be vacant. "Now, you must have it, Maud! I
haven't told a soul. Even the Doctor don't know it yet."

Maud left the library and walked up the avenue with an easier mind. She
had an excuse for her visit now, and need not broach, unless she liked,
the tremendous subject that made her turn hot and cold to think of. She
went rustling up the wide thoroughfare at a quick pace; but before
arriving at Farnham's, moved by a momentary whim, she turned down a
side street leading to Bishop's Lane. She said to herself, "I will go
in by that little gate once, if I never do again." As she drew near,
she thought, "I hope Sam isn't there."

Sam was there, just finishing his work upon the greenhouse. Farnham was
there also; he had come down to inspect the job, and he and Sleeny were
chatting near the gate as Maud opened it and came in. Farnham stepped
forward to meet her. The unexpected rencounter made her shy, and she
neither spoke to Sam nor looked toward him, which filled him with a
dull jealousy.

"Could I have a few moments' conversation with you, sir?" she asked,
with stiff formality.

"Certainly," said Farnham, smiling. "Shall we go into the house?"

"Thank you, sir," she rejoined, severely decorous. They walked up the
garden-path together, and Sam looked after them with an unquiet heart.

She was walking beside Farnham with a stately step, in spite of the
scabbard-like narrowness of the dress she wore. She was nearly as tall
as he, and as graceful as a young pine blown to and fro by soft winds.
The carpenter, with his heart heavy with love and longing, felt a
bitter sense that she was too fine for him. They passed into the house,
and he turned to his work with a sigh, often dropping his busy hands
and looking toward the house with a dumb questioning in his eyes. After
a half hour which seemed endless to him, they reappeared and walked
slowly down the lawn. There was trouble and agitation in the girl's
face, and Farnham was serious also. As they came by the rose-house,
Maud paused and looked up with a sorrowful smile and a question.
Farnham nodded, and they walked to the open door of the long, low
building. He led the way in, and Maud, looking hastily around, closed
the door behind them.

"He's goin' to give her some more of them roses," said Sam, explaining
the matter to himself. But he worked for some time with his blond beard
on his shoulder in his impatience to see them come out. At last, he
could resist no longer. He k