business--the practical side, Sally. And he wants to master it carefully
and grasp the whole thing."

Miss Groves smiled.

"Ah. He didn't take long mastering the carder," she said. "Just two
minutes was all he gave me, and I don't think he was very long at the
drawing heads neither; and I ain't heard Sarah Northover say he spent
much of his time at the spreader. It all depends on the minder whether
Mister Raymond wants to know much about the work!"

"But the spinning is the hardest to understand, Sally."

"Granted, but he don't ask many questions of Alice Chick or Nancy
Buckler, do he? I'm not blaming him, Lord knows, nor yet you, but for
friendship I'm whispering to you to be sensible. He's a very
kind-hearted young gentleman, and if he had a memory as big as his
promises, he'd soon ruin himself. But, like a lot of other nice chaps
full of generous ideas, he forgets 'em when the accident that woke 'em
is out of his mind. And all I say, Sabina, is to be careful. He may be
as good as gold, and I dare say he is, but he's gone on you--head
over heels--he can't hide it. He don't even try to. And he's a gentleman
and you're a spinner. So don't you be silly, and don't think the worse
of me for speaking."

Sabina entertained the opinions concerning middle-age common to youth,
but she was fond of Sally and set her heart at rest.

"You needn't be frightened," she answered. "He's a gentleman, as you
say; and you know I'm not the sort to be a fool. I can't help him
coming; and I can't be rude to the young man. For that matter I
wouldn't. I won't forget what you've said all the same."

She hurried away and started her machine; but while her mind
concentrated on spinning, some subconscious instincts worked at another
matter and she found that Sally had cast a cloud upon a coming event
which promised nothing but sunshine.

She had agreed to go for a walk with Raymond Ironsyde on the following
Sunday, and he had named their meeting-place: a bridge that crossed the
Bride in the vale two miles from the village. She meant to go, for the
understanding between her and Raymond had advanced far beyond any point
dreamed of by Sally Groves. Sabina's mind was in fact exceedingly full
of Raymond, and his mind was full of her. Temperament had conspired to
this state of things, for while the youth found himself in love for the
first time in his life, and pursued the quest with that ardour and
enthusiasm until now reserved for sport, Sabi