silence.

"Well, lad," said his uncle, when to the young man the continued
stillness had grown almost ponderous. The seconds had seemed to drop one
by one upon him from the audible ticking of the old clock in the next
room, each with an increasing weight of embarrassed sympathy.

"Well, uncle?" returned Reuben, trying to speak in his ordinary way, and
only succeeding in sounding shamefully flippant and unsympathetic to his
own ears.

"I've a mind to have a talk with you," said Ezra. "Is the door shut?"

Reuben rose to see, and murmuring that it was closed, resumed his seat.
He waited a while in expectation that his uncle was about to confide in
him.

"When beest going to make up your mind to pluck up a courage and speak
to Ruth?" the old man asked.

"To Ruth, sir?" returned Reuben. The question staggered him a little.

"To Ruth," said Ezra.

"I have spoken," answered Reuben. "We are going to be married."

"That's well," the old man said, mildly. "But I looked to be told of any
such thing happening. Thee and me, lad, are all as is left o' th' old
stock i' this part o' the world."

"Don't think I should have kept you ignorant of it," said Reuben. "I
only knew this morning. I have not seen you since till now."

"Well, lad, well," said Ezra, "I wish thee happy. But I'm sure you know
that without need of any word o' mine. I asked because I meant to give
out a bit of a warning agen the danger of delay. Theer's not alone the
danger of it, but sometimes the cruelty of it. It's hard for a young
woman as has been encouraged to set her heart upon a man, to be kept
waitin' on the young man's pleasure. You see, lad, they'm tongue-tied.
Perhaps"--he offered this supposition with perfect gravity--"perhaps
it's the having been tongue-tied afore marriage as makes some on 'em so
lively and onruled in speech when marriage has set 'em free."

There was a definite sense in Reuben's mind that the old man was not
saying what he wished to say, and this sense was strengthened when Ezra,
after moving once or twice in his seat, cleared his throat and began to
walk up and down the room.

"Had you read that letter as you brought to me this morning, lad?" he
asked, coughing behind his hand, and trying to speak as if the thing
were a commonplace trifle.

"I read it because I thought that it must be addressed to me," said
Reuben. "I had written to Ruth, and she told me to look in Manzini for
her answer. I found nothing but that letter