which involved his feeling for her, he was habitually hampered and
ill at ease; only on general subjects did she ever see him master
of his resources. Gabriella had fallen into the habit of looking
into his eyes for the best answers: there he always spoke not only
with ideas but emotions: a double speech much cared for by woman.

They seated themselves on opposite sides of the wide deep fire-
place: a grate for soft coal had not yet destroyed that.

"Your schoolhouse is safe," he announced briefly.

"Oh, I've been wanting to know all day but had no one to send! How
do YOU know?" she inquired quickly.

"It's safe. The yard will have to be cleared of brush: that's all."

She looked at him gratefully. "You are always so kind!"

"Well," observed David, with a great forward stride, "aren't you?"

Gabriella, being a woman, did not particularly prize this remark:
it suggested his being kind because she had been kind; and a woman
likes nothing as reward, everything as tribute.

"And now if the apple trees are only not killed!" she exclaimed
joyously, changing the subject.

"Why the apple trees?"

"If you had been here last spring, you would have understood. When