impression that might be made by my apparent laziness; my
head was heavy and my heart was crushed. No sound came from below, and
after dressing--and how mean my clothes did look--I sat down at my
writing desk--sat and mused, just as I had seen Guinea sitting, with her
elbows on the table and with her chin in her hands. And Alf would ask
the old man to tell me something. Tell me what?

I went down stairs. Mrs. Jucklin was sweeping the yard. She put down her
broom upon seeing me and came forward, wiping her hands. I began to
apologize for being so late. "Oh, that makes no difference," she said.
"Alf told us not to wake you. I will go in and fix you something to
eat."

"Now, don't put yourself to any trouble, for, really, I couldn't eat a
bite; I'm not very well. Where is Mr. Jucklin?"

"Why, you must eat something. He's gone to the blacksmith shop broke the
point off his plow against a rock and had to go and get it fixed. He
ought to be back by now. It ain't but a little ways down the road. Are
you goin' over there? Well, if you see him tell him that Guinea and I
are goin' to see Mrs. Parker and won't be back till evenin'. Tell him
that we'll leave everything on the table."

Down the road I went, looking for the blacksmith shop, and I had not
gone far before I saw the old man coming, with his plow on his shoulder.
He was talking to himself and did not see me until I spoke to him. "Let
me take that plow," I said. "Give it to me. I'm stronger than you."

"I reckon you are right," he replied, looking up at me with a grin, "but
I can tote it all right enough."

But I took the plow from him, and walked along with it on my shoulder,
waiting for him to say something.

"You haven't seen Alf this mornin', have you?" he asked.

"No; I was asleep when he got up. Why?"

"Well, jest wanted to know. Alf takes some strange notions into his head
once in a long while, and he had one this mornin'. Told me to tell you
suthin' that very few folks know. Don't know why, unless he thinks more
of you than he does of any other young man. Never saw him take to a
person as he has to you. And I reckon I better tell you. But I hate to
talk about it."

We walked on in silence, and in my impatience I shifted the plow from
one shoulder to the other. "I'll take it when you git tired of it," he
said. "Now, it may be putty hard for you to understand the situation,
and I'm free to say that I can't make it so very plain, but I'll do the
best I ca