286   FROM  THE WEST TO THE WEST
"The hair of the dog is good for the bite sometimes, my girl. Your Uncle Joseph is all right. He '11 atone for everything if we '11 give him half a chance."
" You owe Joseph an apology for your rudeness, Annie; I am surprised at you! " said her mother. Then, turning to Joseph: " Don't mind Annie. She is unhappy and cross because she could not go to boarding-school this winter."
" If I did n't deserve what I 'm getting I would n't stand it, sister; but I 've come to atone, and I must take my punishment."
The room was severely cold, and the hot breakfast filled the air with a vapor that obscured the window-panes. The lighted candles, in their tall receivers, reflected trauslucent halos, and lit the lithe figure of Annie Robinson, who flitted silently between the table and the great black stove, serving the food, and looking like a weird, uncanny shade.
" The way of the transgressor is hard," thought Joseph. " We must be ready to take the back track to-morrow, John," he said, rising from his chair, and leaving his food almost untasted. " Whatever business you and Lije may have between you must be agreed upon to-day. Where can I hire a horse and sleigh ?"
" I 've a cutter in the barn," said Lije, beginning to relax a little as his breakfast stirred his heart and warmed his spirits. " You '11 find half-a-dozen old sawmill horses in the big shed back of the barn. They 're spavined and ringboned, and one of 'em is knock-kneed; but you can take your pick of the lot."
" Won't you let me go along, Joe? " asked his brother, as they left the house together. " Where are you going, anyhow ?"
" Of course you can go along if you are not needed here. I am going to see about buying that ten-acre tract that Mollie told me about. If it is suitable for the needs of our parents, I will see them installed in a home