as't a haer?' she asked,
eyeing him with interest; 'ye ain't feared o' the like o' that?'

'No, it was not a hare; I did not see a hare.'

'What was't ye seed then?' she asked, looking at him with bold
determination.

'What did I see?' he repeated vaguely, 'I saw nothing.'

'Thought ye looked as if ye'd seed something',' she remarked
incredulously, and then went on eating and feeding the dog, as
indifferent to his presence as she was to the presence of the weeds.

'Are you going far to-night?' he asked at length, thinking he would make
more progress toward friendship before he sat down.

'To th' town.'

'Indeed, as far as that! Which town, may I ask?' he said, with
mechanical politeness, for his mind was running on what he had seen.

'Yer a fool and noae mistake,' she replied with emphasis. 'There's but
one town wi'in a walk.'

'On the contrary, I am considered a man of great learning,' he replied,
with more eager self-assertion than he could hitherto have believed
possible under the circumstances.

'Is't larning ye've got?' she asked, with much greater interest than she
had before evinced.

'Yes; I am a man who spends his life seeking for knowledge.'

'Are ye wiser ner parson?'

'Very much wiser,' replied the man of science, with honest conviction.

She looked much more impressed than he had hoped; and thinking that he
had made himself sufficiently interesting, he began to speak about her
own affairs, supposing they would please her better.

'You are not a married woman?' he said, looking at her ringless hand.

'Married or no,' she replied, 'it's nowt to you.'

'I beg your pardon; everything which concerns such a beautiful woman
must be of interest to me.'

At that she laughed outright in hard derision, and went on eating her
bread and meat.

'But won't you tell me if you are married or not?' he pleaded, pursuing
a subject which he thought must interest her. He was surprised to see
the sudden expression of womanly sorrow that came over her face, giving
her eyes new depth and light. She answered him sadly, looking past him
into the sunny distance--

'No, nor like to be.'

'I must disagree with you there. If you are not married yet, I am sure
you will be very soon. I never saw a more likely lassie than yourself.'

Manlike, he was quite unconscious of the consummate impertinence of the
form this compliment had taken; but afterwards he realised it when his
idle words recurred to his mind.

She