"No," answered Martha, with her clear blue eyes fixed on Gilbert's face,
"I will not ask."

He returned her gaze, and his eyes seemed to say: "Will you take it,
knowing what the acceptance implies?"

She read the question correctly; but of this he was not sure. Neither,
if it were so, could he trust himself to interpret the answer. Sally had
already resumed her place on his left, and he saw that the mock strife
would be instantly renewed. With a movement so sudden as to appear
almost ungracious, he snatched the brush from his cap and extended it to
Martha Deane, without saying a word.

If she hesitated, it was at least no longer than would be required in
order to understand the action. Gilbert might either so interpret it, or
suspect that she had understood the condition in his mind, and meant to
signify the rejection thereof. The language of gestures is wonderfully
rapid, and all that could be said by either, in this way, was over, and
the brush in Martha Deane's hand, before Sally Fairthorn became aware of
the transfer.

"Well-done, Martha!" she exclaimed: "Don't let him have it again! Do you
know to whom he would have given it: an A. and a W., with the look of an
X,--so!"

Thereupon Sally pulled off her mittens and crossed her forefingers, an
action which her companions understood--in combination with the
mysterious initials--to be the rude, primitive symbol of a squint.

Gilbert looked annoyed, but before he could reply, Sally let go the rein