s. Whether from the position of his
head or the sudden strain of the exertion, he seemed to see a momentary
shock among the stars, and a diffusion of frosty light pass from one to
another along the sky. At the same instant, a corner of the blind was
lifted and lowered again at once. He laughed a loud ho-ho! 'One and
another!' thought Will. 'The stars tremble, and the blind goes up. Why,
before Heaven, what a great magician I must be! Now if I were only a
fool, should not I be in a pretty way?' And he went off to bed,
chuckling to himself: 'If I were only a fool!'

The next morning, pretty early, he saw her once more in the garden, and
sought her out.

'I have been thinking about getting married,' he began abruptly; 'and
after having turned it all over, I have made up my mind it's not
worthwhile.'

She turned upon him for a single moment; but his radiant, kindly
appearance would, under the circumstances, have disconcerted an angel,
and she looked down again upon the ground in silence. He could see her
tremble.

'I hope you don't mind,' he went on, a little taken aback. 'You ought
not. I have turned it all over, and upon my soul there's nothing in it.
We should never be one whit nearer than we are just now, and, if I am a
wise man, nothing like so happy.'

'It is unnecessary to go round about with me,' she said. 'I very well
remember that you refused to commit yourself; and now that I see you were
mistaken, and in reality have never cared for me, I can only feel sad
that I have been so far misled.'

'I ask your pardon,' said Will stoutly; 'you do not understand my
meaning. As to whether I have ever loved you or not, I must leave that
to others. But for one thing, my feeling is not changed; and for
another, you may make it your boast that you have made my whole life and
character something different from what they were. I mean what I say; no
less. I do not think getting married is worth while. I would rather you
went on living with your father, so that I could walk over and see you
once, or maybe twice a week, as people go to church, and then we should
both be all the happier between whiles. That's my notion. But I'll
marry you if you will,' he added.

'Do you know that you are insulting me?' she broke out.

'Not I, Marjory,' said he; 'if there is anything in a clear conscience,
not I. I offer all my heart's best affection; you can take it or want
it, though I suspect it's beyond either your p