somewhat too white, in which there was a look--as there was evidence
in his walk also--of his being tired from prolonged exertion or
endurance. He was decently, though not expensively, clad in black
cloth, his three-cornered felt hat, wide-skirted coat, and ill-fitting
knee-breeches, being all of the same solemn hue. I was to perceive
later that his clothes were old and carefully mended. His gray silk
stockings ill accorded with his poor shoes, of which the buckles were
of steel. He carried in one hand a large, ancient travelling-bag, so
heavy that it strained his muscles and dragged him down, thus partly
explaining the fatigued look in his face; and in his other hand a
basket, from the open top of which there appeared, thrust out, the
head of a live gray kitten.

This pretty animal's look of strangeness to its surroundings, as it
gazed about with curiosity, would alone have proclaimed that it was
arrived from travel; had not the baggage and appearance of its bearer
told the same story. The boy, also, kept an alert eye forward as he
advanced up the street, but it was soon evident that he gazed in
search of some particular object. This object, as the lad finally
satisfied himself by scanning it and its neighbours twice over, proved
to be the house immediately opposite ours. It was one of a row of
small, old brick residences, with Dutch gable ends toward the street.
Having made sure of its identity, and having reddened a little at the
gaze of Madge and me, the young stranger set down his bag with
perceptible signs of physical relief, and, keeping in his grasp the
basket with the cat, knocked with a seemingly forced boldness--as if
he were conscious of timidity to be overcome--upon the door.

At that, Madge Faringfield could not help laughing aloud.