. And,
after all, why not he as well as any other man? It was absurd to
suppose that Winifred could ever be _in love_ with any man, as a man
would be with her. It occurred to Will that the thing to do was
natural enough, after all--not to ask Winifred's love, but to offer
her his. And he walked down to Mrs. Stutt's to do it, one August
evening, a little before school opened after vacation. He was in good
spirits, too; to come to action and to speech, after so long
repression, was an inestimable relief. And she had been doubly
friendly to him all this time.

Mrs. Stutt was in her little strip of grass and oleanders. "That you,
Mr. Strong?" she called out cheerily as he lifted the gate-latch.
"Well, Miss Northrop's in the sitting-room, I s'pose. You go right in,
and I'll come in when I've done my watering."

"Thank you," said Will, absently, and walked on into the house.
Winifred was not in the dark little sitting-room. He walked to the
open window and stood there, expecting her to come in presently. There
were veils of Madeira vine over the window, just opening their whitish
tassels of bloom, and the air was full of the smell of them. Mrs.
Stutt began to water the grass outside, and the shower of water from
her hose glimmered through the Madeira vine; the noise of the water
came to him, and the crying of crickets, and the smell of the freshly
wet earth. Then he heard a step on the porch, and saw Winifred go down
the short path to the gate. He could see by her white dress that she
stood still there; so he went out, too, to join her. Mrs. Stutt was
watering at the other side of the house now, and the two were alone.

Will stopped a moment in the darkness and faint odor of a great
oleander, a few feet from the motionless girl at the gate, to realize
well the grace of her dim white figure, and her unconscious attitude.
She stood in a weary way, with her head a little fallen back, and her
hands hanging loosely clasped before her. There was so much and so
incomprehensible emotion in the attitude, that Will felt vaguely
thrust out into another world from that where her interests lay. She
had not heard him approach, for the train from the south was just
coming to a stand at the station, not a stone's throw off, and there
was a great noise of jarring cars, and shouting men, and escaping
steam, and ringing bell. He waited till the noise should be quite
over. Some one came walking rapidly from the station; Will, glancing
at the