sts her.

She says she will be sorry.

"Well," I says, "WHY will you be sorry?"

I thought she would say because _I_ was going. And then I would be
finding out whether she liked me a lot. But she says the reason she will
be sorry is because there will be no one new to talk to about things
both has read. I was considerable took down when she said that.

"Martha," I says, "it's more'n likely I won't never see you agin after I
go away."

She says that kind of parting comes between the best of friends.

I seen I wasn't getting along very fast, nor saying what I wanted to
say. I reckon one of them Sir Marmeluke fellers would of knowed what to
say. Or Doctor Kirby would. Or mebby even Looey would of said it better
than I could. So I was kind of mad with myself, and I says, mean-like:

"If you don't care, of course, I don't care, neither."

She never answered that, so I gets up and makes like I am starting off.

"I was going to give you some of them there Injun feathers of mine to
remember me by," I tells her, "but if you don't want 'em, there's plenty
of others would be glad to take 'em."

But she says she would like to have them.

"Well," I says, "I will bring them to you tomorrow afternoon."

She says, "Thank you."

Finally I couldn't stand it no longer. I got brave all of a sudden, and
busted out: "Martha, I--I--I--"

But I got to stuttering, and my braveness stuttered itself away. And I
finishes up by saying:

"I like you a hull lot, Martha." Which wasn't jest exactly what I had
planned fur to say.

Martha, she says she kind of likes me, too.

"Martha," I says, "I like you more'n any girl I ever run acrost before."

She says, "Thank you," agin. The way she said it riled me up. She said
it like she didn't know what I meant, nor what I was trying to get out
of me. But she did know all the time. I knowed she did. She knowed I
knowed it, too. Gosh-dern it, I says to myself, here I am wasting all
this time jest TALKING to her. The right thing to do come to me all of
a sudden, and like to took my breath away. But I done it. I grabbed her
and I kissed her.

Twice. And then agin. Because the first was on the chin on account of
her jerking her head back. And the second one she didn't help me none.
But the third time she helped me a little. And the ones after that she
helped me considerable.

Well, they ain't no use trying to talk about the rest of that afternoon.
I couldn't rightly describe it if I wanted