he work became more mechanical his mind
wandered back to forbidden ground and the days were harder than any he had
ever known.

One frightfully hot day, near the end of the plowing of the first field,
which lay near the house, Hugh found it necessary to rest the horses
frequently. With each period of rest his thoughts returned to Elizabeth
with new force and longing; his mind worked continually on the reading
matter they had gone over, and constantly he wanted to elaborate or
discuss some subject left unfinished. It was the devil with which he had
to wrestle. Also, she showed the strain of disappointment when he met her
at meals, and he found himself struggling with Doctor Morgan's
observations on her health, her husband, and her happiness. As far as John
was concerned, he thought the old doctor was mistaken, and be it
remembered, Hugh Noland had a genuine liking for John Hunter. That liking
added to the seriousness of his situation in John Hunter's home.

He mopped his perspiring brow, while little wet lines showed in the
creases of his sleeves and across the back of his thin summer shirt. The
fierce heat parched his mouth and his whole burning body called for a
drink. Tying his team to a post an hour after noon he vaulted over the
fence and walked to the creek, picking his way down to the narrow stream.
The heat of summer was drying the brook up rapidly; already there was but
a tiny rivulet, but such as was left curled and trickled between grassy
banks in a manner to attract the eye of a thirsty man. Hugh knelt on a
hummock with his hand on the opposite bank and drank as only the man who
plows corn on a hot June day can. As he stood up he paused with his
handkerchief halfway to his face and listened, while the water dripped
from nose and chin unheeded. The continuous tones of a voice reading aloud
reached him. It was such a curious place to encounter such a phenomenon
that he listened intently for a moment.

"Elizabeth!" he whispered.

Every pulse in Hugh Noland's body pounded suddenly. On the first impulse
he was away in her direction, walking rapidly and without effort at
concealment. Without taking time to think, without knowing or caring
whether it were wise, he walked as straight toward the spot as the laden
bee to the hive.

Hugh's coming fell upon Elizabeth suddenly, but the perfect naturalness of
her joy put him at his ease.

"I heard you reading," he said simply. "What are you working on now?"

He thr