CHAPTER I. is Surprised | lived just where dipped down into a little hollow , fringed with alders and ladies ’ eardrops and traversed by ; was reputed to be in earlier course through , with dark secrets of pool and cascade ; but by the time reached was , for not even could run past ’s door without due regard for decency and decorum ; probably was conscious that was sitting at window , keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed , from and up , and that if noticed anything odd or out of place would never rest until had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof .
There are plenty of in and out of , who can attend closely to ’s business by dint of neglecting own ; but was .
was ; work was always done and well done ; “ ran ” the Sewing Circle , helped run the Sunday-school , and was the strongest prop of the and .
Yet with all this found abundant time to sit for hours at window , knitting “ cotton warp ” quilts -- had knitted sixteen of them , as were wont to tell in awed voices -- and keeping a sharp eye on .
Since occupied , had to pass over and so run the unseen gauntlet of ’s all-seeing eye .
was sitting there one afternoon in early June .
The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright ; on the slope below was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom , hummed over by a myriad of bees .
-- -- was sowing late turnip seed on ; and ought to have been sowing on .
knew that ought because had heard tell the evening before in over at that meant to sow turnip seed the next afternoon .
had asked , of course , for had never been known to volunteer information about anything in whole life .
And yet here was , at half-past three on the afternoon of a busy day , placidly driving over and up ; moreover , wore a white collar and best suit of clothes , which was plain proof that was going out of ; and had and the sorrel mare , which betokened that was going a considerable distance .
Now , where was going and why was going there ?
Had it been , , deftly putting this and that together , might have given a pretty good guess as to both questions .
But so rarely went from that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking ; was and hated to have to go among or to any place where might have to talk .
, dressed up with a white collar and driving in , was something that did n’t happen often .
, ponder as might , could make nothing of it and afternoon ’s enjoyment was spoiled .
“ ’ll just step over to after tea and find out from where ’s gone and why , ” finally concluded .
“ does n’t generally go to this time of year and _ never _ visits ; if ’d run out of turnip seed would n’t dress up and take to go for more ; was n’t driving fast enough to be going for .
Yet something must have happened since last night to start off .
’m clean puzzled , that ’s what , and wo n’t know a minute ’s peace of mind or conscience until know what has taken out of today . ”
Accordingly after tea set out ; had not far to go ; was a scant quarter of a mile up from .
To be sure , made a good deal further .
, as shy and silent as after , had got as far away as possibly could from without actually retreating into when founded .
was built at the furthest edge of and there was to this day , barely visible from .
did not call living in _ living _ at all .
“ It ’s just _ staying _ , that ’s what , ” said as stepped along .
“ It ’s no wonder and are both a little odd , living away back here by .
Trees are n’t much company , though dear knows if they were there ’d be enough of them .
’d ruther look at .
To be sure , seem contented enough ; but then , suppose , ’re used to it .
A body can get used to anything , even to being hanged , as said . ”
With stepped out of into .
Very green and neat and precise was , set about on one side with great patriarchal willows and the other with prim Lombardies .
Not a stray stick nor stone was to be seen , for would have seen it if there had been .
Privately was of the opinion that swept over as often as swept .
One could have eaten a meal off the ground without over-brimming the proverbial peck of dirt .
rapped smartly at the door and stepped in when bidden to do so .
was -- or would have been cheerful if had not been so painfully clean as to give something of the appearance of .
windows looked east and west ; through the west one , looking out on , came a flood of mellow June sunlight ; but the east one , whence got a glimpse of the bloom white cherry-trees in and nodding , slender birches down in , was greened over by a tangle of vines .
sat , when sat at all , always slightly distrustful of sunshine , which seemed to too dancing and irresponsible a thing for ; and sat now , knitting , and the table behind was laid for supper .
, before had fairly closed the door , had taken a mental note of everything that was on that table .
There were three plates laid , so that must be expecting home with to tea ; but the dishes were everyday dishes and there was only crab-apple preserves and one kind of cake , so that the expected company could not be any particular company .
Yet what of ’s white collar and the sorrel mare ?
was getting fairly dizzy with this unusual mystery about .
“ Good evening , , ” said briskly .
“ This is a real fine evening , is n’t it ?
Wo n’t sit down ?
How are all ? ”
Something that for lack of any other name might be called friendship existed and always had existed between and , in spite of -- or perhaps because of -- dissimilarity .
was ; dark hair showed some gray streaks and was always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively through it .
looked like ; but there was a saving something about mouth which , if it had been ever so slightly developed , might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor .
“ ’re all pretty well , ” said .
“ was kind of afraid _ _ were n’t , though , when saw starting off today .
thought maybe was going to ’s . ”
’s lips twitched understandingly .
had expected up ; had known that the sight of jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for ’s curiosity .
“ Oh , no , ’m quite well although had a bad headache yesterday , ” said .
“ went to .
’re getting from and ’s coming on tonight . ”
If had said that had gone to to meet a kangaroo from could not have been more astonished .
was actually stricken dumb for five seconds .
It was unsupposable that was making fun of , but was almost forced to suppose it .
“ Are in earnest , ? ” demanded when voice returned to .
“ Yes , of course , ” said , as if getting from were part of the usual spring work on instead of being an unheard of innovation .
felt that had received a severe mental jolt .
thought in exclamation points .
!
and of adopting !
From !
Well , was certainly turning upside down !
would be surprised at nothing after this !
Nothing !