almost let herself be convinced that
Martin was a poet-lover in the rough.

And all the while, giving pattern to her flying thoughts, the contents
of a letter, received the day before, echoed through her mind. Her
sister, Norah, the youngest of the family, had told of her first baby.
"We have named her for you, darling," she wrote. "Oh, Rose, she has
brought me such deep happiness. I wonder if this ecstasy can last. Her
little hand against my breast--it is so warm and soft--like a flower's
curling petal, as delicate and as beautiful as a butterfly's wing.
I never knew until now what life really meant." As Rose reread the
throbbing lines and pictured the eager-eyed young mother, her own sweet
face glowed with reflected joy and with the knowledge that this ecstasy,
this deeper understanding could come to her, too--Martin, he was
vigorous, so worthy of being the father of her children. He would love
them, of course, and provide for them better than any other man she
knew. Had not Norah married a plain farmer who was only a tenant? The
new little Rose's father was not to be compared to Martin, and yet he
had brought the supreme experience to her sister. So Rose sat dreaming,
the arid level of monotonous days which, one short hour ago, had
stretched before her, flowering into fragrant, sun-filled fields.

Meanwhile, Martin congratulated himself upon having found a woman as
sensible, industrious and free from foolish notions, as even he could
wish.

III. DUST IN HER HEART

SIX weeks later Martin and Rose were married. Martin had let the
contract for the new house and barn to Silas Fletcher, Fallon's
leading carpenter, who had the science of construction reduced to utter
simplicity. He had listened to Martin's description of what he wished
and, after some rough figuring, had proceeded to draw the plans on the
back of a large envelope. Both Rose and Martin knew that those rude
lines would serve unfailingly. For three thousand dollars Fletcher would
build the very house Martin had pictured to Rose: a two-story one with
four nice rooms and a bath upstairs, four rooms and a pantry downstairs,
a floored garret, concrete cellar, an inviting fireplace and wide
porches. For two thousand dollars he would give a substantial barn
capable of holding a hundred tons of hay and of accommodating twenty
cows and four horses.

Rose had been deeply touched by the thoroughness of Martin's plans,
by his unfailing consideration for her