ibility; she would
expect too much from life and be disappointed. He was reluctant
to lead her out into the chilly evening without some word of
entreaty. He would willingly have prolonged their passage,--
through many rooms and corridors. Perhaps, had that been
possible, the strength in him would have found what it was
seeking; even in this short interval it had stirred and made
itself felt, had uttered a confused appeal. Claude was greatly
surprised at himself.

XI

Enid decided that she would be married in the first week of June.
Early in May the plasterers and painters began to be busy in the
new house. The walls began to shine, and Claude went about all
day, oiling and polishing the hard-pine floors and wainscoting.
He hated to have anybody step on his floors. He planted gourd
vines about the back porch, set out clematis and lilac bushes,
and put in a kitchen garden. He and Enid were going to Denver and
Colorado Springs for their wedding trip, but Ralph would be at
home then, and he had promised to come over and water the flowers
and shrubs if the weather was dry.

Enid often brought her work and sat sewing on the front porch
while Claude was rubbing the woodwork inside the house, or
digging and planting outside. This was the best part of his
courtship. It seemed to him that he had never spent such happy
days before. If Enid did not come, he kept looking down the road
and listening, went from one thing to another and made no
progress. He felt full of energy, so long as she sat there on the
porch, with lace and ribbons and muslin in her lap. When he
passed by, going in or out, and stopped to be near her for a
moment, she seemed glad to have him tarry. She liked him to
admire her needlework, and did not hesitate to show him the
featherstitching and embroidery she was putting on her new
underclothes. He could see, from the glances they exchanged, that
the painters thought this very bold behaviour in one so soon to
be a bride. He thought it very charming behaviour himself, though
he would never have expected it of Enid. His heart beat hard when
he realized how far she confided in him, how little she was
afraid of him! She would let him linger there, standing over her
and looking down at her quick fingers, or sitting on the ground
at her feet, gazing at the muslin pinned to her knee, until his
own sense of propriety told him to get about his work and spare
the feelings of the painters.

"When are you going o