I know it," and would not say another word
or let me.

And so the burden of this new apprehension is laid upon me; for
happiness cannot come out of this complication.

* * * * *

Where is Orrin, and what is he doing that he stays so much from home?
If it were not for the intent and preoccupied look which he wears when
I do see him, I should think that he was absenting himself for the
purpose of wearing out his unhappy passion. But the short glimpses I
have had of him as he has ridden busily through the town have left me
with no such hope, and I wait with feverish impatience for some fierce
action on his part, or what would be better, the Colonel's return. And
the Colonel must come back soon, for nothing goes well in a long
absence, and his house is almost at a standstill.

* * * * *

Colonel Schuyler has come and, I hear, is storming angrily over the
mishaps that have delayed the progress of his new dwelling. He says he
will not go away again till it is completed, and has been riding all
the morning in every direction, engaging new men to aid the dilatory
workmen already employed. Does Orrin know this? I will go down to his
house and see.

* * * * *

And now I know _Orrin's_ secret. He was not at home, of course, and
being determined to get at the truth of his mysterious absences, I
mounted a horse of my own and rode off to find him.

Why I took this upon myself, or whether I had the right to do it, I
have not stopped to ask. I went in the direction he had last gone, and
after I had ridden through two villages I heard of him as having
passed still farther east some two hours before.

Not in the least deterred, I hurried on, and having threaded a thicket
and forded a stream, I came upon a beautiful open country wholly new
to me, where, on the verge of a pleasant glade and in full view of a
most picturesque line of hills, I saw shining the fresh boards of a
new cottage. Instantly the thought struck me, "It is Orrin's, and he
is building it for Juliet," and filled with a confusion of emotions, I
spurred on my horse, and soon drew up before it.

Orrin was standing, pale and defiant, in the doorway, and as I met his
eye, I noticed, with a sick feeling of contempt, that he swung the
whip he was holding smartly against his leg in what looked like a very
threatening manner.

"Good-evening, Orrin," I cried. "You have a very