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 This was a bit of pleasantry on Robert's part that would possibly have been straightway forgotten, but when he found his use of the name had startled and astonished Matthew Watson, he never lost opportunity to make use of it in her step-father's presence, and even went so far as to bribe the old man's boys, when little fellows, to call her "Fairy Ruth;" but the bribe was not sufficient recompense for the punishment they received, and the practice was nipped in the bud.

The harp at Pearson's was so constantly in Ruth's mind that she one day improvised one for herself, merely placing a single, tightly-drawn thread at the window's base and raising the sash so slightly that it would not be noticed as not all the way down. The result was pleasing. A faint, weird sound filled her little room, and, as she watched the setting sun and listened to this sweet whispering of the passing breeze, she composed many a short song in her artless way and stored them in her memory. The facilities for a written record of her thoughts were scanty, and to-day, though the weather