For the second time he laughed. "The children will be home in a few days; I wait here till then. That is all I meant."
In the dusk by the ferry-slip old Daddo stood ready to push off. Hester was the only passenger, for it was Saturday, and on Saturdays, at this hour, all the traffic flowed away from the town, returning from market to the country.
Her eyes were red, and it may be that old Daddo noted this, for midway across, and without any warning, he rested on his oars, scanning her earnestly.
"You have been calling on Rosewarne, miss?—making so bold."
She nodded.
"I see'd you looking t'ards me just now as we crossed. I see'd you glance up as they, in their foolishness, was reckoning they knew the mind o' God. Tell me, miss, how he bears it?"
"He bears it; but without hope, for his trouble goes deeper."