ing was to be
near her, to hear her voice, sometimes to have her hand in his. A new
element, one of pain, had entered into his life, and he groaned, for he
was jealous and helpless. He had some way divined Lizzi's love for Gill,
and the knowledge had revealed to him the nature of his own affection
for the woman whom he never dared tell that he, the blind man, loved her
with the love that would make her his wife. He lay fighting the new
pain, and Haunch sat near him, ready with help such as he could give if
it was asked for.

At last Blind Benner said:

"Hunch, do yer mind the time Lizzi told me what she looked like?"

"Mind ev'ry bit she said."

"Tell me it all over."

"She sed she wuz taller'n yer, Benner; and yer know'd thet. She told yer
she hed a good figger; and there ain't no better in the mountins."

"Jist tell what _she_ sed, Hunch."

"All right. She sed she wuz strong, an' could carry yer easy as a baby,
an' could chop wood like a man; her daddy learned her how ter handle the
axe, an' Levi learned her spellin' an' grammer."

"She talks mighty pretty, don't she, Hunch?" Blind Benner interrupted.

"Ain't no better talker, nowheres. An' her hands wuz perfect, she sed,
on'y they wuz red from soapsuds, an' _they_ didn't wear off in a week.
Her hands wuz whitest Sundays."

"Oh! I mind how she laid one on my head when she sed thet," Benner again
interrupted, "an' I sed it wuz yeller in feelin'; an' she wanted ter
know why, an' I sed 'cause it felt warm an' soft like the sunlight, an'
they say thet's yeller."

"Yes, an' I sed the furnace fire was red; but yer got techy an' sed thet
wuz hot. Do yer mind thet, Benner--hot and scorchin', not soft an' warm?
An' then when yer thought yer bed spoke too sharp ter me, yer made up
fer it by sayin' colors wuz hard fer yer ter make out, jist as if a
little thing like thet'd make me mad at yer, Benner."

"I ain't got no business speakin' sharp ter yer, Hunch, what's so kind
ter me allers," and Blind Benner laid his head on his friend's knee.
"Thet wuzn't all she sed."

"Nuh! she sed her feet wuz big."

"An' yer sed thet didn't make no diff'rence, fer her skirts hid 'em,"
and Blind Benner laughed. "But tell me what she sed 'bout her face."

"She sed it wuzn't very purty, an' wuz big an' round, an' almost filled
up the lookin'-glass; thet Levi sed it wuz allers full moon at their
house, fer her face wuz allers shinin' with good-natur'."

"An' I mind I sed it must