hand; not every one would, of course, but she has a kind heart, has Miss
Blakely.'

'Kind is she?' said he, with a tone of interest; 'and sweet-tempered?'

Mrs. Sims said more in favour of the scheme; it required that she should
say much, for the schoolmaster was not to be easily persuaded. She had,
however, three strong arguments in its favour, which she reiterated
again and again, with more and more assurance of certitude as she warmed
to the subject. The first point was, that if he did not marry, he must
either starve at home or go to the boarding-house, and at the latter
place she assured him again, as she had done at first, he would probably
soon die. Her second point was, that no one else would be willing to
marry him except Miss Blakely; and her third--although in this matter
she expressed herself with some mysterious caution--that Miss Blakely
would marry him if asked. Mrs. Sims bridled her head, spoke in lower
tones than was her wont, and said that she had the secret of Miss
Blakely's partiality from good authority. She sighed; and he heard her
murmur over her sewing that the heart was always young. In fact, without
saying it in so many words, she gave her listener to understand clearly
that Miss Blakely had conceived a very lively affection for him. And
this last, if she had but known it, was the only argument that carried
weight, for the schoolmaster could have faced either the prospect of
starvation or a lingering death in the rude noise of a boarding-house;
but he was tender-hearted, and, moreover, he had a beautiful soul, and
supposed all women to be like his mother, whom he had loved with all his
strength.

'You'd better make haste, sir,' said Mrs. Sims, 'for I must leave on
Thursday, and now it's Saturday night. There's not overmuch time for
everything--although, indeed, Mrs. Graham, that goes out charing, might
come in and make you your meals for a week, though it will cost you half
a quarter's salary, charing is that expensive in these parts.'

The schoolmaster proceeded to think over the matter--that is to say, he
proceeded to muse over it; by which process he did not face the facts as
they were--did not become better acquainted with the real Miss Blakely,
but made some sort of progress in another way, for he conjured up an
ideal Miss Blakely, gentle and good, cheerful, with intellectual tastes
like his own, a person who, like himself, had not fared very happily in
the world until now, and for wh