in the shade by the front porch for an hour,
waiting to see him pass, and when at last his carriage appeared, she
rose and waved her handkerchief by way of greeting and congratulation.
He bowed as he went by, and Alice retired to her own room, where she
used her handkerchief once more to dry her wet and happy eyes.

It was not long after, that Farnham came to dine with them. They both
looked forward to this dinner as an occasion of very considerable
importance. Each felt that much depended upon the demeanor of the
other. Each was conscientiously resolved to do and to say nothing which
should pain or embarrass the other. Each was dying to fall into the
other's arms, but each only succeeded in convincing the other of his or
her entire indifference and friendship.

As Farnham came in, Mrs. Belding went up to him with simple kindliness,
kissed him, and made him sit down. "You dear boy," she said, "you do
not know how glad I am to see you here once more."

Alice looked on, almost jealous of her mother's privilege. Then she
advanced with shy grace and took Arthur's hand, and asked: "Do you
begin to feel quite strong again?"

Farnham smiled, and answered, "Quite well, and the strength will soon
come. The first symptom of returning vitality, Mrs. Belding, was my
hostility to gruel and other phantom dishes. I have deliberately come
to dinner to-day to dine."

"I am delighted to hear of your appetite," said Mrs. Belding; "but I
think you may bear a little watching at the table yet," she added, in a
tone of kindly menace. She was as good as her word, and exercised
rather a stricter discipline at dinner than was agreeable to the
convalescent, regulating his meat and wine according to ladylike ideas,
which are somewhat binding on carnivorous man. But she was so kindly
about it, and Alice aided and abetted with such bashful prettiness,
that Farnham felt he could endure starvation with such accessories. Yet
he was not wholly at ease. He had hoped, in the long hours of his
confinement, to find the lady of his love kinder in voice and manner
than when he saw her last; and now, when she was sweeter and more
tender than he had ever seen her before, the self-tormenting mind of
the lover began to suggest that if she loved him she would not be so
kind. He listened to the soft, caressing tones of her voice as she
spoke to him, which seemed to convey a blessing in every syllable; he
met the wide, clear beauty of her glance, so sweet and b