Chapter VIII
TOM BEAULING was in his eighteenth year when it came time for Judge Tyler to die. The winter went out with three days of wind and wet snow, and on the second of those days the cold got into the old gentleman's bones, and he took to his bed. On the third day he was bright and feverish by turns. On the fourth day he talked for a long time behind closed doors with the new doctor, and learned what it was best for him to know. When the doctor was gone, he called upon them to open his windows wide and let in the spring.
Tom Beauling sat by the bedside of his good friend. His mind was innocent as to the change that was coming.
"Tommie," said the judge, "when I am up and about, you and I are just like
