-made bread Since that time several attempts had been made to modernize the house Lath and plaster had been put upon the rafters and paper upon the walls, wooden latches had given place to iron, while in the parlor, where Washington had slept, there was the extravagance of a knob, a genuine porcelain knob, such, as Uncle Ephrairand For hi folks, he supposed, s have their way, and so when his pretty niece, who had lived with hie, ca her two fatherless children and a host of new ideas, he good-humoredly suffered her to tear down some of his household idols and replace theradually changed its appearance both outwardly and in, for young wolimpse of the outer world will not settle down quietly amid fashions a century old And Lucy Lennox, when she returned to the farmhouse, was not quite the sauileless heart feared that she had actually fallen fro the fall wholly to Lucy's predilection for a certain little book on whose back ritten "Common Prayer," and at which Aunt Betsy scarcely dared to look, lest she should be guilty of the enormities practiced by the Romanists themselves Clearer headed than his sister, the deacon read the black-bound book, finding thereinhen folks promised to renounce the postrata of the whole Episcopal Church, he said, and as Lucy, without taking any public step, had still declared her preference for that church, he, too, in a ed her propensity for repairs to the same source with Aunt Betsy; but, as he could really see no sin in what she did, he suffered her in s to have her way But when she conte the center of the building, he interfered; for there was nothing he liked better than the bright fire on the hearth when the evenings grew chilly and long, and the autu upon the roof The chi could prevail on him to revoke his decision, the chimney stood, and with it the three fireplaces, where, in the fall and spring, were burned the twisted knots too bulky for the kitchen stove This was fourteen years ago, and in that lapse of tiradually fallen in with the fae in Western New York, where her husband had died and where were born her daughters, one of who home on the warm July day when our story opens