"I hope you will not have to wait all your life, dear child," said her aunt wistfully. "I should like to see you in a home of your own before I am called away."
Gwen felt that the last remark did not refer to a summons to another world. Had not Aunt Cam waited long and faithfully and might she not any day set sail for the land of her youthful labors?
"I wish," Miss Elliott went on, "that one of you had a little fortune of your own so you could marry while you are young."
"We don't need a big fortune, that is true," said Gwen. "We only require just enough to keep the pot boiling. When Kenneth is sure of that I shall be ready to share the 'olla podrida' with him, whatever olla podrida may be. I must ask Daddy Lu. By the way, Aunt Cam, he seems to be quite familiar with Spanish. I imagine he has been either to Spain or to some Spanish speaking country."
"Very possibly. He is an enigma, Gwen. Once or twice I have fancied I could solve the mystery of his early life, but now I realize that it is only one of those strong resemblances which are evident sometimes in persons distantly connected. At first I was very much upset by it, but I have gradually come to believe that he simply looks like some one else."
"I've felt, myself, as if his were a familiar face," returned Gwen. "Well, no matter whom he looks like, he always appears like a gentleman. Even in his old fisherman's clothes he is never anything but neat and tidy. He is a dear, and I shall hate to part from him. We have been trying to persuade him, Kenneth and I, to come away with us, but he will not do it. He says as we shall be in different cities, he couldn't be with us both, though he confesses he is trying to work out a plan which will bring us all together. I hope he will. I have become so used to seeing his dear old face around that I shall miss it. I hate to think of leaving him here. I know he will be lonely."
"After all these years? Surely he has become accustomed to the place and the people."
"Oh, but consider; this summer is the first time that he has made advances to anyone who came from the outside world. He has lived with his books. I fancy they will seem somewhat unresponsive now."
The day was bright and clear, though the wind still whistled through the pines and made a doleful clamor around the corners of the house. The open fire was now a necessity instead of merely a luxury, and the kitchen stove sent out a comforting heat all day. The nights were cold indeed, and more than once the dwellers at Wits' End had resorted to hot bricks in order to remove the chill from the beds when they crept between the sheets.
"Yes, it is time we were going," said Gwen as she and Kenneth started for a last walk to Sheldon woods. "We cannot stay till the snow flies, although I'd like to see the islands all a beautiful white like frosted cakes sitting on the blue platter of the ocean. Aunt Cam is fairly frozen out, and says it is getting to be next door to impossible to find anything we like to eat. I suppose we could order stores from Portland, but we really ought to be back, so next week finger-plays and cardboard patterns for me, while for you?"