was
for young men to have somebody to kind o' think for! It made 'em so kind
o' thoughtful!" Many a flower, fruit, and borrowed book he brought me.
He tried to make me walk with him; and, whenever he could, he made me
talk with him. But for him, I should have studied almost all the time
that I was not teaching or sleeping; for when I began to teach, I first
discovered how little I had learned. Thus nearly all the indulgences and
recreations of the rather grave, lonely, and hard-working little life I
was leading at that time were associated with him and his kind care; and
so I really think it was no great wonder if his peonies and snowballs
that day made the bare little parlor, with the row of staring, uncouth
daguerreotypes on the mantel-piece, look very pretty to me, or that to
know that he had been there, and was coming back again, made it a very
happy place.

I walked across it, took off my hot black bonnet, threw up the western
window, and sat down beside it in the rocking-chair. The cool breeze
struggled through the tree that nestled sociably up to it, and made the
little knobs of cherries nod at me, as if saying, "You would not like us
now, but you will by and by." The oriole gurgled and giggled from among
them, "_Wait!_ Come _again_! Come again! Ha, ha!" The noise of the
greedy canker-worms, mincing the poor young green leaves over my head,
seemed a soothing sound; and even the sharp headache I had brought with
me from the school-room, only a sort of _sauce piquante_ to my delicious
rest. I did not ask myself what Jim would say. I scarcely longed to hear
him come. I did not know how anything to follow could surpass that
perfect luxury of waiting peace.

He did come soon. I heard a stealthy step, not on the gravel-walk, but
on the rustling hay that lay upon the turf beside it. He looked, and
then sprang, in at the window. He was out of breath. He caught my hand,
and looked into my face, and asked me to go out and walk with him.
Before I had time to answer, he snatched up my bonnet, and almost
pressed it down upon my head. As I tied it, he hurried out and looked
back at me eagerly from the road. I followed, though more slowly than he
wished. The sun was bright and hot, and almost made me faint; but
everything was very beautiful.

He wrenched out the topmost bar of a fence, _jumped_ me over it into a
meadow, led me by a forced march into the middle of the field, seated me
on a haycock, and once more stood before