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him. Johnny couldn't come to her with an open heart because his heart was filled with bitterness. She wrote:
    When I return to Kansas^ will I see Johnny ever again? What will my life be without him? Perhaps I should move to St, Joseph and live near Ma. Maybe it would be better to
    She jumped as Reverend Diller slid into the seat next to her. Flustered, Frances closed her journal with a snap.
    "First off, I want to apologize for grabbin' your arm like I did," Reverend Diller said. "Sometimes I have bad dreams, and when you touched me I thought . . . Well, there was someone in my dream, and 1 was fightin' back. I didn't mean to hurt you."
    "It's all right," Frances said. "It was my fault. I didn't mean to startle you."
    Reverend Diller glanced at the blue book on Frances's la^. "What were you writing?" he asked.
    "I keep a journal," Frances said. "I was about to write about some of the children."

    'They're a handful. They've given you a hard day,'' he said.
    Frances smiled. "No, they haven't," she said. 'They're all very good children."
    He slowly shook his head and smiled back. "One gives you a fright l)y runnin' off through the train. Others squabble or fight The babies cry. They demand your attention the entire time. You call that good:>''
    'They're children. Reverend Diller. Why be siu*-prised when they behave like children? If they all sat quietly, I'd be quite worried about them."
    "rd like you to call me Seth, instead of Reverend Diller," he said.
    "Why, that may not seem a proper way to engage in conversation, but on this journey I expect it is acceptable. I've always felt there are, indeed, times to make exceptions, so TU agree," said Frances. "But didn't you tell me your given name was Oscar?"
    He cleared his throat and examined the tops of his shoes. Finally he said, "Seth is my middle name, but it's the name I've always gone by."
    Frances smiled. "I'm sorry. I seem to keep embarrassing you. I shall call you Seth. My name is Frances Mary Kelly. You may call me Frances. How long have you been a preacher?"
    "Not long," he said.
    "Where did you study?"
    "Study?"
    "Yes. What school of divinity?"
    He paused and smiled, as if in reflection. "Yale."
    "It must have taken years of study, yet you seem so young."
    Even in the dim moonlight she could see him blush. "I'm older than I look," he replied.

    Before Frances could say another word, he asked, "How about you? Are you eighteen? Nineteen?"
    *Tm nineteen,** Frances answered.
    "Most girls pretty as you would be married by nineteen," Seth said softly.
    A rush of lonely feelings jBlled her heart, and Johnny*s face came to her mind.
    She didn't answer.
    "I didn't mean to speak out of turn. I guess bein' a preacher and all makes me seem nosy," he said, and his smile was broad and friendly. Frances smiled back.
    *Tell me about yourself," he said. "Where do you live? What do you do?"
    At first Frances spoke haltingly, "rm a teacher. I teach school in Kansas," she said, but as she saw the interest in Seth's eyes, she went on to tell him about her little house and the town of Maxville, built after the railroad came through.
    Seth asked about her family, and when she spoke of traveling with her brothers and sisters on an orphan train, he reached over and squeezed her hand in sympathy.
    Looking deeply into her eyes, he said, "I'm sorry you had such a hard childhood."
    His dark, curly hair, his handsome face were so close to hers . . . Frances gulped and puDed her hand away. "It wasn't a bad childhood. There were many happy times, many good memories to think about"
    "Are you tellin' me there weren't any bad times?" Seth asked.
    "Of course there were," Frances answered, "but I try to keep those out of my mind. I'd rather think about all the good things that happened."

    'That means you're hidin' from the bad memo-nes.
    "No, I'm not," Frances insisted. "I just believe that there's no reason to keep bringing up unhappy thoughts."
    "There is for^sdme people," he said. "Some of them need