.

'William, I wish you would come here and help me!'

The vicar took no notice, but went on talking to Rose.

'William!' imperatively.

The vicar turned unwillingly.

'You know, William, if you wouldn't mind lying with your feet _that_
way, there would be just room for me. But, of course, if you _will_ have
them the other way----' The shoulders in the old black silk mantle went
up, and the gray curls shook dubiously.

The vicar's countenance showed plainly that he thought the remark worse
than irrelevant.

'My dear,' he said crossly, 'I am not thinking of those things, nor do I
wish to think of them. Everything has its time and place. It is close on
tea, and Miss Rose says she must be going home.'

Mrs. Thornburgh again shook her head, this time with a disapproving
sigh.

'You talk, William,' she said severely, 'as if you were a young man,
instead of being turned sixty-six last birthday.'

And again she measured the spaces with her eye, checking the results
aloud. But the vicar was obdurately deaf. He strolled on with Rose, who
was chattering to him about a visit to Manchester, and the little church
gate clicked behind them. Hearing it, Mrs. Thornburgh relaxed her
measurements. They were only really interesting to her after all when
the vicar was by. She hurried after them as fast as her short squat
figure would allow, and stopped midway to make an exclamation.

'A carriage!' she said, shading her eyes with a very plump hand,
'stopping at Greybarns!'

The one road of the valley was visible from the churchyard, winding
along the bottom of the shallow green trough, for at least two miles.
Greybarns was a farmhouse just beyond Burwood, about half a mile away.

Mrs. Thornburgh moved on, her matronly face aglow with interest.

'Mary Jenkinson taken ill!' she said. 'Of course, that's Doctor Baker!
Well, it's to be hoped it won't be twins _this_ time. But, as I told her
last Sunday, "It's constitutional, my dear." I knew a woman who had
three pairs! Five o'clock now. Well, about _seven_ it'll be worth while
sending to inquire.'

When she overtook the vicar and his companion, she began to whisper
certain particulars into the ear that was not on Rose's side. The vicar,
who, like Uncle Toby, was possessed of a fine natural modesty, would
have preferred that his wife should refrain from whispering on these
topics in Rose's presence. But he submitted lest opposition should
provoke her into still more audible imp