ch older than when he had left her. The sweet round cheeks were
thinner, her mouth drooped sadly, pathetically. For an instant he longed
to take her in his arms and kiss her. The longing startled him. So many
months he had thought of only Kate in that way, and then had tried to
teach himself never to think of Kate or any woman as one to be caressed by
him, that it shocked him. He felt that he had been disloyal to himself, to
honor,--to Kate--no--not to Kate, he had no call to be loyal to her. She had
not been loyal to him ever. Perhaps rather he would have put it loyalty to
Love for Love's sake, love that is worthy to be crowned by a woman's love.

With all these mingling feelings David was embarrassed. He came toward her
slowly, trying to be natural, trying to get back his former way with her.
He put out his hand stiffly to shake hands as he had done when he left,
and timidly she put hers into it, yet as their fingers closed there leaped
from one to the other a thrill of sweetness, that neither guessed the
other knew and each put by in memory for closer inspection as to what it
could mean. Their hands clung together longer than either had meant, and
there was something pleasant to each in the fact that they were together
again. David thought it was just because it was home, rest, and peace, and
a relief from his anxiety about Marcia now that he saw she was all right.
Marcia knew it was better to have David standing there with his strong
fingers about her trembling ones, than to have anything else in the world.
But she would not have told him so.

"That was a sweet song you were singing," said David. "I hope you were
singing it for me, and that it was true! I am glad I am come home, and you
must sing it again for me soon."

It was not in the least what he intended to say, and the words tumbled
themselves out so tumultuously that he was almost ashamed and wondered if
Marcia would think he had lost his mind in New York. Marcia, dear child,
treasured them every word and hugged them to her heart, and carried them
in her prayers.

They went out together and got dinner as if they had been two children,
with a wild excited kind of glee; and they tried to get back their natural
ways of doing and saying things, but they could not.

Instead they were forever blundering and halting in what they said; coming
face to face and almost running over one another as they tried to help
each other; laughing and blushing and blundering ag