igh's buggy stood by the fence; and he was there,
among his mechanics, with his straw hat and seersucker coat on,
inspecting and giving orders.

"What a capital old fellow the governor is!" said Paul, in the fashion
young men use, nowadays, to utter their affections.

"Do you know he means to set me up in these mills he is making such a
hobby of, and give me half the profits?"

Faith had not known. She thought him very good.

"Yes; he would do anything, I believe, for me--or anybody I cared for."

Faith was silent; and the strange fear came up in heart and throat.

"I like Kinnicutt, thoroughly."

"Yes," said Faith. "It is very beautiful here."

"Not only that. I like the people. I like their simple fashions. One
gets at human life and human nature here. I don't think I was ever, at
heart, a city boy. I don't like living at arm's length from everybody.
People come close together, in the country. And--Faith! what a minister
you've got here! What a sermon that was he preached last Sunday! I've
never been what you might call one of the serious sort; but such a
sermon as that must do anybody good."

Faith felt a warmth toward Paul as he said this, which was more a
drawing of the heart than he had gained from her by all the rest.

"My father says he will keep him here, if money can do it. He never goes
to church at Lakeside, now. It needs just such a man among mill villages
like these, he says. My father thinks a great deal of his workpeople. He
says nobody ought to bring families together, and build up a
neighborhood, as a manufacturer does, and not look out for more than the
money. I think he'll expect a great deal of me, if he leaves me here, at
the head of it all. More than I can ever do, by myself."

"Mr. Armstrong will be the very best help to you," said Faith. "I think
he means to stay. I'm sure Kinnicutt would seem nothing without him,
now."

"Faith! Will you help me to make a home here?"

She could not speak. A great shock had fallen upon her whole nature, as
if a thunderbolt she had had presentiment of, burst from a clear blue
sky.

They drove on for minutes, without another word.

"Faith! You don't answer me. Must I take silence as I please? It can't
be that you don't care for me!"

"No, no!" cried Faith, desperately, like one struggling for voice
through a nightmare. "I do care. But--Paul! I don't know! I can't tell.
Let me wait, please. Let me think."

"As long as you like, darling," said he